Part of the secret is to use nickel instead of carbon for the positive terminal in each cell. The previous record at Panasonic for type cells were 2.9 amp hours, and a quick search shows that most are in the 2.2 amp range.

Battery tech still remains one of the slowest developing sectors in technology, which is why Obama put billions of dollars in grant money towards its research. And why this is great news for all. [Panasonic]

The battery will also include a system that will allow users to monitor their electricity usage through their televisions. Seems like a viable alternative to solar batteries and fuel cells, but I'm curious to know how a week of powering a Japanese home equates to powering a typical American home. Either way, the technology won't be available until sometime in 2011. [Physorg]

Beware of the Upsell

It's something worth repeating every holiday season: When retailers take a hit on TVs, they often make up the difference on ridiculously overpriced extras. You may find a genuine deal or two on a big ticket item at a giant tech retailer like Best Buy, but, as far as I am concerned, you would have to be a damned fool to buy any of their extras and accessories. You know about HDMI cables, but there's a lot more profit-driven accessorizing where that came from.

Even if you already did buy the accessories needed for your gadget gifts, go online and do some calculations before you toss out those receipts. You may want to return them when you see how much you could have saved. As for late shoppers—listen up. Getting batteries, cables, controllers, mounts and other necessities can really nickel-and-dime your holiday budget. Time may be running out to shop, but that doesn't mean you should allow retailers to take advantage of you.

Let's go over this again. Retailers like Best Buy are not above bending you over with sucker warranties and massively overpriced or deceptive services.

And how about those high-margin extras? For example, I selected a random low-profile wall mount from Sanus designed for HDTVs measuring 30 to 60 inches diagonal. It's the kind of wall mount the average Joe would probably select for their new TV—a TV they may well have got a reasonable deal on. Best Buy is selling it for $169. Buy.com is selling it via Amazon for $94 with free shipping. Guess what, Best Buy—bite me. I can wait for the UPS guy if it means saving $75 or more.

The Rewards of Patience

So, I have to ask: Is the convenience worth spending $50 or more on that "high quality" 6-foot HDMI cable upsell in a store when you can get basically the same performance from a $3 version (shipped) from Amazon? Best Buy's cheapest 6-foot HDMI cables will still run you $13. Even discount giant Walmart can't get anywhere near the prices you can find online at places like Amazon and Monoprice. When you consider all of the various cables you might need to buy for your gadgets this holiday, the costs can really add up. My advice with cables is to suck it up, shop online and and wait if necessary.

For other products, you may not need to wait for an online shipment because the best price is just up the road. I don't know why anyone would spend $50 on a wireless Xbox 360 controller and $100 on a wireless-N adapter at Best Buy when they can hop in the car and head to Walmart and get them for $38 and $83 respectively. I know shopping can be hectic, and I understand why you would just want to get it over with, but saving money is going to be worth the inconvenience. As always, it is best to do your price comparisons before heading out. And if your local store is sold out, you can always order them.

Other Extras You Might Need

Now that you're good and aware of the nature of this problem, let's go over all of the things you might still need, even after Santa has left the building.

Batteries: I don't expect you to order batteries online last minute, but the good news is that you can probably find great prices in your area. We recommend Duracell rechargeables, but if you try and pick up a basic 6-hour charger with 4 AA batteries from Best Buy, it is going to run you $28 compared to $20 at Target. Futhermore—if you already have the charger or are buying it separately—a 4-pack of extra pre-charged NiMH AAs runs you $18 at Best Buy and only $13 at Target.

Storage: Everyone who buys a new computer or even upgrades their OS suddenly finds themselves in need of a backup hard drive. Generally speaking, a big ole USB desktop unit is the best value. The going rate for a 1TB brand-name USB 2.0 drive is around $100, and while Amazon, NewEgg and Walmart all beat Best Buy on price in some ways, only Walmart, strangely enough, offers either the 1TB Seagate FreeAgent desktop drive or the 1TB WD My Book desktop drive for $99.

