Today Google revealed a bit of information on how your smartphone spends its battery life. They did this at this week's Android Dev Summit, speaking to developers about what they can do in their apps to avoid consuming massive amounts of battery life. But this isn't just about that. This is about the biggest factor in battery consumption: screen brightness! And not only that, but screen color, too!
Range anxiety may be gradually ebbing as electric cars get longer lasting batteries, but the length of time it takes to recharge remains one of the big headaches compared to gas engines. Increasingly, though, fast charging technologies are promising to address that hurdle too, and getting the attention of the big EV battery suppliers in the process.
Newly published research details lithium-ion batteries created using 3D printing technologies. The new method is capable of producing these batteries in nearly any shape, opening the door for unique designs that could bring higher capacities to consumer devices. In their typically available form factors, these batteries are either rectangular or cylindrical.
BMW Group has teamed with Umicore and Northvolt to develop a "closed life cycle loop" for electric car batteries. This EV battery recycling program includes more than harvesting materials, instead first designating used EV batteries for secondary uses, such as stationary energy storage devices. At the end of this life cycles, the batteries will be harvested for raw materials.
Lithium-ion batteries are exploding at dumps and recycling plants across the United States - and that's a problem. These types of batteries come most often in the device that's likely in your hand or pocket - your smartphone. Today we're taking a quick peek at a few explosions and a few SUPER SIMPLE ways they could've been avoided at the source.
iPhone X and the rest of Apple's 2018 mobile devices may well benefit from components developed by Apple itself. For the first time in the history of the iPhone, Apple's aim to control the whole creation process may hit the power button. Development of iPhone power management chips (PMIC) could have far-reaching consequences for Apple and iPhone consumers around the world.
Apple released a step-by-step for a free replacement of select MacBook Pro models this morning. Some of the newest 13-inch MacBook Pro models without Touch Bars were affected, and only these models will have batteries replaced for free. This replacement program affected MacBook Pro models were manufactured between October of 2016 and October of 2017 - and there's a simple way to check if that includes you.
Apple may be in a bidding war with electric vehicle battery makers for one key metal: cobalt. Apple's been one of the biggest users of cobalt over the past decade due to their ever-increasing production of iPhone, iPad, and other devices with their own rechargeable batteries. Now that electric vehicles are coming into vogue, demand for cobalt is going up so much that Apple may be opting to buy from the source.
Lenovo is recalling its excellent X1 Carbon laptop, the reason being a screw that could potentially result in a fire. The recall announcement was made by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, which posted details on the issue today. According to the CPSC, an "unfastened screw" may cause battery damage that results in it overheating, which could then trigger a fire.
A man bit a smartphone battery in an electronics store in China this past week, and the battery exploded. The man who bit the battery seemed surprised by the results of his bite. The woman standing near him seemed displeased. Have a peek at the video and see what you make of it. And please do NOT go get a battery to reenact the situation in the video as it's happening - that'd be bad.
For the moment, one of the biggest stories in the tech world concerns Apple and the realization that it's slowing down some older phones to better support aging lithium ion batteries. The thinking behind this is that implementing some form of power profile management in phones with older batteries will help prevent sudden shut downs, but regardless of Apple's justification, it has users upset.
Unlike Apple, HTC and Motorola say they don't slow down older smartphones. Confirmation follows public outcry over Apple's decision to slow down iPhone models as they -- or, more specifically, their lithium-ion batteries -- age. Despite having a pretty good reason for slowing down the devices, Apple's attempt at mitigating problems caused by li-ion batteries has proven very controversial, and public attention has turned to other smartphone makers.