Page 12
The P o r tla n d O b s e r v e r B l a c k H i s t o r y M o n t h
February 23, 2011
I -technology
A S u sta in a b le G uide
For diverse and local businesses!
<
w 'rv**
V
A mobile phone is displayed with Visa payment platform at a trade
show in Barcelona, Spain. Phones that can be used to pay for
things, much like credit cards have been a dream o f the wireless
industry for years.
Cell Phones turned into
‘Electronic Wallets’
Tickets,
coupons among
uses for tap-to-
pay phones
For info and advertisement inquiries
call: (503) 287-4006
or vtsrt us or«1 me at: wv/w.p<xtt3rdun¡íy.ccm
The PORTLAND WATER BUREAU
CELEBRATES
Black History Month
FEBRUARY
2011
In 1926, African American
REV. M ARTIN LUTHER KING
historian Carter G. Woodson
t
it
«
single-handedly pioneered the
celebration of "Negro History
LENA HORNÉ
Week", for the second week in
February, to coincide with the
birthdays of Abraham Lincoln
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA
and Frederick Douglass. The
week was later extended to
the full month of February and
\V -
renamed Black History Month.
SPIKE LEE
WINFREY
P ortland
WATER
B U R E A U
F R O M
F O R E S T
TO
F A U C E T
1120 SW Fifth Avenue, Room 600
Portland, Oregon 97204
503-823-7404
www.portlandoregon.gov/water
Randy Leonard, Commissioner
David G. Shaff, Administrator
(AP) — Cell phones are usually
used to communicate with people
far away. This year, they'll get the
ability to do the opposite: communi­
cate with things that are close
enough to touch.
It may not sound immediately
useful, but phones will get some
surprising capabilities with the ad­
dition of chips for so-called Near
Field Communications, a wireless
technology with a range intention­
ally limited to just a few inches.
The phones will be able to talk to
payment terminals designed for
"smart cards," replacing credit and
debit cards. They could be used as
mass transit passes. You could tap
two phones together to exchange
contact information.
Or you could tap a "smart tag" on
a poster, product or sticker to get
your phone to do something, such
inmrwM
l
as retrieving information from the
Internet or placing a call to the
product's customer support line.
The industry has been talking
about including NFC in phones for
years, mainly to turn them into "elec­
tronic wallets."
But at the world's largest cell­
phone trade show, held last week in
Barcelona, Spain, it was clear that
the log-jam has loosened, in part
because NFC chips are now cheaper.
Millions of NFC-equipped phones
will be in consumer hands in the U.S.
and Europe before the end of the
year.
NFC turns the limitation of short-
range communications into an ad­
vantage. When an NFC terminal
senses an NFC-equipped phoge, it
knows that's because the user is
holding it right up close and wants
to interact in some way — for in­
stance, paying for a can of Coke.
In stores, phones with NFC could
be popular if they do more than
merely replace a wallet of credit and
debit cards. They could help mer­
chants track and reward loyal cus­
tomers, replacing both loyalty cards
and printed coupons.
MKMMNEMSM0MMMEII
Solar Plant Jobs Cheered
Gov. Kitzhaber cheered an an­
nouncement Thursday by U.S. En­
ergy Secretary Steven Chu of a con­
ditional commitment to SoloPower,
Inc.fora$197 million loan guarantee
to support the retrofit of an existing
building and installation of addi­
tional equipmenUo operate a thin-
film solar panel manufacturing facil­
ity in Wilsonville.
When completed and at full ca­
pacity, the facility is expected to
produce over400 megawatts of flex-
ible photovoltaic panels annually.
According to SoloPower estimates,
the project will create approximately
500 permanent jobs and 270 con­
struction jobs.
“SoloPower is bringing exactly
the kind of new jobs Oregon needs,”
said Kitzhaber. “We are continuing
on the path toward establishing a
stronger clean technology manu­
facturing base in Oregon.”