If you have several computers (especially with different OS platforms), you're going to want to check out setting up a network drive or array. We really liked the Iomega's Ix2-200 as a cheap but full-featured NAS solution. I actually ended up picking one of these up myself for about $40 off list at Amazon, but you can find a slightly (and I do mean slightly) better deal on Next Warehouse right now. NewEgg also has a great reputation for good prices on storage devices. In this case however, they come in third because of shipping charges.

Powerline Networking Kit: If you're getting a connected Blu-ray player, TV, Roku Box, game console, HD media player or other assorted networked thingamajigs, you may want to think about a powerline adapter, like Linksys' PLK300. It's a simpler and usually more broadband friendly alternative to Wi-Fi. But the PLK300 sells for $155 on Best Buy and a shocking $169 at Walmart. Amazon will hook you up for $122, but if you don't mind a little risk, NewEgg has an "open box" offer for $93.

Bags and Camera Packs: There are countless options when it comes to cases and bags for your gadgets, but one of our faves is the Timbuk2 HAL backpack. It has all of the storage you would need, and you can score it for as little as $96 on Amazon shipped. In other stores, it might cost as much as $120. eBags also has the Timbuk2 for $96 with a free 2-day air upgrade. Some cool bags aren't as easy to find on sale—Matt loved the Crumpler 5 Million Dollar Home camera bag, and we can't really find it anywhere (respectable) for under $80.

Gadget Cases: When it comes to cases for iPhones and iPods, profit is the name of the game, so be careful about any potential screwings. Our best advice is to try doing generic searches—instead of a brand name, type in "silicone iphone case" or "rugged iphone case" and weigh your options. For the former, Amazon and NewEgg yield a huge selection of cases in the $15, while Walmart only shows just two $20 cases, and Best Buy has a similar two, for $25 a piece. A combination of thinking—and thinking ahead—is what works here.

iPhone and Smartphone Car Mounts: With many of us relying on our cellphones for GPS guidance these days, a good car mount is becoming essential. Unfortunately, those fancy iPhone docks with a GPS-boosting receiver like the TomTom and the Magellan are pretty overpriced (especially when you have GPS already built into the phone), and besides, they're in pretty short supply, as is the official car mount for Droid phones. So where does that leave you? Well, it leaves you with a lot of basic, no-frills options that do the job just fine. For the iPhone, you could get something as dirt-ass cheap as this $6 windshield mount from DealExtreme. Here's a secret, the Droid fits in many iPhone docks, especially ones that hold at just one end. But if you're gonna fudge it, go cheap, or else hold out for the official dock.

In-Car Phone Chargers: Don't ever ever ever spend money on specialized, phone-specific chargers if your phone happens to charge with USB. That's just a con. Just take the same cord you plug your phone into your computer with—regardless of whether you have an iPhone, a Droid, a Pre, really anything "smart"—and plug it into one of these super-cheap 12V USB adapters. Griffin's dual-USB one sells on Amazon for $7.50. With all the money you can finally save not buying proprietary car chargers, you may just want to buy a few of those, and while you're at it, stock up on extra USB cables.

Universal Remotes: You can get cheap universal remotes anywhere, but if you want something more high end, the Logitech Harmony 900 should fit the bill. On Amazon it's $280 shipped. How about Best Buy? Oooh, $380. See a pattern developing here?

As I mentioned in my recent article championing the HTPC, you can get something as simple as the HA-IR01SV from Mediagate to control Windows Media Center for only $25.41 shipped from Amazon. If you absolutely need it now you will have to pay a few extra bucks at Walmart.

Conclusion

When it comes to buying all of those extras for your holiday gadgets this year, my advice is simple: Use common sense and don't settle. Stores like Best Buy, Staples, Office Max and Gamestop are probably not the places you want to go to score your accessories. Look at the local discount stores like Walmart and Target first—and if you can't find a good enough price without ordering online, you're just gonna have to wait it out. As tough as that might be with a new gadget to play with, the savings will be worth it.

