Huawei's new smartphone battery charges in only 11 minutes

Chinese tech behemoth, Huawei, came up with a technology that could revolutionize batteries, with smartphones likely to be the primary target.

In a test, two batteries, one apparently for a smartphone (3,000mAh) and one for a feature phone (600mAh) were charged up to 10x faster than traditional methods allowed.

Rough calculations show that the 3,000mAh battery could reach near full capacity in about 11 minutes. The technology, which could be used in a number of other products, is likely to attract the attention of laptop manufacturers and major battery makers like Foxconn Electronics.

Although it is far too early to speculate on the performance of batteries boosted with the heteroatoms technology used by Huawei, one can expect it to improve charging laptop times by a similar proportion, cutting that down to less than an hour in most cases.

For now, Huawei hasn’t said whether it will license the technology to other companies, including potential competitors, or when the product will appear in commercial products.

The video showed Huawei-labelled batteries in a commercial form factor, which means that they are almost certainly ready for mass production for existing Huawei smartphones; which again would imply that you will be able to swap them for existing batteries.

What’s more, the 3,000mAh battery had an energy density of more than 620Wh/L which is very close to the best performing Lithium Ion batteries on the market.

It suggests that Huawei has either managed to seriously beef up its research facility (including its Watt Lab) or has teamed up with a leading battery manufacturer. We suspect the first scenario to be the more likely given that Huawei researchers tinkered with the very fabric of the battery.

While laptops have comparatively lower than expected mAh rating, they provide the power at a much higher voltage compared to laptops (between 10.5V and 11.5V for most models) delivering a much higher Whr rating, up to 10x compared to smartphones.

Published under license from ITProPortal.com, a Net Communities Ltd Publication. All rights reserved.

Photo credit: Shmizla / Shutterstock

Why You Need to Check Your Car Battery

How long would you guess your average car battery lasts?   If you said forever you’d be incorrect.   (Queue sad trombone) Would you believe that the typical battery life is only four to six years? Well, that’s the truth.  If you’re reading this now, the up side is you won’t have to think about this while you are trying to turn the key over in the ignition and the car won’t start…because you’ll know exactly where you and your battery stand after having it tested as part of your regular auto maintenance (wink, wink). 

To know if your vehicle’s battery is on its last legs you’ll want to have it tested every three to six months.   You can do it yourself, which requires a voltmeter or dedicated battery tester, and of course some care that you don’t electrocute yourself.  Or, you can take it to your local auto repair shop and they can do it for you.  It should be done as part of your regular inspections or scheduled maintenance, so if you’re already on top of that it shouldn’t cost you any extra. In fact, most facilities will be able to give you test results as well. 

Do you remember the old AA batteries that you could touch on both ends so the little strip would tell you how much juice was left?   Unfortunately, testing a car battery is little bit more complicated.  There are actually two tests performed, one to measure voltage and one to test draw.   Basically, they determine if your vehicle’s battery is charging itself properly and ensuring that the components of the vehicle that require battery energy don’t use more than their fair share.  If the battery isn’t charging or one component is using a higher amount of energy than necessary, it could lead to a no-start scenario for you.  In other words, a bad day.

Extreme changes in temperature will affect your battery.  It is a good idea to have your battery tested in the spring and fall to make sure your vehicle is ready for the extreme weather in summer and winter, BEFORE you are stranded somewhere. 

The good news is that just like any other part of your vehicle, with basic regular maintenance you can extend the life of your vehicle’s battery.  In addition to regular inspections, by cleaning the terminals you will ensure your battery will work longer.  Napa has a great tutorial for this.   And the only tool required is an old toothbrush! 

If you are reading this post because your battery died, I’m sorry for your loss.   If you are now in the market for a new battery, make sure to look at the warranty that comes along with it before you buy.  Often times, the warranty provided with the battery is part of the purchase price, or in the case of discount batteries, NOT part of the price.   Generally high quality batteries come with multi-year or lifetime warranties and some even include roadside assistance if you do end up stranded somewhere. 

So there you have it!   Keep your battery clean and inspected and you’ll quickly make your vehicle more reliable.  

From http://www.newageautorepair.com/:

125 MPG Diesel-Electric Three-Wheeled Car Headed For Production

For all you nerdlingers who need to brag about fuel economy around the water cooler, soon you'll be able to buy a factory-built 125 MPG XR3 diesel-electric hybrid straight out of the box.

The XR3 plug-in hybrid has been around since about 2006 as a kit vehicle, requiring the DIYer to do all the wrenching, assembling the T-shaped chassis, installing the lithium-ion batteries, the 23 HP diesel, the electric motor, suspension, body, etc. Think of the XR3 as a super simplified Chevy Volt, it has a 40 mile all-electric range, but the diesel engine and electric motor are completely decoupled and the driver controls selection of drive system instead of a computer.

