Hasta La Gadget!

If you travel with a lot of gadgets, you know that can be a challenge to keep them powered up. If you’re roaming using something like an iPhone and you make a bunch of calls or get bored and play a game while waiting for your plane to land, your phone can be almost dead before you know it. If you don’t have access to an outlet or some sort portable battery you could end up out of touch for an entire day.

A company called Lenmar has unveiled a new portable battery pack that has enough juice and connectivity to charge up to three of your favorite gadgets at the same time. The device is called the Helix and it has 11,000 mAh of power inside the small enclosure. The device also features three full-sized USB ports on the bottom.

That means you can plug-in three of your devices to charge at the same time. If you connect a single device, the manufacturer says that you can recharge an iPhone up to seven times. The device has enough power to completely recharge your iPad once. The battery pack is a total output current of 4.4 A.

One of the USB ports supports 2.4 A for tablets and the other two support one amp for smartphones and other devices. The battery pack has an LED indicator to show how much power remains in the battery and are charges via a micro USB cable. The battery pack isn’t only for Apple gadgets, since it uses standard USB ports you can charge anything that uses a USB cable. The Helix is available right now for $99.99.

[via Lenmar]

Helix portable battery has 11,000 mAh of power is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

While most portable battery packs on the market are locked in a race for more and more capacity, Devotec Industries chose to design one that’s more portable than others. The company claims that its Fuel is the world’s smallest cellphone charger. I don’t know about that, but I’m sure it’s the handsomest cellphone charger I’ve ever seen.

As you can see, the Jerry can-shaped charger is very small indeed. It measures a mere 1.3″ x 0.9″ x 0.5″, small enough to fit on your keyring or the coin pocket on your jeans. The beautiful case is made of die-cast aluminum, making it durable yet still lightweight.

Of course, its small size comes with a significant trade off. The Li-ion battery inside Fuel is only rated at 220mAh, which Devotec Industries claims is good enough to power your cellphone for an extra 20 to 30 minutes of talk time or a few hours on standby.

The Fuel has a power switch and a micro-USB plug hidden beneath its cap. You can recharge it via a female micro-USB port at the bottom of its case. It also has three LEDs that indicate if it’s charging, fully charged or switched on. Devotec Industry also claims that Fuel can hold its charge for up to a month.

There are other small portable battery packs that offer higher capacities like Mophie’s Juice Pack Reserve. But if you’re really looking for something you can stick practically anywhere, the Fuel seems like a great solution. Pledge at least $15 (USD) on Kickstarter to reserve your own unit.

[via MOCO LOCO]

When you think of the Man of Steel, what comes into your mind? I am not referring to you wearing your spandex underwear on the outside to work, but rather, his more, er, super qualities. We do know that his major weakness is kryptonite,and he also recharges himself with solar energy. Well, your smartphone, too, never need be at the mercy of a drained battery ever again with some help from our solar system’s star, the sun. The iSolar Backup Battery Charger comes in handy, arriving in the form of a sun-powered bamboo battery which will be able to bring new life to your dead device’s power stores, delivering additional hours of use.

It is said that a simple 3-hour charge will be able to bring up a depleted device to 40% of its power, now how about that? Each purchase will also be able to be charged via the included USB adapter, letting you power it up if the sun decides to hide behind rain clouds and thunderstorms. Definitely one of the cooler gadgets to own, don’t you think so? It also adds some green street cred to your resume.

[ iSolar Backup Battery Charger copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Is your cell phone dead and there’s nary an outlet in sight? It’s not an issue if you’re feeling zesty and also toting a BoostTurbine hand charger, which Eton just announced as part of its new portable charger lineup. The BoostTurbine2000 and 1000 model numbers denote the mAh of the batteries in each device, which can borrow volts from a conventional outlet, then transfer up to a full or half charge (respectively) to most smartphones. In a pinch, though, you can pop out the hand-crank and grab about 30 seconds of call time for each minute of sweat equity, according to the company (depending on your motivation, natch). The BoostTurbine2000 will set you back $59 while the 1000 model will run $49, and both are now available at Eton’s store. The company also outed a new line of regular plug-in portable chargers — it’s all in the PR after the break.

Continue reading Eton announces Boost line, lets you crank your way to a charged phone

Filed under: Misc, Peripherals

Eton announces Boost line, lets you crank your way to a charged phone originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Oct 2012 11:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I think electric vehicles are interesting enough, but they have a lot of practical limitations that keep most drivers from considering them. Probably the biggest issues are driving range and the time it takes to charge the batteries. Faster battery charging and higher capacity batteries are one way to get around this particular limitation. However, what may be the best way to get people buying an EV is to develop a system that charges the vehicle as it drives down the road.

A group of Japanese researchers are showing off a system that has the potential to do just that. The researchers have invented a wireless charging system that is able to transmit electricity from a charging plate under 4 inches of concrete directly through the tires of the car and into the vehicle batteries.

In the demonstration, the researchers are transmitting enough power through concrete blocks and into the car’s tires to make a light bulb glow. Naturally, we would need an infrastructure that had charging plates under the nation’s roadways to make this work, but not having to stop to charge your car would certainly make owning and driving an EV a more appealing proposition.

[via Phys.org]