Archive for the ‘Battery technology’ Category
We first heard about the BoostCase Hybrid at CES Unveiled this past Sunday and we were crazy impressed. We’ve used so many different battery cases in the past and to be falling in love with one now seems whacky to us. After seeing the Hybrid and meeting with the reps at the booth on Sunday, I decided I would spend the majority of my walks through the CES Halls looking at the battery case competition. I wanted to see if what I was excited to learn more about would stand up against all of the other competition out there, especially the likes of Incipio, that have been doing this for a few years.
We’ll spend more time on that subject in a future post this week once we’ve had enough time to play with every case out there. But for now, please join us inside for a hands on with one of my personal favorites – the BoostCase Hybrid…
It looks like Motorola Mobility will be debuting some sort of wireless charging at this year’s CES. The Motorola Mobility YouTube channel just gave us a little teaser video showing a USB plug sitting on the counter crying. The tag-line reads; “Stay Unplugged.”
We’ll be there front and center and will let you know the second we see what they have in planned. Anyone excited yet about CES this year? Only a couple more days and we’ll be in the thick of it. Be sure to follow us throughout the week as we’ll be hitting as much as we can!
Hop on in for the sad, sad video!
The iFan: a revolutionary, magical device made famous by it’s multiple uses. One use being to greenly charge your iPhone. The other to rip out all of the hair on the side of your head. Well, only if you are stupid enough to think the wind will blow through it while it is next to your face. Either way – Magical!
The iFan was designed and created by Tjeerd Veenhoven. He must run into a lot of instances when he isn’t near an outlet, (or the cigarette outlet in his car) to need to design such a spectacular and magical piece of glory magic. How long does it take you to charge your iPhone using the power from your wall — mind you, not the computer, but the wall outlet? 30 minutes to 1 hour? It took this guy 6 hours to get a full charge with the wind. Now, these results are somewhat skewed. Wind speeds vary. And if you were a Storm Chaser, chances are your iPhone would charge a bit faster.
Created using a modified computer fan, Tjeerd was able to construct a sleek case to house it and the iDevice to allow for optimal wind blow charge power. As he states, holding the phone outside of your car window while driving could speed up the charge process, but we here at Gadgetsteria.com don’t recommend it. However, it may work wonders for those long sexy walks on the beach with your brand new match.com love sweetheart, you can spark chemistry all while saving the planet!
Tjeerd Veenhoven’s Blog
Originally found at FSM
Last month we reported that Apple was suing popular Mac accessory maker, HyperMac. In their legal filings, Apple cited copyright/IP infringement specifically on their MagSafe adapters as the reason for the gavel toss. At first, anger is the only thing that came to mind. I mean, how could Apple put a truly innovative company out of business? Especially since Apple themselves won’t produce any type of external battery like HyperMac? And then it came to light that HyperMac was in talks with Apple to license their technology a bit more legally this time so that the 3rd party battery love fest could continue.
And continue it has. Sort of. HyperMac announced today that they will be re-branding themselves to “HyperJuice” in accordance with Apple’s lawsuit and licensing regulations. Hopefully a deal can be worked out so we can get these extremely useful batteries back on the market once again. Speaking of which, HyperMac batteries will officially go offline tonight at midnight. So if there was any lingering desire in your soul to get a HyperMac, now is the time.
We’ve seen this scenario before — batteries are languishing behind technological improvements in our digital devices. Roughly every couple of months, we see some story detailing an all new method of creating/charging batteries or some new material that supposedly will increase runtime considerably. And yet many years and several stories later, we’re still left with this pathetic Lithium-Ion gig we’ve been using for the last several years. Though like clockwork, another new spin on the traditional battery is hitting the airwaves.
Bought to us by talented researches of the Japan’s Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), this new battery promises to make our digital-powered lives many times better. For this tale, we’ll be looking at the anode material. Specifically, the new oxide negative-electrode material is comprised of a titanium oxide where as current batteries use Lithium titanate. The chief improvements of this new material over the latter include enhanced battery capacity, lower cost, and increased life span. Sounds like a win-win to me!
