Lithium Ion Archive

  • eneloop music booster: Sanyo’s battery charger for music devices

    eneloop music booster: Sanyo’s battery charger for music devices

    Posted on December 28, 2009 | No Comments
    Even though it's now a Panasonic subsidiary, Sanyo lives on as its own brand. And one of the major reasons Panasonic bought the company is its "green" image, mainly achieved through selling products under the "eneloop" sub-brand. The latest of these products, the so-called eneloop music booster, was announced today. It's a rechargeable DC 9V battery unit specifically designed for music devices.

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  • Gift Guide 2009: Pocket Camcorders

    Gift Guide 2009: Pocket Camcorders

    Posted on November 16, 2009 | No Comments
    Intro Pocket-sized camcorders continue to grow in popularity thanks to falling prices, shrinking form factors, and enhanced video quality. While there are plenty on the market to choose from right now, this guide will focus on models selling for less than $150. That seems to be a good price ceiling that allows you to get plenty [...]

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  • Toshiba makes those yet-to-be-commercialized mini fuel cells smaller

    Toshiba makes those yet-to-be-commercialized mini fuel cells smaller

    Posted on October 6, 2009 | No Comments
    Fuel cells, those electrochemical conversion devices, which are supposed to make the lives of gadget freaks easier, are still a hot topic in the alternative energy sector even though the technology hasn’t penetrated the mass market yet. Toshiba, for example, has been experimenting with fuel cells for quite some time now. And the company has now announced the development of a fuel-cell based cell phone that’s just 22mm thick.

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  • FedEx converts 92 delivery trucks to diesel hybrids

    FedEx converts 92 delivery trucks to diesel hybrids

    Posted on July 22, 2009 | No Comments
    I've said over and over again, along with a lot of other people, that hybrid technology would make the biggest environmental impact if used in delivery trucks, municipal vehicles, and mail trucks. Vehicles like these are often limited in range but are gas hogs that travel in low gears where hybrid technology can really shine. Plus, the fuel savings of even 10% can be immense when a whole fleet of vehicles are converted. FedEx obviously knows this too and has slowly been converting delivery trucks to diesel hybrids which have been known to improve fuel economy by 44% and decrease emissions by 96%.

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  • Mercedes details upcoming all-electric SLS AMG gullwing

    Mercedes details upcoming all-electric SLS AMG gullwing

    Posted on July 16, 2009 | No Comments
    Mercedes has an electric SLS AMG in development that will probably take the title away from Tesla as the must have plug-in sports car. The new SLS AMG recalls past iconic Mercs with a sweeping body and gullwing doors. Plus, the performance and power output is on par with a current generation SLS AMG 6.3-liter [...]

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  • Bad batteries: Apple forced to recall 1st gen iPod nano in South Korea

    Bad batteries: Apple forced to recall 1st gen iPod nano in South Korea

    Posted on July 10, 2009 | No Comments
    Looks like the South Korean government has forced Apple to recall the first generation iPod nano over concerns that the battery can overheat, leading to fires. It's the first time that the iPod nano has been recalled.

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  • Seido extended Pre battery packs more bang for your dimensional buck

    Seido extended Pre battery packs more bang for your dimensional buck

    Posted on July 9, 2009 | No Comments
    Lets face it: battery life on the Pre is pretty terrible. Unless Palm sends out an update with a note reading “Oh, damn, sorry guys - we forgot to turn off the ‘Battery destroyer’ toggle in the firmware before we shipped this thing”, we don’t see it getting anything but marginally better over time. If [...]

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  • Fake car key shoots photos and video, makes people think you drive a VW

    Fake car key shoots photos and video, makes people think you drive a VW

    Posted on June 26, 2009 | No Comments
    cameraSecretly taking photos of people is sort of easy to do with a cell phone but it's probably even easier to do with a Volkswagen-style car key. For $66, Brando will be more than happy to sell you one too.

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  • Wahl Reboots Male Grooming with Li-Ion Trimmer

    Wahl Reboots Male Grooming with Li-Ion Trimmer

    Posted on June 15, 2009 | No Comments
    The batteries in electric shavers suck. Charge-times are better measured as large fractions of days than as hours, you can’t use them while they are charging and, even when full, they don’t last long. Wahl’s new trimmer tries to fix this, and Wahl is so proud of the battery technology that it has put it in [...]

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