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Posts Tagged “

Batteries

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design

Energy Seed Concept Is Smart Way to Collect Spent Batteries

I threw away two batteries yesterday. I know, I know—it's almost the same as chopping down like five old-growth oak trees or something, but it was just so damn easy. And what else are you gonna do with dead batteries? That's exactly why I am jazzed about this Energy Seed concept by Sungwoo Park. You collect all the batteries that no longer power your digital cameras, baby toys and TV remotes, and you deposit them in the base of this lamp. The lamp then glows, because even a mostly spent battery will be able to power an ultra-efficient light source. More »

7:20 PM on Fri Oct 10 2008
By Wilson Rothman
11,597 views, 26 comments

Latest by Jonathan21: (start sarcastic holier than thou hippie rant) I feel very offended that you forgot to mention Portland, after all we were more »

power up

Silver-Zinc Batteries Coming in 2009 With 40% Better Run Time Than Lithium-Ion

Lithium-ion is, by far, the most common form of rechargeable battery found in today's mobile devices. However, a shift towards silver zinc may be looming on the horizon thanks to a new product in development by ZPower, Inc. Ross E. Dueber, president and CEO of the company is scheduled to address attendees at the Batteries 2008 conference in Nice, France starting tomorrow, where he will tout the advantages of his silver-zinc technology scheduled to launch in "a major notebook computer in 2009." Whether we will find out the identity of this "major notebook" in the coming days remains to be seen, but the impending release does offer some hope for consumers frustrated by the battery life of their precious portable gadgets. More »

1:48 PM on Tue Oct 7 2008
By Sean Fallon
4,380 views, 29 comments

Latest by Purple Dave: @radeon21: Dude, people are stripping copper and aluminum from new-house construction sites. Doesn't matter if they'd only get a few more »

batteries

European Rule Could Force Apple to Unintegrate its iPod Batteries

A new European Union rule could spell the end to the iPod's pesky integrated batteries. The EU's proposed “New Batteries Directive,” which mandates that batteries in electronic appliances need to be “readily removed” would force Apple to change the iPod's design for the European market. More »

1:05 AM on Tue Oct 7 2008
By Elaine Chow
7,316 views, 82 comments

Latest by DisposableInterloper: @jkr's bold comment: Well there we go, you need an adapter either way. I'd still like to see where that's part more »

projectors

LG's HS102 Projector Has Divx Player Aboard, 2-Hour Battery

Projectors, unless they're of the mini- or HD-kind tend to have me thinking "meh..." apart from LG's new HS102. 'Cause though it has just 800 x 600 native resolution with switchable 4:3/16:9 ratios, it's got Phlatlight LED illumination tech that gives it a 2,000:1 contrast ratio and 150 lumen brightness and it's got a Divx player (playing files from USB-attached storage, it seems) built right into it. And there's a rechargeable battery jammed in there too, making this projector portable in the real sense, since it'll run for two hours unplugged. Out in South Korea for around a $555 equivalent, there's no word on when it'll hit these shores. [Naver via Zoomgadget]

10:30 AM on Wed Oct 1 2008
By Kit Eaton
1,487 views, 9 comments

Latest by shpe11: dell, now LG... thing are moving with LED projectors... divX on my bedroom's celing @ night more »

batteries

Toshiba 'Super Charge' Laptop Batteries Hit 90% in 10 Minutes, Age Well

Toshiba's Super Charge Ion Batteries (SCiBs) have been floating around in various industrial applications for a while now, prompting some serious envy in the consumer space with their ridiculously fast charge time and remarkable lifespan (5000-6000 charge cycles to a normal lithium ion's 500). A year and about one worn-out laptop battery later, Toshiba is showing a prototype of a SCiB notebook battery at CEATEC, quickly charging a Dynabook in what must be one of the least visually stimulating demos of the show. More »

11:20 AM on Tue Sep 30 2008
By John Herrman
7,455 views, 18 comments

Latest by Overheal: if they will sell one that fits into my hp laptop i will love them with mouth. more »

art

Ball of Batteries Re-Energizes Old Trash

By artist Michel de Broin, the Dead Star is a sculpture formed from batteries at the end of their functional life. He explains, "Left to itself, the sculpture will slowly cool down since there is no longer electronic activity taking place in it." On exhibit at the Eyebeam Center for Art and Technology in New York, we enjoy the sculpture because it perpetually looks like it's about to explode. [Michel de Broin via MAKE]

12:00 PM on Fri Sep 26 2008
By Mark Wilson
4,392 views, 33 comments

Latest by hindsight2020: @J. Nadeau: my thoughts exactly! more »

conspiracies

MacBook Pro Automatically Self-Destructs in Time for Next Version

Reader Mike Chung sent us these pictures of his MacBook Pro battery, which has almost failed for the second time? Why do I say almost? I mean, it's clear that the battery has ballooned into some sort of slimy, Alien-like monstrosity. Well, apparently this battery is still alive and working. More »

6:45 AM on Fri Sep 26 2008
By John Herrman
19,735 views, 83 comments

Latest by Jafro: Ummm.... good advice from a world-class help desk. Tell him to update his effin' firmware already. If he more »

power up

EVOLTA, the World's Longest-Lasting AA Alkaline Battery, Coming to the US

We first heard about the Guinness record-holding EVOLTA AA battery back in April, but at the time they were only available in Japan. However, Panasonic is bringing their new product to the States staring this October in AA or AAA four and eight packs (priced at $5 and $9 respectively). I would just stick with rechargeables, but hey—that's just me. More »

12:00 PM on Wed Sep 24 2008
By Sean Fallon
8,493 views, 33 comments

Latest by RedwoodFlyer: @ripfire: They got a lot better in March - they're not identical to Energizer e2 Titanium...made in the same plant(s) same more »

supercapacitors

Carbon Nanotube Supercapacitors May Replace Clunky Car Batteries

Carbon nanotubes are one of the surprising new carbon supermaterials, and it looks like their application in supercapacitors may have a role in replacing clunky old car battery tech. Scientists at the University of Texas at Dallas have invented a technique to make supercapacitor "paper" made from randomly tangled carbon nanotubes embedded in a polymer. Both chemical batteries and capacitors store electrical charge, in differing ways, but nanotech supercapacitors could store more energy in a smaller space, without the dangers associated with chemical systems. Potentially excellent news given the rise of the hybrid car. Better yet the new technique is "easily scalable for device fabrication on an industrial scale," so it might end up in real products sooner rather than later. [Physorg]

9:00 AM on Mon Sep 22 2008
By Kit Eaton
4,332 views, 28 comments

Latest by rockntrumpet: Seriously, enough of this crap already. more »

wiimote

Teknocreations' InCharge Juices Wiimotes Without Contact

We've featured a couple of Wiimote charging solutions before, but here's one that's gotten around the pesky problem of charging without metal contacts—annoying if you actually use those Wiimote jackets. Teknocreations' InCharge allows you to dock up to two 'motes, silicon and all, to grab 25 hours of gameplay juice. How? Magic (i mean, inductive charging)! InCharge retails for $34.99. [IGN via Nintendo Wii Fanboy]

10:45 PM on Thu Sep 18 2008
By Elaine Chow
2,314 views, 9 comments

Latest by m-p{3}: Looks nice, I might consider this one instead of my good old rechargeable batteries. more »