Hasta La Gadget!

If you look deep enough into the halls of IFA, if you can see through the 3D television murk and tablet hype, you might be lucky enough to find a few gems. Like the Mobee Magic Charger for Apple’s Magic Mouse making its worldwide debut today. So, what’s the “magic?” Well, if you own a wireless Apple Magic Mouse then your biggest complaint is without a doubt battery life. That means you’re either purchasing (and tossing) alkaline after alkaline or you’re constantly swapping in a fresh pair of rechargeables to keep the juice flowing. The Mobee Magic Charger does away with that nonsense with its inductive charging mini-USB base station and battery pack that slots into Apple’s mouse — no special sleeve or bulky appendage required unlike many after-market inductive charging solutions. Oh, and the 1.30oz / 37g battery pack — developed in-house by Switzerland-based Mobee — is actually lighter than a pair of AAs thereby reducing the overall weight of the mouse.

Regarding specs, we’re told that a Mobee charged Magic Mouse will last for 6 days under constant use. After that, it requires 6 hours to reach a full charge. Otherwise, the idea here is to park the mouse on its dock when not in use. While the company has considered an inductive charging mouse pad, they opted against it so that people can mouse on the surface of their choice and to keep the whole package portable and inconspicuous. The Magic Charger itself matches the materials, look, and feel of Apple’s Magic Mouse perfectly. Oh, and the blue charging light you see above will be green once the product ships worldwide in mid-October for €49.90 (with tax) / $49.90 (before tax). At that price, it offers a 6-8 month break-even for the typical Magic Mouse user relying on disposable batteries. Honestly, the Mobee Magic Charger is an idea so good that it makes you wonder, why didn’t Apple think of that?

Expect to see a “few more” Mobee products launch for Apple products before the end of the year and into 2011. While Mobee wouldn’t tell us exactly what products are coming, it did admit to looking at Apple’s new Track Pad, the iPhone 4 (we expect to see a case), and wireless keyboard. We look forward to it.

Mobee’s inductive Magic Charger for Apple’s Magic Mouse really is magical originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 05:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There’s a big difference between the iPhone 4 and Galaxy S. No, not iOS vs. Android 2.1 or even Retina vs. Super AMOLED. We’re talking batteries: one is removable and one isn’t — guess which is which? This perennial iPhone “feature” has spawned as entire industry of device-specific accessories that sate the need for more juice while simultaneously killing the form (and aesthetic) of an otherwise pocketable gadget. But hey, it’s your only choice when you’re either too busy (CES) or unable (intercontinental flights) to tether yourself to a power socket. And guess what? Those curvy battery packs that hugged your iPhone 3G/3GS won’t work with the boxy iPhone 4. So, here’s the latest, and one of the first iPhone 4 cases with an extended battery pack to ship. The Mili PowerSpring 4 starts shipping today for £54.99 (or $85 on Amazon). It claims to be the world’s thinnest iPhone 4 battery pack to double your battery life thanks to a 1600mAh capacity Li-Pol battery. That makes this roadwarrior necessity just a bit less evil.

Continue reading Mili PowerSpring 4 doubles the battery life of your iPhone 4

Mili PowerSpring 4 doubles the battery life of your iPhone 4 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Aug 2010 07:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung Galaxy S Power Pack: when internal batteries are just too convenient originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Aug 2010 05:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Poor Apple. The company just can’t catch a break these days. On Wednesday, Apple Japan began offering customers iPod nano replacements, giving in to local government demands to better address an overheating battery issue affecting Apple’s first generation iPod nano players. Then Friday morning (making the English-language press only now) a busy rush-hour commuter train was stopped in Tokyo to investigate a smell. According to a spokesman, “When a member of staff went to investigate inside the train, a passenger came over showing him that the iPod she was listening to had burst apart.” No injuries were reported and the exact iPod model is still unknown. However, we can be certain that the eight minute delay on Japan’s notoriously timely railway system caused many commuters to question their ability to go on.

[Image courtesy of Maruhachi-kotsu]

Overheating iPod delays rush-hour train in Tokyo originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Aug 2010 06:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Claims of better, safer lithium-ion batteries aren’t exactly hard to find, but some researchers from Shanghai’s Fudan University have now made some progress in an area that has previously proven to be particularly tricky for battery makers. They’ve managed to create an aqueous lithium-ion battery that substitutes most of the oxygen in the battery for water, which the researchers say not only makes them less flammable, but cheap to produce. As you might have guessed, that’s been tried before, but previous attempts have only resulted in a battery that can hold 50 percent of its charge capacity after a hundred cycles — these new batteries, on the other hand, hang on to 90 percent of their capacity after a thousand cycles. Unfortunately, the researchers still have a ways to go on increasing the actual capacities of the batteries, but they seem confident that they’ll eventually be a viable alternative to traditional, more explosion-prone lithium-ion batteries.

Researchers make progress with better, safer aqueous lithium-ion batteries originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Aug 2010 09:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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