And if any of you have come across any good deals of your own on stuff to make your gadgets run at 100%, just throw them into comments—with pricing and a photo, if possible.

Image via Link

On either side of the device is an "air holder," where batteries can be recharged, and there's also a USB port for charging other gadgets, like your iPhone, and the AC input for charging the actual device. While it's shown up on king of the concepts site Yanko Design, it's actually going on sale in Japan and Taiwan in the first half of 2010, and then the US after that. [Nobil via Yanko Design]

There's a ton more ideas—not just tech ones—at the full spread. Read it, it'll make you more intelligent, though you'll feel a lot dumber on a personal level. [NYT]

But a new development in battery technology could bring paper right back around to its former place of prominence, using it to power the very digital devices — smartphones, Kindles, laptops, etc. — that are increasingly replacing print.

By coating regular copier paper in ink made of carbon nanotubes and silver nanowires, Stanford researchers have created highly conductive storage devices that can be bent, folded, and wrapped around other surfaces (energy-storing wallpaper, anyone?). The carbon nanotube ink adheres to the surface of the paper just like normal ink would, making paper the ideal vehicle for these thin, lightweight storage devices.

Since earlier research has shown that silicon nanowire batteries can be up to 10 times more powerful than lithium-ion batteries, researchers are hopeful the paper batteries will be able to power everything from automobiles to laptops to phones with smaller, lighter, more powerful and longer-lasting batteries. The method can also create simple supercapacitors with large surface areas that allow rapid energy discharge, a requirement for automobile power sources that lithium-ion batteries have trouble satisfying.

All of that would just be more pie-in-the-sky battery research if it were not for this: the paper battery technology is basically market-ready. That's not to say that researchers won't need some time to iron out the kinks, but power sources based on this technology could be commercialized very soon compared to a lot of the nano-noise circulating in scientific circles. The fact that the process is also very cheap means devices like these could be powering your paper-replacing devices sooner than you think. Get the details straight from Stanford's Yi Cui below. [PhysOrg, Forbes]

Popular Science is your wormhole to the future. Reporting on what's new and what's next in science and technology, we deliver the future now.

The downside of these batteries is that they're not rechargeable, but they're still smaller than other standard batteries and will be great for newer, tinier gadgets. [Tech On via Engadget]

The questions were thrown at me by our dear Brian Lam with a disclaimer of "I may have been under narcotic substances when I came up with this idea." But, despite that disclaimer, he's onto something. After all, we've looked at concept models of gadgets intended to be powered in that precise manner, by converting blood glucose into electrical current. There's also been some success in recent bio-battery research with yeast fuel cells. So, why aren't we sating both gadget lust and hunger in the same bite yet?

It turns out that the bio-batteries closest to reality at this time, the yeast cell ones, have a major problem with waste products. That waste is created as those particular batteries involve microbial yeast-based fuel cells that steal "some of the electrons produced when the yeast metabolizes glucose" in order to create a small current. While the entire process works just fine, the yeast cells are at risk unless the waste products are removed. We can't exactly let the waste be dumped into the blood stream, so until there's a some kind of cleaning process, the batteries are trouble as they either they die off or poison your bloodstream while trying to survive.

That trouble aside though, the research is quite encouraging and a huge first step. It may be many years until we can use bio-batteries, but I'll wait patiently with some Häagen-Dazs until the day that fat bottomed girls really make the rockin' world go 'round. [New Scientist]

Photo by Bare Conductive

It varies from netbook to netbook—Toshiba's NB205 hardier withstood Windows 7's power greediness better than HP's Mini 311, but you definitely lose juice quicker. It's somewhat expected, though, with features like the fancier Aero user interface to name one probable cause. Personally, I'll take Windows 7 and the dead battery. [Laptop]

1. Since a battery should never be 100% full or 100% empty, you should charge it then discharge it in sequence ideally ranging between 80% to 20%. Start by charging for 12 minutes, then running it down, then charge it for 11 minutes then run it down, and so on. Confused? Just use this handy formula: n!=C(n,k)/r! where n can't equal r, and k never reaches zero. Simple!

