charging

Tesla is planning to address the problem owners of its all-electric Model S in Manhattan have in trying to find a place to charge in the congested city. According to the New York Times, the car company will be making an announcement later today detailing a partnership with some two dozen parking garages, equipping them with 240-volt chargers for Tesla vehicles. While the charging stations won't be as quick as the superchargers Tesla has built along highways, they will be much faster than plugging into a standard wall outlet.

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MOS has introduced its new Reach Go power bank, something it says is the first of its kind able to charge a laptop at full speed over USB-C. The power bank features a Etron 100-watt USB-C charge controller, and as such is able to charge your applicable laptop (that shiny new Macbook, for example) as well as your phone…and do so without taking forever. Up to two mobile devices can be charged along with the laptop, and as with any portable battery, it is useful for those times you’ll be out and about all day.

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Google's next version of Android is revealed to have a "Dozing" feature which effectively puts your smartphone to sleep. With Android 6.0 Marshmallow, Google will be bringing a Doze mode that detects when your phone has not been in use for an extended period of time - when you've accidentally left it on the counter over a long weekend away, for example. When your Android device senses this amount of inactivity, it powers down all non-necessary functions. Google suggests that with this feature enabled, smartphone users could be seeing battery life extended by 2x or more.

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Our mobile devices have indeed become faster and more powerful but their batteries are having a hard time catching up. The usual solutions involve bigger batteries or power banks or cases, both of which tack on bulk, weight, or inconvenience to otherwise slim smartphones. While we're still a far away from being able to almost magically charge our devices over the air, engineering researchers from Ohio State University have invented what could probably be the next best thing: a way to charge phones using otherwise wasted energy from radio signals.

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Cue inappropriate jokes. MediaTek is really putting the heat on Qualcomm, more so after seeing a chink in its armor courtesy of Samsung. Just recently it tried selling the idea of a three-tier deca-core mobile processor even while Qualcomm has just gotten started with 8 cores. Now with its own "Pump Express Plus", it is taking aim at Qualcomm's fast charging technology, Quick Charge 2.0, that is slowly snaking its way into the latest flagships and quickly becoming a much wanted feature in smartphones.

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The purpose of the Apple Watch's diagnostic port, hidden behind the watch strap, largely remains a mystery, especially why the port remains in retail versions of the device. But for now, some rather enterprising accessory makers are willing to take advantage of its existence to provide something that other accessories might not be able to: faster, wired charging. One of these is Reserve Strap, who is redesigning their strap accessory to utilize that port for charging, instead of relying on Apple's sanctioned magnetic charging port.

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Now that the Apple Watch is arriving for customers around the world, and all the dust from the unboxing madness is beginning to settle, it's time to talk about some of the smaller, overlooked details of the new device's launch. That includes the real star of the Watch's launch in the UK: the new folding prong power adapter! While Apple's new 5W USB power adapter still performs the same function as before, namely to charge your new Watch or iPhone, the folding pins design is new.

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Acclaimed mobile device accessory make Griffin has a new product in the works, but it is going about things quite differently this time. The Cove is more than just a charging dock. It is also meant to masquerade as a stylish piece of furniture inside your (presumably stylish) house. It is, so to speak, a home for your myriad mobile devices in your house. But more than just that, Griffin is taking a different spin in actually making the product, preferring to go first to its customers instead of straight into the manufacturing plant.

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Last time we shared how you can significantly prolong your iPhone 6's battery life without gimmicks or accessories. It all boils down to corralling your apps and keeping them under your control, never letting them do stuff without your consent, like access data or incessantly trying to grab your attention. You can do the same for your Android smartphone, with almost exactly the same steps, of course in different places. And we're going to show you how, plus some other steps you might have to take on Android.

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Echo's Connect Plus is a "Y"-shaped USB connector with a standard USB connector on one side, and both a micro USB and Apple Lightning connector on each arm. This allows both Apple devices and gadgets that use micro USB to be charged without carrying around separate compatible cables, and the addition of flexibility means it can be re-adjusted and bent to work with different gadgets that might have unusual port placements. In addition, the device is small enough to fit on a keychain, and includes a keychain loop.

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If Santa brought you an iPhone for Christmas, you’re likely still in love with your new iDevice. Of all the knocks on any iPhone, battery life is among the most notable, with the small-ish battery of an iPhone tending to need a charge daily. In my experience, though, the iPhone 6 can last quite a bit longer than your work day and commute home. I’ve even been able to take it on weekend jaunts without needing to plug it in. Here’s how.

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Tesla is keen to get more charging stations positioned throughout the country, which will allow Tesla owners to charge their cars at appropriate way stations without ever running out of power. With 312 existing Supercharger stations so far, Tesla is on the way to providing a true network of power for their owners. Now Tesla is testing an even quicker method for getting back on the road, allowing Tesla owners in central California to swap batteries instead of plugging in.

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