Hasta La Gadget!

If you have an iPhone 4 and you wish you got a bit more juice from the battery, or you’re one of the people experiencing the now-infamous “death grip” problem, the Exolife rechargeable iPhone 4 battery case may be able to solve both of those problems. Exolife’s external battery case mounts to the back of your iPhone 4 without adding a ton of extra bulk. It completely covers the sides and back, and it has openings cut out for the power button, headphone jack, and volume buttons on the side. There’s also an opening in the back for the camera and flash.

According to Exolife, the case will virtually doubles your iPhone’s battery life with its 1500mAh Lithium-Ion polymer rechargeable battery. The case is designed not to interfere with the signal from your iPhone 4 (although since it covers the sides, it’ll probably help with the iPhone 4’s reported signal issues). The Exolife battery case also turns off automatically when power from the case is not needed, so the extra charge is ready when you need it.

Exolife is taking pre-orders for the black and white versions of the case now. Black versions will ship at the end of July, and white versions will ship at the end of September. Both versions cost $89.95 list. 

Oh, sure — Shelby’s practically nonexistent Aero EV can recharge in around 10 minutes, but if you’re hoping to find a similarly quick vehicle that’s even close to your price range, you’ve probably come up empty so far. Thankfully, Renault has a mind to change that with the new DeZir. Slated to take the stage at this year’s Paris Motor Show, the lascivious concept rolls with a mid-mounted electric engine capable of screaming a solid 100 miles before petering out. The good news here, though, is that the outfit’s Quick Drop technology enables the battery packs to regain 80 percent of their charge in just 20 minutes using a 400V three-phase current, though a standard household plug will require a good night’s rest (read: eight hours) to rejuvenate it fully. ‘Course, only time will tell if this beaut will ever hit the production line, but we’d go ahead and brace yourself for it to look far tamer should that green light ever get lit.

Continue reading Renault DeZir recharges while you stare, not while you wait

Renault DeZir recharges while you stare, not while you wait originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Jul 2010 00:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft has come up with an amazingly obvious tweak to battery tech that should save us some headaches, as well as several trillion hours of head-scratching and peering into dark holes.

Named Instaload, the invention lets you stuff the batteries into a device any which-way you fancy, eliminating the need to read dark directional diagrams. The most impressive part is the low-tech way this is handled. Each contact in the battery compartment has both positive and negative terminals. If the fat, flat end of the battery is pressing against them, it touches the outside contact. If it is the pointy positive end then it makes contact with a slightly recessed inner contact. This, combined with some simple circuitry, makes sure the current is always running the right way.

Unfortunately, this being Microsoft, it wants everybody to play by Microsoft’s rules, and to pay for the privilege. Microsoft “offers fair and reasonable licensing terms” for Instaload, which is kind of like offering licensing terms on the idea of shopping with a shopping cart (wait, what?)

A shame, really, as it’s the cheap gadgets that could benefit from this the most. Thanks to this licensing short-sightedness, we see this tech coming to Microsoft mice, and pretty much nothing else anytime soon.

InstaLoad Battery Installation Technology Overview [Microsoft via Gizmag]

Researchers in Jerusalem have just announced they’ve developed super simple, sustainable, organic electric batteries which are powered by treated potatoes. Their findings have just been published in the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, and detail uses of the batteries in the developing world where infrastructure is lacking. The apparently highly efficient battery is made from zinc and copper electrodes and a potato slice which has been boiled. The act of boiling the potato increased the electric power around 10 fold in comparison to an untreated potato, giving it power for days, and sometimes weeks depending on the conditions. The potato batteries are also, of course, way cheaper than regular commercial cells. The technology has officially been made available free of charge to the developing world. We knew there was a reason we loved potatoes so much. The full press release is below.

Continue reading Yissum develops potato-powered batteries for the developing world

Yissum develops potato-powered batteries for the developing world originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 20 Jun 2010 09:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HyperMac, the company that almost single-handedly silenced the handful of people who complained about the MacBook’s lack of a swappable battery, has updated its battery-bricks to juice the iPad.

The HyperMacs are external batteries which can power your MacBook for up to 34 hours via a MagSafe adapter actually clipped from a real Apple power-brick (Apple doesn’t license the design). They also have USB ports to recharge other gadgets, and these have now been upgraded to supply the 10 watts needed by the iPad.

This means that, if you go for the top-end, 4.7-pound, 222 watt-hour HyperMac then you can get a 99 hours of use from an iPad. That’ll cost you $500. For “just” $200, the far more sensible 60 watt-hour version – which weighs in at 0.8-pounds – will give you a total of 34 hours, more than enough for a weekend away.

The HyperMacs are available now, with a wait of a couple of weeks for delivery. With any luck, if you order one today it should turn at the same time as your equally delayed iPad order.

HyperMac batteries [HyperMac via MacWorld]