2. If you use a phone or laptop without first charging its battery fully, you will die.

3. A lot of battery experts warn of the memory effect, but it's not really an "effect." It's just their way of saying "Remember to charge your batteries!"

4. Batteries run better when cold. The easiest way to do this is to find a refrigerated warehouse or meat locker, befriend the night watchman, and do all your work from there. ($20 bribes usually work.)

5. If your laptop battery gets hot enough to sear tuna, step away. Check your fridge for tuna. If no tuna in fridge, run to the supermarket to buy tuna. Don't worry, as long as you don't unplug your laptop, the battery will stay hot while you are gone.

6. When putting your laptop into storage, take out the battery. Wrap the extracted battery in a well oiled cloth and place it in a clay pot. Bury the pot in a hayfield. Any will do, but it's best if there's a long rock wall with a big oak tree at the north end. The battery should keep fresh for up to six months that way. If you're worried about finding it again, just mark your spot with a rock that has no earthly business in a hayfield. I favor black volcanic glass.

7. If your battery is about to run dry, take it out and blow on it. I have no idea why this works, but it totally does.

8. If your battery does die, you can always make your own: A potato theoretically has enough "potential energy" stored inside to power a laptop for a full hour—the trick is knowing where to stick the wires. Just ask a third grader. One tip: The potato must not be baked.

9. You should never confuse your batteries. Here's an easy way to keep them apart in your head: Lithium Ion batteries explode, Nickel Cadmium destroys the environment, and Lead Acid batteries are more corrosive than the Alien Queen's blood (plus, they contain lead). You can eat Lithium Ferro Phosphate batteries.

10. People may tell you to carry a battery-life extender in your bag, but the secret there is, it's just another battery. What do I recommend? Jumper cables.

Windows 7 Sales 234% Higher Than Vista

NPD declared sales for Windows 7 were 234% higher than the sales for Windows Vista in the same amount of time on the market, says Nick Wingfield at the WSJ's Seattle desk. Oddly, Windows PC sales were down, 6% lower than they were during the Vista launch weeks. The NPD analyst take: "I think it's mixed. We would have liked to see a stronger jump on the hardware side." The non-analyst take: People who had XP knew that switching to Vista would suck without a new machine; now, the opposite is true, with so many people keeping their old machines but trying any means necessary to rid them of Vista. Still, these are early days, and we already knew pre-orders were insane. I'm just curious to see if PC sales will pick up for the holidays. [WSJ - Image Source]

Battery Juice No Longer Just an Expression, Still Not as Tasty as Orange Juice

You know how the Air Force has been working on a secret water-based battery technology for 25 years, but couldn't get it to work because of water's damned evaporative property? OK, me neither, but this research, which bears the ironically simple name "metal-air," might become our next great battery technology. They won't be using water, though. Instead, they'll use a clear, viscous, electrically conductive and mercifully non-volatile substance called ionic liquid. This stuff isn't going to be powering your Zune until the Zune itself is pretty much an implant (or a smart tattoo), but if you're curious, you should check out the super over-my-head chemical explanation. [MIT Tech Review - Image Source]

Verizon Calls AT&T's Ad Lawsuit "Junk"

As if AT&T's stupid "Map For That" lawsuit wasn't embarrassing enough on its own, Verizon Wireless's Jeffrey Nelson got a chance to ridicule it when AdWeek called him for comment. "This is a junk lawsuit," he said. "It's surprising that rather than defend the ‘blue' hot spots on their 3G map, our competitor instead focuses on their white spaces." This isn't working out according to plan, is it, AT&T? Reminds me of the Trojan Rabbit scene in Python's Holy Grail. [AdWeek via AllThingsD]

Air Filter Uses Plants to Get Rid of Yer Weed Smoke

There's a new air filter that draws air through the leaves, roots and soil of a house plant in order to filter impurities from the room. Well, it was designed in 2007, but it's now a reality. Hey, are you thinking what I'm thinking? If you grow pot in the filter, when you smoke it, the plant itself that bestowed it upon you can filter the smoke, and maybe recapture some THC for bonus stickiness? Wait, what? Oh man, I'm freaking out. You're crazy. This is crazy. Seriously. Let's do it. [Inhabitots]

Now, the FAA says the airlines need approval from the FAA's hazardous materials division, and has asked them not to store spare lithium ion batteries for the readers on planes. A few airlines went through some special training to get the okay, but at least Delta and JetBlue don't carry spares or charge the readers on board at all.

