In today’s roundup of technology news:

  • Lenovo to pass Samsung for No. 2 in mobile computing sales, report says
  • AT&T offering virtual reality headsets
  • Duke Energy wins regulatory approval for three solar projects
  • IBM says use old laptop batters to power poor villages
  • Red Hat stock gets a downgrade

The details:

  • Report says Lenovo to surpass Samsung in mobile computing

Lenovo will climb past Samsung in mobile computing device sales this year, trailing only Apple, according to a new report from Digitimes research.

“Despite difficulties to achieve further shipment growths for its tablet business, Lenovo with its advantage as the largest notebook brand vendor worldwide and aggressive promotions of its inexpensive and phone-enabled tablets is expected to achieve 50 million in total tablet and notebook shipments in 2015, widening its gap with Samsung to nine million units,” Digitimes reports.

Read more at: http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20141205PD206.html

  • AT&T launching VR headset sales

AT&T is launching sales of virtual reality headsets from Gear VR as of Dec. 12.

The price is $199. 

Read more at: http://www.slashgear.com/gear-vr-headset-released-with-att-and-samsung-08358721/

  • Duke Energy wins regulatory OK for 3 solar projects

Duke Energy has received regulatory approval for three solar projects in eastern North Carolina. They are part of Duke’s $500 million commitment to expand solar engergy. 

The projects are located in Bladen, Duplin and Wilson counties. 

  • IBM’s idea to power poor rural villages

IBM is proposing that used laptop batters be utilized as a power source for poor, rural villages in India. 

“Every year, around 50 million lithium-ion laptop batteries are thrown away in the US alone, reports MIT Technology Review. And according to new IBM research, these could be harvested to power homes in poorer countries, where energy supply is non-existent, or at the very least insufficient and fractured,” Business Insider reports.

“The IBM study looked at a sample of discarded batteries. Amazingly, it found as much as 70% of them held enough energy to keep an LED light on for more than four hours a day — for a whole year.”

 

Read more at: http://www.businessinsider.com/ibm-laptop-batteries-2014-12#ixzz3LKvHBA8w

  • Wells Fargo downgrades Red Hat stock

Red Hat shares were downgraded to “market perform” from “outperform” by Wells Fargo analysts on Monday. 

Read more at: http://www.thestreet.com/story/12977442/1/red-hat-rht-stock-declines-today-after-analyst-downgrade.html