Hasta La Gadget!

Without a doubt, the military is home to some of the best gadgets. Fortunately for us, the non-lethal stuff often makes it into the hands of consumers after companies finish milking the government of its R&D budget. Case in point: this electricity-generating backup. Designed for the military, the kinetic energy pack is suspended on a rail that generates electricity as you walk. The power generated will charge a standard US Marine-issue lithium ion battery pack or can be directly routed to whatever device you want to charge. The obvious benefit would be limitless power in the field freeing troops from carrying extra batteries on long missions. A power meter on the shoulder strap lets you monitor performance while a three-stage resistance device lets you regulate the power output. A braking mechanism lets you lock down the pack when you want to keep the pack steady. Otherwise, it looks like it’ll generate about 8 watts of power while walking or 44 watts of power when running. Do want. See it in action after the break.

[Via besportier]

Continue reading Power generating backpack is a gift from the gadget gods, Uncle Sam

Filed under: Wearables

Power generating backpack is a gift from the gadget gods, Uncle Sam originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Oct 2009 05:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Carbon nanotubes are kind of like peanuts. They both seem pretty simple at first glance, but with a little work, you can make pretty much anything out of ’em. Take this case, for example, as MIT boffins have discovered that by forming the tube-shaped molecules of pure carbon into minuscule springs, they could be “capable of storing as much energy, pound for pound, as lithium-ion batteries.” The real kicker is exactly how they’d do it — “more durably and reliably.” Essentially, these newfangled cells could be left alone for years on end without losing their charge, and unlike conventional batteries, these wouldn’t suffer from performance degradation when exposed to temperature extremes. Of course, anything as pie-in-the-sky as this is probably at least a decade or so out from Walmart shelves, but considering that the group responsible has already filed a patent, we’d say they’re pretty confident in the possibilities.

[Via Physorg]

Filed under: Science

Carbon nanotubes find yet another purpose, could star in ultra-reliable batteries originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Sep 2009 20:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Not long after establishing a prototype EV battery switching station in Japan, Better Place is now partnering with Nihon Kotsu, Tokyo’s largest taxi operator, to put the thing through its paces, swapping out batteries for up to four electric hacks scheduled to run from the Roppongi Hills shopping and office complex beginning in January next year. In Tokyo, cabs account for only two percent of the traffic, yet they produce twenty-percent of its CO2 emissions — a fact that further drives home the point that greening our public transportation is an important first step in cleaning up the environment. The study comes hot on the heels of other deals in the works for Israel, Europe, and the San Francisco. Albert Hockenberry would be impressed.

[Via PhysOrg]

Filed under: Transportation

Better Place tests its EV battery switching stations on Tokyo cabbies originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lenovo’s issued a recall for the batteries on six of its ThinkPad models. The batteries are apparently causing a range of problems, including bringing up the error messages “irreparable damage” and “battery cannot be charged,” and causing overall short capacity batteries, or those than cannot be charged or experience massive drops on the fuel gauge quickly. The recalled models are the R60, R61, T60, T61, X60, and the X61, and Lenovo’s got a free diagnostic tool on its website that you can use to check and see if your model is one of those affected. While there’s no word on how many users have been affected, If you are one of the unlucky, the company is offering free replacements.

Update: A representative for Lenovo has contacted us and let us know that the company has not, in fact, issued a recall for the batteries associated with the models listed. “This is a service extension program to provide (bonus 12-month) coverage above and beyond the normal warranty to ensure complete customer satisfaction. Recalls tend to imply a safety issue, which is not the case here, as you noted in your article.”

[Via SlashGear]

Filed under: Laptops

Lenovo issues battery “service and warranty extension” for six ThinkPad models originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Aug 2009 10:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Look at that. Just look at that. Do you have the slightest idea what that is? No, it’s not a wired optical mouse. It’s not a smartphone from circa 1985. It’s a Palm Pre with a battery that just might last until you’re six feet under if you choose not to chat much. After one-upping Seidio’s 1,350mAh battery with a 1,400mAh version, the company has now hit back with a new duo that redefines your vision of “bulging.” Both the 2,800mAh and 3,800mAh cells ship with (and thus require) new backplates to contain the extra girth, and neither of them support Palm’s Touchstone charger. PreThinking is currently testing ’em out, but considering that it just might be 2015 before they’re able to report any results, they’ve hosted up a litany of product shots for the time being. Head on down to the read link if you’re looking for laughs.

Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals

Amzer issues embarrassingly gigantic Palm Pre extended batteries originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Aug 2009 08:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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