Tag: battery
The nPower PEG personal energy generator – free electricity and personal workout
It’s a bit like a bicycle pump that makes electricity.
Or, if you’ve ever busted your hand and wrist using one, the nPower PEG is more like the battery-less torches that charge themselves up via kinetic energy…
Recharge batteries with wee. Yes, wee.
The NoPoPo battery is a revolutionary new battery from a Japanese company called Aqua Power System which consists of magnesium and carbon, and can be recharged with a ‘variety of fluids’, including urine.
The batteries will also accept beer, apple juice, cola and saliva, via a pipette included in the pack. A typical AA battery carries 1700-3000 milliamp-hours of charge, whereas the NoPoPo – which stands for no pollution power- only holds 500 mAh, but when all you need to do to recharge it is squirt in some piss, you can’t argue too much.
The NoPoPo batteries are available in Japan, and you might be able to get it from the States here for $15. If you’re buying some, though, I demand you explain in the comments exactly why you need wee-powered batteries, you weirdo.
Himeyashop (via OhGizmo!)
Related posts: ISS astronauts indulging in urine-drinking party tonight | Wee Sports announced for pubs, bars and clubs
MiFi – a pocket-sized wireless hotspot from Novatel Wireless
You’d be amazed at how many conferences lack something that I consider to be akin to running water and oxygen – internet access. Just as you’ve got comfortable in your seat near the back of the room, you open up your laptop, wait a few seconds for Linux to resume, and then utterly fail to find any open wireless hotspots.
Rather than fiddling with trying to use your phone as a modem, just connect to the MiFi. It uses high-speed HSDPA to connect to access the net via cell networks, meaning that you won’t get much signal in the wilds of Norfolk, but given that there are very few conferences in the wilds of Norfolk, you should be okay.
The internal rechargeable battery in this thing will support up to 40 hours of standby time and 4 hours of actual use without power. It’ll be available in the States in early 2009 via broadband carriers, so we might see someone like Three distribute thing alongside its existing D100 plug-in model.
Novatel Wireless (via PC World)
Related posts: 3 launches D100 wireless router for dongles | New Netgear routers, promise routing, will probably deliver
Shiny Video Review: Logitech Illuminated and DiNovo Keyboards
Dan and I have been using the keyboards that came with our PCs for a long time, and they were starting to get a bit mucky. Imagine our delight, therefore, when Logitech got on the blower and asked if we fancied taking a look at some of their newest, swankiest keyboard models. Check out the video above to see what we thought.
Logitech UK
Related posts: The μTRON Keyboard – a terrifying new form of Japanese brain torture | Logitech diNovo wireless keyboard, Mac edition – this one goes to 19
O2 launches universal, enviromental phone charger
This is the ‘Universal Charger’, which O2 will be selling in its high street shops. It kills two birds with one stone – firstly the annoyance of trying to find the right charger on some dodgy market stall if you happen to lose yours, and secondly, the annoyance of not being able to charge your phone in someone else’s house.
O2’s also touting the energy-efficient nature of the device. It consumes 70 percent less power than a standard mobile phone charger, and meets the strict energy efficient guidelines of the US Energy Star rating system. If every single phone in use in the UK was charged with one of these, it would save the country nearly £31.4 million, and cut the carbon emissions of the equivalent of 36,000 cars.
BATTERY DEVELOPMENTS: Korean scientist claims eight-fold leap in power-up time
It is a bit of a shame and quite an embarrassment for mankind that batteries haven’t come on in leaps or bounds since the 1970s, with modern Duracells only being marginally better than the Duracells used to power a Big-Trak for about 35 minutes on Christmas Day, 1981.
But that might possibly be about to change – thanks to a man called Prof. Cho Jae-phil who works at the Department of Applied Chemistry at Hanyang University, in South Korea…
Sony in yet another burning battery mess – 100,000 laptop batteries recalled in latest safety concern
Poor old Sony is infuriating laptop makers the world over once again, today issuing a recall of over 100,000 batteries it has supplied to numerous portable computer makers.
The recall involves batteries manufactured by Sony in 2004 and 2005, which were supplied to the likes of HP, Toshiba, Acer, Dell and Lenovo. Sony says there have been around 40 overheating incidents involving the batteries, and, like poor workmen the world over, it has blamed the quality of raw materials and factory errors for the problems, rather than just admitting it’s rubbish at making batteries…
The battery-powered Mini E – an electric vehicle cool enough to be seen driving by people you know
Finally, an electric car that doesn’t resemble the sort of thing Noddy & Big Ears would drive around the surface of the Moon.
This is the Mini E, a li-ion-powered electric version of the Mini. It’s a rather severely limited edition model, with only 500 being made – and all of them already earmarked for delivery to the sort of companies that fancy having a fleet of electric Minis on the books to make them look good…
Optoma Pico portable projector – pack 60 inches in your pocket
Here’s the Optoma Pico pocket projector, for all the “must beam something onto a wall” moments that occur so frequently on the go. No, I’m being mean, there’s a whole wealth of uses for something like this – especially because it can project an impressive 60″ picture from 2.6m away.
It’s the perfect thing for showing off your holiday photos round your parents’ house, or entertaining a nephew by letting him play his Wii on a 60″ screen, rather than the crappy little 17″ TV he’s stuck with. There’s umpteen thousand business uses, too…
"New Batteries Directive" could force Apple to ship European iPhone with removable battery
Critics of Apple’s decision to ship portable devices fitted with a non-removable battery may get their way if a new European Union directive is passed.
In simple terms, the “New Batteries Directive” is supposed to ensure that the batteries in gadgets must be easily removable prior to the device being disposed of…