Now, according to company owner Robert Q. Riley (which totally sounds like a made up name) the vehicle is going to be available with most of the work completed direct from the factory. The complete details aren't available yet, but some degree of assembly is slated to take place at the companies Cleveland manufacturing facility, we're assuming everything will be assembled except the installation of the diesel and electric motor, in order to avoid costly Federal certification.

Panasonic expects to double sales of electric car batteries in three years

Japan's Panasonic Corp said it expects strong demand for its lithium-ion batteries from Tesla Motors Inc to help more than double its annual sales of automobile-related batteries in three years.

Kenji Tamura, an executive officer in charge of Panasonic's automotive and industrial systems business, said he expects the firm's annual automobile battery sales to grow to 400 billion yen ($3.98 billion) in the business year through March 2019 from 180 billion yen in the year ended March 2016.

The company sees combined annual sales of automobile batteries and energy storage products to grow to 500 billion yen, around 2.5 times sales in the last fiscal year, he said.

Tamura also said Panasonic planned to bring forward its $1.6 billion investment in Tesla's $5 billion "Gigafactory" plant in the U.S. state of Nevada upon the request of the electric car maker, to meet strong orders for Tesla's upcoming Model 3 sedan.

Panasonic is the exclusive supplier of batteries for the Model 3, Tesla's first mass-market car.

Citing "tremendous demand," Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk in April said his firm planned to boost total vehicle production to 500,000 cars in 2018, two years earlier than its original target.

(Reporting by Yoshiyasu Shida; Editing by Christopher Cushing)

16 iPhone Hacks That Will Save Your Battery

1. The first thing you should do is check which apps are using up your battery:

This is good so that you know exactly which apps you should keep closed so they don’t hog up your battery.

2. Only allow certain apps to use data unless you’re on Wi-Fi:

Start in Settings, then tap Cellular, and scroll down. Pick and choose which apps you want to limit using your data.

3. Absolutely make sure you turn off Wi-Fi assist:

Start in Settings, then tap Cellular and scroll all the way to the bottom. There you’ll see Wi-Fi assist; switch that off.

• Wi-Fi assist basically automatically switches you back to your cellular network if you have a weak Wi-Fi signal.

4. When you’re not using your phone, turn it face down and it won’t light up when you receive notifications.

5. Turn off auto-brightness:

Head to Settings, next tap on Display & Brightness, and turn off Auto-Brightness. This will stop your phone from auto-adjusting the display.

6. Turn on “Reduce Motion” to stop your phone from animating.

Head to Settings, next go to General, after that tap accessibility, and scroll down to Reduce Motion. Switch it off and it will stop your phone from being too animated.

7. If you’re running low on power, turn on Grayscale to save even more battery.

Start in Settings, head to Accessibility, and then turn on Grayscale.

*This will remove all the color from your phone, but it will also allow you to squeeze some extra juice out of your battery.

8. If you have bad or no service, consider turning on Airplane Mode so your phone won’t constantly search for a signal.

Slide up from the bottom of your screen, and in the top row of buttons tap the airplane.

*Turning on Airplane Mode when charging your phone allows it to juice up faster, so keep that in mind when you’re in a hurry and need power fast.

9. Stop your email from automatically pushing to your phone.

Head to Settings, scroll down to Mail, Contacts & Calendars, then select Fetch New Data, and from there turn off Push.

10. If you really get desperate, turn off notifications.

Start in Settings > Notifications, once inside Notifications, tap on all the apps you want to turn off notifications for.

11. Take off your case when charging.

Charging your phone when it’s inside certain styles of cases may generate excess heat which can affect your battery capacity. If you notice that your device gets hot when you charge it, take it out of its case first.

12. Decrease the time for Auto Lock.

For this one head to Settings > General > Auto-Lock and set your iPhone to sleep after 30 seconds of inactivity.

13. A Wi-Fi connection uses less power than a cellular network, so make sure to keep Wi-Fi on at all times.

14. Turn off Location Services.

To turn off Location Services head to Settings then Privacy and then Location Services and either turn off Location Services altogether, or deselect any apps that you don’t need to access your GPS.

15. Disable Background App Refresh:

Head to settings then General and finally Background App Refresh and turn it off all the way or turn it off for individual apps.

*Background App Refresh pre-loads apps in the background keeping them constantly updated even when you’re not using them. If you don’t need a specific app to always keep updating (like a game or Facebook for example, turn it off).

16. Turn off automatic app updates:

Start in Settings > iTunes & App Store and turn off all of the automatic downloads. If you want to take things an extra step, turn off Suggested Apps too.

*Always make sure that your iPhone is updated to the latest software to get the best battery life too.

From: https://www.buzzfeed.com