Hasta La Gadget!

With the announcement of new iPads earlier this week, Apple also quietly released a new power adapter to go with them. The company released a new 12W power adapter that’s compatible with all of Apple’s newer products, including the iPad mini and even the iPhone 5. Plus, Apple has confirmed that the new adapter charges devices faster than the previous 10W adapter.

On the product page, Apple has confirmed that the new charger will come with Retina display iPads, meaning both the 4th-gen and 3rd-gen iPads. However, you can also purchase the charger by itself for a reasonable $19. It’ll also work with the iPhone 4S, 5th-gen iPod Touch, 7th-gen iPod Nano, 2nd-gen iPad, and the new iPad mini.

Word of caution, though. While the charger will work for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPod Nano, it’s not recommended that you rely solely on the 12W adapter to charge your device up. Yes, it will charge them up almost twice as faster than the smaller 5W adapter, but it’ll also ruin the battery over time.

While Apple confirmed that the new 12W adapter will charge iPads faster than previous adapters, they didn’t say by how much. “We don’t have an exact percentage of how much faster it would charge but you should see an increase in speed,” a spokesperson said. I guess we’ll have to wait for side-by-side comparisons to pop up.

[via 9to5Mac]

Apple’s new iPad power adapter charges faster than previous version is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

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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As gadgets become more and more compact and portable, one thing that continues to stand in the way is the limitation of current battery technology. Just think of how the majority of space and weight inside your tablet or smartphone is its battery pack, and they still often run out of juice before you’re done for the day. As companies continue to work on improving battery life, and decreasing consumption, it would be nice to be able to generate more power when you need it. One conceptual device hopes to help a little bit, by harnessing the energy you expend when you walk or run.

While industrial designer Toby Blake’s Kinetic Charger concept isn’t the first such gadget, it’s definitely one of the more stylish and compact attempts to create a kinetic-energy storage device. The small USB charger would simply clip onto your beltline or a pocket, and would harvest energy you expend as you move around throughout the day, using reverse electrowetting technology.

Blake envisions that each one could store up to 4 watts of power, and you could connect multiples together to increase available energy levels.

Now there are probably some practical challenges that would limit the effectiveness of such as small kinetic-capture device, and there’s really not much room inside of it for a supplemental battery pack to store that energy in either. Still, it’s a cool design, and I’d love to see it come to market someday.

[via EcoChunk]

Rohm’s hydrogen fuel cells are meant to power smartphones and other mobile devices, but unlike other juicing-up solutions, the cells are only good for one charge. Rohm says disposable fuel cells can be made smaller and lighter than their multi-use counterparts, and as the only byproduct is hydrogen, the company is touting the cells’ eco-friendliness. The system generates electricity by using hydrogen that’s created by the reaction of a metal material and water. While the device we saw here at CEATEC is a prototype, Rohm may offer its recharging system as both a smartphone case and a USB-attachable juicepack. Each offers 5Wh and can fully charge a handset once. There’s also a 200W power generator, which certainly stretches the meaning of portable but can keep a laptop, LCD TV and a peripheral or two going for three to four hours. Rohm says its fuel cells will see a commercial release some time in 2013; for now you can get a sneak peek in our hands-on gallery below.

Zach Honig contributed to this report.

Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals

Rohm 5Wh hydrogen fuel cells power up smartphones, ready for the trash after one charge originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Oct 2012 11:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How many chargers do you have lying around the house from all of the different devices you bought? Now, how many of those are you actually using? You probably have a few chargers tucked away in a drawer somewhere because you already have a couple that you’re currently using. To cut down on the amount of unused chargers circulating around the world, O2 and HTC are teaming up to release a new smartphone that won’t come with a charger in the first place.

According to O2, 70% of customers in the UK who buy a new smartphone already have the charger to go with it. This results in more than 100 million chargers going unused. O2 says that by trying to reduce the number of chargers floating around in the world, it will prevent further environmental damage by limiting the amount of components and packaging that are normally required.

While this unannounced smartphone from O2 and HTC won’t come with a charger, you’ll still be able to grab one separately if need be, but the phone itself will only come with a USB cable, for which you can use to charge your device through a USB port on your computer. But if you need to charge via a wall outlet, you’ll need to get the separate wall charger.

It makes sense really, especially for those who are loyal to one handset manufacturer. Back in my Android days, I only bought HTC, and as a result I ended up with a ton of chargers that were all the same. It was nice to have extras, but I simply had too many that would go unused, especially when I mostly just charged my devices through USB.

[via Pocket-lint]

O2 and HTC to sell new smartphone without charger is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.