Charging

While it’s certainly convenient that most mobile devices can be charged via one of your computer’s USB ports, what happens if all of the ports are in use? Even if they’re not, you don’t always want your devices and their cables cluttering up your desk. You can buy USB adapters for wall outlets, but then you end up needing to find an available outlet, and subsequently occupying it (in older homes especially, unused AC outlets are often something of a rarity). Now, there’s an alternative to using your computer or an adapter to charge your gizmos – it’s the Newer Technology Power2U AC/USB Wall Outlet. Read More

For those of us using smart phones, an all-too-familiar problem is that of a dead battery. The computing power, as well as the multi-purpose abilities of modern-day phones is nothing short of amazing. However, until battery life catches up with the functionality, we're still forced to carry multiple devices. For example, what good is 32GB of memory to store music and movies if it leaves me with a dead phone after an hour or two of my favorite tunes? Even though my phone can easily handle the music and movie abilities of my iPod, I still carry the iPod. I still have a GPS in my car, even though my phone is more than capable. New technology from Northwestern University is aiming to change all that. Engineers there have created an electrode for lithium-ion batteries - the rechargeables commonly found in our devices - that allows them to run ten times longer, while only taking only one-tenth of the time to charge. Read More

While the thought of building a worldwide infrastructure of charging stations for electric vehicles may seem daunting, you know what would make it even more challenging? If each station had to separately cater to each make of EV on the road – think of how many different styles of mobile phone chargers are currently out there, for instance, and then picture that applying to cars. Fortunately, however, a consortium of automakers has developed the Combined Charging System – it will allow any one vehicle to charge its batteries using a variety of different charging methods. Read More

If there are two obstacles that are still keeping the general public from embracing electric cars, those would have to be the vehicles’ limited driving range and long charging times. Well, Nissan has achieved a major milestone regarding one of those two problems – last week, Japan’s Nikkei news agency reported that the automaker has developed an experimental system that can fully charge an EV battery in just ten minutes. Read More

For hospitals, businesses and schools that have kitted their workforces and classrooms out with iPhones, iPads or iPods, keeping the various devices charged and up to date can be a time consuming chore. Griffin Technology has made the task a whole lot easier with the release of its Multidock that charges, syncs and stores up to ten iDevices at once. And if that still isn’t enough, up to three Multidocks can be linked to accommodate up to 30 iDevices. Read More

IDAPT has been providing charging solutions for power hungry mobile device users for a few years now with its range of multi-purpose chargers, such as the IDAPT i3. The company has now extended its range with the IDAPT i1 Eco dual charger that has been designed as a more environmentally friendly way to keep the juice flowing in your electronic devices. Read More

Of all the criticisms of electric vehicles, probably the most commonly-heard is that their batteries take too long to recharge – after all, limited range wouldn’t be such a big deal if the cars could be juiced up while out and about, in just a few minutes. Well, while no one is promising anything, new batteries developed at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign do indeed look like they might be a step very much in the right direction. They are said to offer all the advantages of capacitors and batteries, in one unit. Read More

The growing popularity of tablet computing has brought with it another challenge in the ongoing battle to keep your all your portable devices charged when off the grid. Scosche's solution – the goBAT II – pairs a 5000mAh rechargeable lithium ion battery with dual USB outputs, one of which is a 10 Watt (2.1 Amp) port to meet the power requirements of tablets as well as a standard 5 Watt (1 Amp) port for practically everything else. Read More

Over the years we’ve seen increasing numbers of solar backpacks and messenger bags designed to keep mobile devices juiced up by harnessing energy from the sun. With the flood of tablets looking to jump on the iPad’s coattails at CES 2011, it comes as no surprise to see a solar bag specifically designed for such devices. Produced by Voltaic, the company behind a variety of solar backpacks and messenger bags including the Converter, the Spark Tablet Case’s solar panels generate 8 watts of power to provide about an hour of iPad runtime for every hour in direct sunlight. Read More