Researchers keep promising us better batteries, but till those come true (if ever), we have to rely on our current …
Do you have an iPhone? You wanna know how you can get your friends to gift you an external battery pack? Support the ChargeBite’s fundraiser. The ChargeBite is a charger for 30-pin iOS devices, but it doesn’t have its own battery. What it does is draw power from other 30-pin iOS devices to transfer to your own. See where I’m going with this?
Inventors Liran Elihay and Asaf Gaber call their invention “a social charger.” The advantage of course is that you don’t have to carry an external battery pack and the ChargeBite never needs to be charged. I guess I don’t know have to tell you the obvious drawbacks of the ChargeBite, but I will make this clear – as far as I can tell you need two donor iOS devices to charge one iOS device.
I don’t think the ChargeBite is utterly useless, but overall I cannot in good conscience recommend that you support its fundraiser. We can’t fit two friends and their iPhones into our pockets. But years of reading about the likes of Brando have given me a soft spot for crazy gadgets and doodads. Just the fact that this actually exists should be enough for us.
[via Geeky Gadgets]
Aside from generating heat, most electronic devices also emit electromagnetic fields. A rapid prototyping enthusiast named Dennis Siegel has found a way to tap into those fields and store them as usable energy by way of AA batteries. Think of his harvesters as the real life equivalent of the mutant Bishop.
Siegel wrote about his project on his website but he didn’t go into detail about his build process, only that he used “coils and high frequency diodes” to capture the electromagnetic fields. He also said that he made two different types of harvesters that convert electromagnetic fields of different frequencies. Using the harvesters couldn’t be simpler. They’ll automatically gather and store energy as long as there’s an electromagnetic field nearby. The harvesters also have an LED that glow in proportion to the strength of nearby electromagnetic fields. If you still can’t follow that, watch this creepy dude:
Siegel didn’t mention if he’s interested in making a commercial version of his project. But even if he is he still has a long way to go – his current prototypes need literally an entire day to charge one AA battery. Still, it’s nice to imagine that someday our gadgets will be powering each other and even themselves.
[via Dennis Siegel & Fast Co. Design via Visual News]
In these days we just can’t live without our smartphones, so when we start to hear the beeping sound that tells us our buttery is running low, we all start to panic a bit. Unless (of course) you have where to charge it, but once again Murphy’s Law wins and just when you need ...
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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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I think electric vehicles are interesting enough, but they have a lot of practical limitations that keep most drivers from considering them. Probably the biggest issues are driving range and the time it takes to charge the batteries. Faster battery charging and higher capacity batteries are one way to get around this particular limitation. However, what may be the best way to get people buying an EV is to develop a system that charges the vehicle as it drives down the road.
A group of Japanese researchers are showing off a system that has the potential to do just that. The researchers have invented a wireless charging system that is able to transmit electricity from a charging plate under 4 inches of concrete directly through the tires of the car and into the vehicle batteries.
In the demonstration, the researchers are transmitting enough power through concrete blocks and into the car’s tires to make a light bulb glow. Naturally, we would need an infrastructure that had charging plates under the nation’s roadways to make this work, but not having to stop to charge your car would certainly make owning and driving an EV a more appealing proposition.
[via Phys.org]
If you rushed out to buy a Galaxy S III (or are waiting to buy one) but got skittish over decking it out with extras, it's time to relax. MobileFun has volunteered to show a quintet of the Android 4.0 phone's official accessories on-camera to get a feel for how they work. Samsung's desktop dock, battery charger and flip cover all get the video treatment, but the highlights are the WiFi Display Hub and C-Pen. The wireless hub sadly isn't shown with a live Galaxy S III to demo, but gives a feel for just how minuscule it is next to a TV. However, the C-Pen is mostly notable for working only with Samsung's latest: there's no way to wield it as an upscale Galaxy Note stylus. All of the accessories are already on sale, although it might be wise for Americans to just watch the videos below until they have real phones in their hands later this month.
Samsung Galaxy S III accessories shown on video, that C-Pen never felt closer (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Jun 2012 19:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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