I’m already impressed with the runtime of my iPhone 4 compared to other smartphones I’ve had in recent years. But I’m sure it’s nothing compared to what a battery powered by the above could achieve. Here’s to hoping this tech makes it into our hands sometime this century…
- September 8, 2010 6:14 am
In the world of consumer electronics, you always hear how our devices are constantly putting more and more strain on batteries with faster running electronics. Then you’ve got the whole wireless thing. It seems as if every month a new wireless standard is proposed or adopted into our gadgets, equally detrimental to battery life and runtime. The argument we here is that batteries aren’t progressing as fast as our gadgets/needs are.
So consider me surprised to find out that the latest iPod Shuffle is quite frugal even by the strictest standards. I mean, what else would you call a 51mAh battery pushing through 15 hours of music playback? I’d certainly call that a small miracle. My first reasoning would be magic gremlins. But as you can see from the iFixit teardown above, no such gremlins exist — at least in this model.
Kudos to Apple. Even though the iPod Shuffle doesn’t have to power a speedy processor and battery raping display, 51mAh hours is just tiny. Apparently, they’re doing something right. Anyone else similarly impressed?
Fancy saving a tree or two and happen to title yourself a nerd? There’s no doubt that Chevy’s ambitions Volt project has been a long time coming. Since the truck market bombed out a few years back, they’ve been scrambling to catch up to other manufacturers more fuel efficient and alternative fuel-powered vehicles. And up until now, the biggest mystery about the Volt was the price. Price it to high no one will buy it. Lucky for consumers, it looks like Chevy will make it relatively affordable, at a now confirmed base price of $41,000. Interested parties may even get a stab at the electric wonder vehicle for a far cheaper price, however. At stake is a tax credit totaling up to $7,500 as well as leasing options. Speaking of the latter, the leasing program looks like it’ll hit a little closer to more individuals’ homes with a $350 monthly payment and $2,500 due at signing.
But what good is a hot new geek car with relatively new and untested reliability without decent warranties and protection from the factory? Oh dear reader, jump on in and find out…
People always look to flying cars as *the* sign that the future has arrived. While a flying car has recently been talked about as making its way into production (albeit in limited quantities), right now the general consensus is that battery-powered cars are where it’s at. The only issue so far has been runtime. Cars are very large and very thirsty machines. Most of our batteries simply don’t have the power or longevity to make solely battery powered cars practical or affordable. But things are projected to change with the introduction of the Chevy Volt.
Taking on the image of a sort of “Mechanical/Electrical Jesus”, the Chevy Volt has certainly enjoyed its fair share of media attention. But one very important aspect, replacing the spent battery pack after a few years of continuous charge/discharge cycles, hasn’t been highlighted quite as often as one may like. But the jury has finally come back and it’s looking pretty promising. How’s an 8-year warranty sound? That’s what GM is offering. Yeah, it’s not as long as non-battery vehicles. But it’s pretty much the king of warranties compared to other offerings from foreign manufacturers.
What’s the big deal you ask? Well, the most recent estimates have a full replacement of the Volt’s battery sitting heavy at $10,000 per pack. So warranty replacements are a pretty big deal if you ask me. Is it enough to sway you in the direction of electric vehicles?
Need a reason to drop a few more dollars on the geeky things you know and love? Today’s gadget won’t be one that fulfills only lust, but utility as well. The USBCell is so ingenious and simple in design that it pains me to think that I didn’t coin this up first. But I digress, the USBCell…
Basically, it’s a nickle metal hydride battery with a removable top cap that exposes a standard USB plug. Pop it into your ever plentiful USB port and whip up a 90% charge in 5 hours or a 50% charge in 1 hour. When you’re finished, simply replace the cap, and pop a couple into your battery loving gadget. Viola! Hopefully more sizes become available as interest increases. I’d kill for a 9-volt version. You?
Pick up a 2-pack of AA USBCell batteries from the following locations: Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA, SharperImage.com, ThinkGeek.com, and Tiger Direct.
