If you use a bicycle on a daily basis, you know just how much energy can be harnessed from simply riding your bike, although many of us just use them to get from point A to point B. That’s all about to change as a startup based out of Cambridge, Massachusetts has began selling its Copenhagen Wheel that may introduce new ways for bike riders to use their favorite mode of transportation. (more…)
A materials scientist from Harvard University named Jennifer Lewis and her team have invented a new ink and printing process that allows or the manufacture of 3D printed batteries at room temperature. The scientists say that the tech is still at an early stage, but shows promise. The ink created for printing battery anodes uses nanoparticles of lithium-ion titanium extruded by a commercial 3D printer.
The material is added to a vial of deionized water and ethylene glycol. Ceramic balls are then added to help mix the solution and it’s put on a spinner for 24 hours. The resulting ink is a solid when left alone, but can be forced out of tiny openings in needles under high pressure. As soon as the material is extruded through the tiny opening in the 3D printer needle, it become solid again.
The team thinks that the technology will make it easier to 3D print electronics with their battery as one seamless piece. The lithium-ion batteries that the team is printing are as small as one square millimeter, but perform as well as commercial batteries. The tools the scientists are designing are meant to be used in manufacturing, but it’s possible they could someday produce a low-end printer for hobbyists.
3D printing has been used for all sorts of research projects over the years to make things like prototype parts and more. Scientists from Harvard have now devised a new ink and tools that allow them to 3D print lithium-ion battery components. The same process can also be used to print other electronic components using […]
A few months ago we heard about a supercapacitor designed by a high school student that could lead to quick charging and longer lasting mobile phones. The Blueshift Helium speaker gives us a taste of that future. It also uses supercapacitors instead of rechargeable batteries to drastically reduce charging times.
Blueshift claims that its Helium speakers can be fully charged in just five minutes and last up to six hours while playing at its maximum volume. That’s a huge improvement over practically any speaker in the market. The supercapacitors will also supposedly last up to 500,000 charges, compared to the hundreds or thousands of cycles for most rechargeable batteries. The Bluetooth speakers also have a bamboo case and one or two 4″ full-range drivers (there are mono and stereo versions).
Pledge at least $350 (USD) on Crowd Supply to get a Blueshift Helium speaker as a reward.
Like the MOGA Ace Power,Logitech’s PowerShell is part of the first generation of gaming controllers that make use of iOS 7′s controller API. While both controllers only work with a handful of games for now, their Apple’s long overdue API for third-party contorllers means the list of compatible games should easily grow in the future.
Seeing as the Ace Power and the PowerShell are the only horses in this race at the moment, early adopters can decide between the two based on a few factors. First off are the controls. The Ace Power has more input options than the PowerShell. In addition to the d-pad, four face buttons and two shoulder buttons that are also on the PowerShell, the Ace Power also has two analog sticks and two more shoulder buttons.
The second factor is portability. The Ace Power collapses into a smaller form, while the PowerShell is stuck in its elongated form. Third are their built-in batteries, which can also be used to charge the iOS device that’s docked into it. The Ace Power has an 1800 mAh battery while the PowerShell has a slightly smaller 1500 mAh battery.
So far it looks like the PowerShell is the inferior option, but one thing that’s sketchy about MOGA’s controller is it’s questionable build quality. Watch the hands-on videos of Kotaku and CNET and you’ll see what I mean. Granted, we’ve yet to see a similar test with Logitech’s offering, so I suggest you wait until multiple reviews are out there before choosing either one. Then there’s the fact that these controllers will only work with the iPhone 5, 5S, 5C and the fifth-generation iPod Touch.
I’ll wait for an iOS 7-compatible wireless controller so I can use it on my iPad. But if you really can’t wait, you can already place a pre-order for both the Logitech PowerShell and the MOGA Power ACE on the Apple Store. Both devices cost $100 (USD). The PowerShell is also available from Amazon and Best Buy.
Spending days traveling, going camping over the weekend, or spending several hours in a waiting room all have something in common: high odds of your smartphone or tablet’s battery dying before you’re ready to bid your gadget farewell. Portable chargers mitigate this issue by providing an on-the-go charging option, and new to the category is […]
It seems like Google Glass has the same Achilles heel as most mobile devices: a short battery life. And so, even if the device isn’t for sale yet, someone’s already come up with a complementary external battery pack for it. It’s called PWRglass, a 1400mAh battery pack that looks like a lanyard.
The company behind PWRglass claims that the battery is equivalent to almost three times the unspecified battery life of Glass. While Google claims that the device’s built-in battery is enough for “one day of typical use”, PWRglass explains that it will only last 51 minutes of continuous video. That’s one of the most popular applications of Glass to date. With PWRglass, you can continuously shoot with Glass for up to 2 hours and 21 minutes. The video below – showing the PWRglass crew getting a second Google Glass test unit – proves that claim:
Because Glass uses a microUSB charger, I bet it will work with many external battery packs, but the PWRglass does make it easier to carry that extra power around.
When it comes to getting larger replacement batteries for smartphones, Mugen Power has batteries for lots of the Android devices out there with user replaceable battery packs. Mugen has announced its latest battery pack designed for the Samsung Galaxy Note 3. This battery pack has more than twice the power of the factory battery. The […]
“Physician, heal thyself!” How many times have we heard of such a statement mentioned? Well, the very idea of a self-healing material has been mooted for quite some time already, but lately, such technology has been made affordable enough to be reproduced on a mass scale. When it comes to modern day devices, many people are concerned about the kind of battery life that these devices will offer, but what happens when there is a rechargeable battery down the road that is self-healing, which means they never need to be replaced? Researchers from Stanford University and Tsinghua University in Beijing, have worked together on a new kind of battery technology which ensures that the lithiated silicon materials within the batteries themselves are able to hold electrons a whole lot longer than existing batteries.
This is made possible thanks to the inclusion of a “self-healing” coating which will be able to repair the cracks within the battery, ensuring that all the materials within which make up the battery remain together. This results in the ability for the materials to be able to stash electrons for a whole lot longer compared to conventional batteries which rely on polymer binders. This would automatically translate to a prolonging of the battery’s life.
If you’re a fan of the mythical Thor or the Marvel superhero Thor, we’ve got something new and interesting that you will really appreciate. A new Thor-themed battery charger has debuted that takes the form of Thor’s hammer Mjölnir. The battery designed to recharge electronic devices is hidden in the head of the hammer.
The hammer looks very much like the one that Thor wields in the new movie in theaters right now. The battery charger measures 5.1″ x 3.1″ x 2″ and weighs up to one pound depending on capacity. It has a full-size USB port and a micro-USB port that can provide 2.1A of power. The hammer also has integrated LED lights and a speaker offering sound effects when you swing it.
You can purchase the battery charger with three different battery capacities stuffed inside the hammerhead. The smallest is a 2600 mAh battery with a middleweight version packing 5200 mAh of power. The biggest battery has 10,400 mAh of juice. The biggest battery needs 10 full hours to recharge. Sadly, it’s currently only available in Asia at this point.
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“Physician, heal thyself!” How many times have we heard of such a statement mentioned? Well, the very idea of a self-healing material has been mooted for quite some time already, but lately, such technology has been made affordable enough to be reproduced on 