The current rate for gadgets exploding on planes is about one every four months, says a former NTSB dude. Which isn't so bad, considering there are millions of flights happening in that time period. Still, I have the feeling this xkcd comic is going to stay funny for the reasons it's funny now for like another year, max. [NYT]

http://xkcd.com/651/

The way you'd use the reNEW charger is simple. You toss your batteries in the top portion and they'll be ready at the bottom once they're fully-charged. Cool idea, but I'm not entirely sure that I'd want to plaster my windows with it.

Updated: Now we've got some official pictures from the original designer rather than the previous "work in progress" shots. [Yanko Design]

The real secret behind the size of the batteries is the use of new liquid semiconductors instead of tired old solid semiconductors. That's great, because nuclear batteries aren't a new idea, nor are they terrifying and harmful according to Jae Kwon, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Missouri:

"People hear the word ‘nuclear' and think of something very dangerous," he said. "However, nuclear power sources have already been safely powering a variety of devices, such as pace-makers, space satellites and underwater systems."

Anyway, researchers are building and testing these batteries as you read this, but the bad news is that the initial focus is on powering micro/nanoelectromechanical systems, not remote controls. We can't even begin to speculate as to when we would see tiny nuclear batteries in our local 7-Elevens. [University of Missouri via Boing Boing]

Designed by Qian Jiang, the concept is actually rather brilliant since it wouldn't require an additional gadget to recharge your batteries and depending on how many recharges it would allow for, it might be a rather good deal too. Since this battery is still a concept, we're a bit skeptical about the claim that it could be fully charged in 20 minutes, but that would be fast enough for most of us. Those of us who haven't got the arm muscles of a noodle that is. [Yanko Design]

The project wants to make this happen by using a lithium-air battery, which...

couple to atmospheric oxygen-essentially harnessing the oxygen in the air as the cathode of the battery. Since oxygen enters the battery on-demand, it offers an essentially unlimited amount of reactant, metered only by the surface area of its electrodes. IBM believes its nanoscale semiconductor fabrication techniques can increase the surface area of the lithium-air battery's electrodes by at least 100 times, enabling them to meet the goals of the project.

If you think the consortium will deliver a fantastic car by the time you need to trade in your current vehicle, you should hold off on getting so excited. IBM says it's going to be another two years to even see if the lithium-air batteries can be used to make the goal happen. [Smarter Technology via Slashdot]

The heat is customizable, featuring three levels of warmth that you activate with a tab in the coat's chest (sort of like a very lame Iron Man).

This coat, as described so far, will run you $375. And Brian Lam really liked the technology when he checked it out several months back.

For another $50, you can add a USB adapter that leads into a pocket that's fed from the same battery as the heating element. In other words, you'll be able to recharge your phone, but it could be at the cost of freezing to death or at least losing a few limbs.

Tough call. [Mountain Hardwear via Urbandaddy via CrunchGear]

On a page dedicated to maximizing your MacBook's battery life and lifespan, Apple says:

Apple does not recommend leaving your portable plugged in all the time. Apple recommends charging and discharging its battery at least once per month. Need a reminder? Add an event to your desktop's iCal.

Apple also says that you should store the battery with a 50 percent charge if you're not going to use your laptop for more than 6 months (otherwise it could fall into a deep discharge state, and not be capable of holding a charge).

Many laptops—PC and Mac—use Lithium-Ion batteries (as apposed to Nickel-metal hydride), so it's a good reminder to make sure you read your freakin' manual. What's been your experience with laptop batteries? [Smarterware]