Hasta La Gadget!

You might have noticed your new iPhone lasts about as long as Kim Kardashian’s marriage—and what’s the point of nifty new features if your phone’s dead? Use these tweaks to squeeze the most life out of your battery. More »

I love my iPad. It’s the original model, bought on April 3, 2010. It’s been working perfectly since then but the battery life was really bad, lasting only a couple of hours lately. It was exhausted. I had to replace it. More »

This just in: Microsoft is ready to take the plunge into mobile modernity… at its own pace. During a recent interview with All Things D, Windows Phone President Andy Lees revealed a few details about Redmond’s future crop of handsets, which will apparently include both LTE capabilities and dual-core processors. The exec confirmed that LTE-equipped devices are indeed in the pipeline, but declined to specify whether they’d hit the market this year or next. Turns out, Microsoft wants to wait until current LTE networks prove capable of supporting more power-efficient smartphones. “The first LTE phones were big and big [users] of the battery,” Lees said. “I think it’s possible to do it in a way that is far more efficient, and that’s what we will be doing.”

Lees was similarly opaque about Microsoft’s plans to incorporate dual-core CPUs into its mobile lineup, saying only that they’re on the way. According to him, however, even single-core Windows Phones can hold their own against the dual-core competition: “They’re all single core, but I suspect that they will be faster in usage than any dual-core phone that you put against it, and that’s the point.” Lees went on to wax Panglossian about Microsoft’s strategy, claiming that the absence of LTE and dual-core processing doesn’t necessarily mean that his company is behind the times. “I think that what our strategy is is to put things in place that allow us to leapfrog, and I think that’s how we’ve gone from worse [sic] browser to the best browser,” he explained, “and I think the same is true with hardware.” Check out the full interview for yourself, at the source link below.

Shocker! Microsoft to produce dual-core, LTE Windows Phones, other modern things originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 Oct 2011 13:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink CNET  |  All Things D  | Email this | Comments

Stanford researchers figured out that, by dipping electrodes for super capacitors in a solution of carbon nanotubes or a conductive polymer they could increase the charging capacity by up to 45-percent. The team started working with composite electrodes of graphene and manganese oxide, since manganese is cheap and plentiful, but were hamstrung by its low conductivity. The thin coating of more conductive material greatly boosted the capacitance of the electrodes, and thus their ability to hold a charge. Further tests are still required to find the actual energy density of the dipped electrodes, but lead researchers Yi Cui and Zhenan Bao are already working on a way to apply the same technique to batteries.

Dipping capacitors and batteries in nanotubes could improve capacity originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Oct 2011 02:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Technology Review  | Email this | Comments

We’re sure that most inventors out there are genuinely looking to make the world a better place, but the best intentions don’t always produce the best inventions, and while the following gadgets will all likely appeal to someone, somewhere, we can’t exactly recommend, say, an ear-shaped iPhone case or a $300 toothpaste squeezer. But as the saying goes, “one man’s crapgadget is another man’s treasure.”

Read – It’s like a beanbag chair for your iPad! For your lap!
Read – At $300, this toothpaste tube squeezer should pay for itself exactly one day before the sun burns out.
Read – How is this iPhone case different than all other iPhone cases? Simple: it makes it look like you’ve contracted some sort of engorged ear disease. Never get bothered during important phone calls again!
Read – It’s a battery charger! For the ladies!

View Poll

Crapgadget: ‘it seemed like a good idea at the time’ edition originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Sep 2011 22:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments