Mar 08

Nokia wants patent on self-regenerating phone batteries, piezoelectrics and much magic involved

Posted in: application, legal, mobile phone, nokia, patent, patent application, PatentApplication, Today's Chili

In Nokia’s own words, what we’re looking at is a “piezoelectric kinetic energy harvester.” Working along the same principles as kinetic wristwatches have done for a long time already, Nokia’s idea is to capture the energy generated by the phone’s movements and to refashion it into beautiful, clean-as-a-whistle electric power. By allowing the heavier internal components to move on rails within the phone as part of a “force-transferring assembly,” the Espoo think tank has figured out a way to capitalize on all the small forces of acceleration and rotation that we subject our phones to on a daily basis. It would seem overly ambitious to expect this to replace the trusty old charger, but we give credit to Nokia for even thinking about it. Check out some schematics of how this would work after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Nokia wants patent on self-regenerating phone batteries, piezoelectrics and much magic involved

Nokia wants patent on self-regenerating phone batteries, piezoelectrics and much magic involved originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 03:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 07

Olive Telecom India announces AAA-powered handset

Posted in: Today's Chili
Looks like someone else out there thinks that non-removable batteries are seriously uncool. Olive Telecommunications’ FrvrOn V-G2300 is a GSM phone with a 1.5-inch color display display and an FM radio — small potatoes, right? That is, until you take into account the fact that it’s dual-powered: not only does it pack a rechargeable Li-ion battery, but should that run out you can get an additional hour’s worth of talk time from any standard AAA battery. Indeed, this is a pretty sweet deal if you’re living / traveling in an area without consistent power. Throw in a decent price point ($37) and we’re guessing this would do pretty well in Madhya Pradesh. Get a closer look for yourself after the break.

Continue reading Olive Telecom India announces AAA-powered handset

Olive Telecom India announces AAA-powered handset originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 01

Panasonic’s silicon-packin’ batteries boast 30 percent capacity boost, hit stores in 2012

Posted in: Panasonic, Today's Chili
Sure, not a day goes by without some sort revolutionary (if not just plain silly) announcement regarding fuel cells, and once again it looks like it’s Panasonic’s turn. According to Nikkei, the company will begin volume production of Li-ion rechargeable batteries that use a silicon alloy anode sometime in fiscal 2012. While Si alloy batteries have a tenfold theoretical improvement over current cells that utilize graphite, Panny claims that its device will have an improvement in linear capacity of close to thirty percent — keeping at least 80 percent of its capacity even after 500 charge/recharge cycles. Currently the bad boy is being marketed towards notebook batteries, although we could be seeing ’em in our electric cars in the near future. Catch a couple pictures from the press conference after the break.

Continue reading Panasonic’s silicon-packin’ batteries boast 30 percent capacity boost, hit stores in 2012

Panasonic’s silicon-packin’ batteries boast 30 percent capacity boost, hit stores in 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 12:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 24

Flash 10.1 might just not be a battery hog on Android

Posted in: Android, flash, nexus one, NexusOne, Today's Chili

Looking to fight an apparent outbreak of FUD, Adobe’s Flash evangelist Mark Doherty has posted some hard numbers (and accompanying video) on the effect Flash 10.1 has on the Nexus One — and put simply, it really doesn’t appear to have much effect at all. To back up his cause, Doherty plays a 17-minute embedded video in the full YouTube site then pops over to Android’s built-in battery use utility, which indicates that only 6 percent of the juice has gone to power the browser (of course, leaving the screen on to watch the video is another story altogether). He says that the company’s tests suggest they can get about three hours of H.264 playback over WiFi, which is theoretically enough to watch a movie or two; obviously the proof is in the pudding here, but this is a promising sign that these guys have taken battery optimization very, very seriously for this mobile push. Video after the break.

Continue reading Flash 10.1 might just not be a battery hog on Android

Flash 10.1 might just not be a battery hog on Android originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Feb 2010 19:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 16

XPAL’s Solar Egg charges to 90% in four hours of mild sunlight

Posted in: charger, mwc, mwc 2010, Mwc2010, solar, Today's Chili

Unlike many solar devices that require an abundance of intense sunlight to be useful, XPAL’s new Solar Egg does its thing even in “medium levels of natural light.” The magic SunBoost solar conversion technology is supplied by a company called Intivation from The Netherlands, a country that’s not exactly know for its tropical weather. XPAL claims that the internal 500mAh battery can be charged at over 90% capacity in just four hours of average sunlight exposure and can detect a “wide range of devices” like MP3 players and digital cameras to provide the appropriate level of power for charging. It’ll ship next month to select regions — where that is we can only guess for now.

Continue reading XPAL’s Solar Egg charges to 90% in four hours of mild sunlight

XPAL’s Solar Egg charges to 90% in four hours of mild sunlight originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Feb 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 13

How many oranges does it take to charge an Apple? (video)

Posted in: ad, ads, Apple, AppleIphone, iPhone, marketing, power, Today's Chili

We’ve seen lemons power a digital clock, and we’ve seen an Orange tent energize a gaggle of Apples. But have you ever wondered how many oranges it would take to charge just a single Apple? Name games aside, we have to hand it to Imperial Leisure, the company that executed a new iPhone-centered advertisement aimed at raising awareness for Jaffa oranges. We won’t spoil the whole thing for you, but we will say that you’ll be far hungrier after watching than you are right now. Video’s past the break, per usual.

[Thanks, forumz]

Continue reading How many oranges does it take to charge an Apple? (video)

How many oranges does it take to charge an Apple? (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 13 Feb 2010 13:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 05

HTC HD2 extended battery gets its close-up, lower price

Posted in: HTC, Today's Chili
We’ve already seen a render of the kickstand-equipped HTC HD2 extended battery, but renders don’t power cellphones, so we’re particuarly glad that CoolSmartPhone has now come through and provided some actual pictures of the actual device. What’s more, it looks like the price has now dropped to £35 excluding VAT (or about $55, down from $85 before), although the promised ship date has apparently been pushed back another month to March. Hit up the link below for a closer look, and a comparison shot with the standard battery.

HTC HD2 extended battery gets its close-up, lower price originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 05

Researchers say new material could let cars be powered by their bodywork

Posted in: Cars, electric vehicle, ElectricVehicle, hybrid, Today's Chili

It likely won’t be ready for your next vehicle purchase, but some researchers from Imperial College London say that this rather modest-looking piece of material could eventually do nothing short of change of the way that cars are powered. The material itself is still a bit of a mystery, as you might expect, but it’s apparently able to store and discharge electrical energy, and (here’s the real kicker) is strong and light enough to be used for a car’s bodywork — essentially making the car itself one giant battery. That would obviously open up a whole host of possibilities, including being used to complement traditional batteries for even longer runtimes, or being used on its own to make smaller and lighter vehicles. The applications also wouldn’t necessarily be limited to cars, and the researchers specifically mention cellphones as another area that could see smaller and lighter (or longer-lasting) devices if the material is used. Let’s get on that, shall we? Video demonstration after the break.

[Thanks, Clinton C]

Continue reading Researchers say new material could let cars be powered by their bodywork

Researchers say new material could let cars be powered by their bodywork originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 05

New lithium-ion battery could last 20 years, long after you’ve broken the devices they once powered

Posted in: Japan, research, Today's Chili

Modern gadgetry (you know, as opposed to “ancient gadgetry,” such as the abacus and the hour glass) lives and dies by its batteries, so it’s no surprise that lots of time and effort is spent researching both wacky alternatives to the tried and true power cell, as well as ways to make existing cells better. Among the latter, Nikkei is reporting that Eamex in Osaka, Japan, has developed a lithium-ion battery that will last some twenty years of regular use — that’s 10,000 charges! The secret to the long-lasting lithium-ion? In current designs, the tin that’s used for the battery’s negative electrode weakens through continual charging and recharging. The new design, however, calls for tin-coated resin that stabilizes the electrode and prevents deterioration. Why didn’t we think of that? Look forward to seeing these exciting, new batteries debut in electric scooters sometime this year. [Warning: Source link requires subscription]

New lithium-ion battery could last 20 years, long after you’ve broken the devices they once powered originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Feb 2010 11:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 04

Scosche solBAT II collects solar power, distributes it to USB devices

Posted in: charger, solar, Today's Chili, usb

Solar-charged batteries aren’t exactly wow factors these days, unless they’re dirt cheap like this Scosche solBAT II. With 1,500mAh of juice, this dongle can carry slightly more power than your average smartphone, and can also take any device with a USB cable. However, before you fork out $29.99 to Scosche, you should know that the solBAT takes between four to five days (!) to charge up fully under sunlight — not ideal for most power-hungry smartphones nowadays. There’s always the $93.23 Energizer SP2000 (2,000mAh) for your consideration — it’s bulkier, but with three solar panels it only needs six hours of solar-charge time. Guess we’ll just take the faster one, thanks.

Continue reading Scosche solBAT II collects solar power, distributes it to USB devices

Scosche solBAT II collects solar power, distributes it to USB devices originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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