News

• The amazing shrinking computer

  The quest for smaller and smaller computing devices usually involves a tradeoff between processor power, battery life, communications features, memory and storage. While the product I'm looking at is in some respects the result of the intersection of a vision with compromises, the WiMM One from WiMM Labs is one of the slickest miniature computing devices I've seen to date.

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  NBN reliability: Help guide first step for battery backup

  The roll out of the National Broadband Network is set to revolutionise the way Australians communicate, but it has raised questions about the reliability of the network compared with existing copper-based telephone systems, especially among non-technical people.

• HP Expands Battery Recall: Prevent Fire or Injury

  If you have used a laptop computer, you are aware that they generate a substantial amount of heat. The battery is one of the components that generates the most heat, and in the case of specific batteries from HP, the heat may be enough to spark a fire or cause significant injury. That is why HP has expanded a recall to include an additional 54,000 batteries.

• NASA: Spacewalking astronauts install battery on solar array

  Two NASA astronauts today installed two new batteries on the International Space Station's solar array, which should keep the orbiter powered up for years to come.

• Power up workouts! Nanofiber batteries charge as you move

  Scientists from University of California, Berkeley have developed fiber nanogenerators that could harness the energy of your everyday movements and convert it into an electrical charge. Does your smartphone need a midday charge? Just go out for a run!

• Panasonic's new battery designed with safety in mind

  Panasonic announced on Tuesday that the company has begun manufacturing a new, safer laptop battery, which will hopefully reduce the number of battery recalls we have seen in recent years.

• New material aims to make lithium-ion batteries safer

  A new material developed by Taiwanese researchers aims to put an end to fires and explosions caused by the lithium-ion batteries commonly found in phones and other mobile devices.

• Apple probes iPhone battery woes

  Continued complaints by iPhone owners about fast-draining batteries have prompted Apple to ask some users to install power-logging software on their smartphones in an effort to diagnose the problem, according to messages on the company's support forum.

• Duracell reveals wireless charger

  Battery manufacturer Duracell have revealed their very own wireless charging device, dubbed 'myGrid'.

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  iPhone users harangue Apple over battery life

  Reports that Apple's iPhones are draining their batteries so fast that some users can't make it through a workday without recharging likely point to a problem in the new iPhone OS 3.0 software, an Apple hardware repair expert said Sunday.

• ZigBee develops standard for devices without batteries

  The ZigBee Alliance is working on a standard for products based on the wireless technology that can operate without batteries by harvesting energy from their environment, it said on Monday.

• IBM working on battery breakthrough

  IBM announced today that it is developing a next-generation rechargeable battery capable of storing 10 times more energy than today's top lithium-ion batteries.

• Sony develops mercury-free alkaline button cell

  Sony has developed a new type of alkaline manganese button-cell that contains no mercury and will put it on sale later this year, it said Wednesday.

• MIT: Batteries with viruses, nanotech to power cars, devices

  MIT researchers say they've combined nanotechnology with genetically engineered viruses to build batteries that could power hybrid cars and cell phones.

• HP, Dell, Toshiba recall Sony laptop batteries again

  Three of the biggest laptop computer makers are recalling certain batteries because of a risk they may overheat and catch fire. Sony made the batteries and the recall mirrors -- yet appears a lot smaller than -- a similar one that occurred two years ago.