battery

U.S. Cellular swaps batteries for free

As of Tuesday, U.S. Cellular is offering a free Battery Swap program at its stores. All you need to do is bring a dead or dying battery to a U.S. Cellular store and you can change it out for a new charged one.

The carrier says it created the program to help customers who need a fully charged battery right away or want to replace an older battery that doesn't hold a charge. Of course, there's a catch: you will need to be a U.S. Cellular customer who has purchased a U.S. Cellular phone … Read more

GE to make heavy-duty batteries in New York

General Electric on Tuesday committed $100 million to open a factory in upstate New York to manufacture batteries for hybrid locomotives and other industries such as power grid storage.

CEO Jeffrey Immelt dedicated the facility at a press conference at GE's Niskayuna, New York research and development facility along with New York governor David Paterson and other politicians.

GE has been testing sodium-metal chloride batteries for heavy-duty industrial applications, such as hybrid locomotives and trucking equipment in mining. The technology can also be used for back-up power in data centers, plug-in electric vehicles, and to smooth electricity flow across the grid, … Read more

Power your gadgets with $19.99 solar charger

Do you need power for your cell phone, MP3 player, digital camera, and other portable gadgets? Our friend Mr. Sun has an endless supply (well, not endless--5 billion years and kaput!). What you need is a way to harness those rays and turn them into energy you can use.

GoldenGadgets has just such a harness: the Portable Hybrid Solar Charger, currently on sale for $19.99--shipping will run you about $5.

What makes it a "hybrid" charger? Simple: It can draw energy from the sun (8-10 hours buys you a full charge--bad news for those of us … Read more

Get an iPhone battery pack for $6.99 shipped

Need extra power for your iPhone or iPod Touch? Hey, who doesn't? Buy.com has the Energizer Energi To Go Battery Charger for $6.99 shipped. I'm going to make this quick, because I guarantee these will sell out.

The Energi To Go can power and recharge any dockable iPod, including 1st-generation and 3G iPhones, Touches, Nanos, and Minis. It relies on a pair of AA batteries, preferably of the lithium ion variety (two of which are included!). You can use regular alkaline batteries in a pinch, but you won't get the same amount of run time.… Read more

iPWR SuperPack packs extra juice for iPhone, iPod

Updated at 4:50 PDT: You can read the full review of the product here.

No matter how long your iPhone or iPod's battery life is, it's never long enough. (In the case of the iPhone 3G, it's not even long to begin with). So, it's natural that you'd want to get a juice pack, which will provide extended battery power that can double or even triple the amount of time you can use your device between charges.

Most juice packs work with only a particular model of a device. The Juice Pack Air from Mophie, … Read more

Mophie Juice Pack Air is here, and it's not perfect (review)

Following a long wait after my first blog, I finally got my hands on Mophie's Juice Pack Air for the iPhone 3G. The company announced the availability of the accessory Tuesday with a price tag of $79.95.

If you own an iPhone 3G, you know how bad the device's battery life is, especially when you have 3G, GPS, and Wi-Fi turned on. For this reason, extended batteries, such as the original Juice Pack from Mophie are a must. However, this juice pack is rather bulky and doesn't cover the top of the phone. This is where … Read more

Simple 9V battery flashlight gives light in a snap

Flashlights can be serious business for some people, with collectors spending upward of $200 for a high-end one. That's not what the Battery Snap is. This $5 flashlight connects directly to a 9V battery and can be turned on using a tiny switch on the top. That's it, there's nothing more to it. The simplicity of this gadget makes it great for kids, especially if you're giving them a physics lesson on electricity.

We reckon it's not exactly the newest product around. Let us know in TalkBack if you have one or have seen it … Read more

iWood 3B leads charge in smartphone devolution

Forget what I told you before about disguising your iPhone; there are alternatives to feeling embarrassed by your mobile phone. Why not buy one that you can be proud of, maybe even one forged from the ashes of Miss Mother Nature herself? Set yourself up with an iWood 3B smartphone and you'll never again miss "all the times you wood rather stab someone in the eye than talk about 3G anything."

The iWood 3B is the perfect complement for the on-the-go professional who knows when it's time to work, when it's time to play, and when it's time to tap on a 3-inch by 4-1/2 half inch piece of Bamboo Plywood. Amazingly, the entire device is crafted from a single block of wood, and it's contoured at a precise 90-degree angle to fit ergonomically in your hand.

Like its current competition, it has all the internal components you now expect out of a full-time device: accelerometer, proximity/light/infrared sensor, and even its own sensor for sensing sensors around your sector. Best of all, the iWood 3B draws all of its power from a rechargeable gyroscopic battery that should last for approximately infinity hours with just one twitch.

What all-in-one (AIO) would be prepared for the masses without its own set of unique applications? Aside from the standard to-do list, calendar, MP3 player, and Web, the iWood also offers its own line of real-world apps that run autonomously off the OS. … Read more

Chrysler selects A123Systems for EV vehicles, first one to appear in 2010

Chrysler announced that it selected lithium ion battery manufacturer A123Systems to produce the energy storage systems for Chrysler's first-generation ENVI extended-range electric vehicles and all-electric vehicles.

Chrysler's plans to produce Dodge Circuit EV, Jeep Wrangler EV, Jeep Patriot EV, Chrysler Town & Country EV, and the Chrysler 200C EV concept showcased at the 2009 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The company's first production electric vehicle is expected to hit the market in 2010, but the company won't say which one.

"Government and society are calling for the introduction of a variety of advanced … Read more

Get an iPhone backup battery for $10.99 shipped

Got power? Scratch that. Got enough power? Oh, who are we kidding, there's never enough. That's why no self-respecting iPhone owner should travel without an external power pack, a battery that clips on to provide extra juice just when you need it.

There are dozens of such products available, often with price tags in the $30 to 40 range. However, Meritline has an 800mAh external iPhone 3G battery pack for $10.99 shipped. (It normally sells for $35.99.)

The iPhone 3G Power Station plugs into the bottom of your handset to recharge the internal battery or supply … Read more