Category: Chargers/Batteries

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Chargers/Batteries Smart Home

Orison smart home battery takes charge of off-grid power needs

High energy costs continue to put a strain on the budgets of many families. The U.S. energy grid is also overburdened and sometimes unreliable, especially in the summer when many people are running air conditioners. Renewable energy sources including solar and wind, meanwhile, are widely considered to be major parts of the solution, but they tend to be intermittent -– limited to when the sun is shining or the wind is blowing.

Orison patent-claimedis a plug-and-play energy storage system that’s designed to work in any country, whether the user gets energy from the grid, the sun or another source. The battery system automatically stores energy when utility rates are low, and then uses that energy to power the user’s home or business when rates are high. During a power outage, it can automatically power a home or business and make sure none of the stored energy is sent back to the grid. By localizing energy distribution, users can save money while lowering peak demand on the grid.

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Cell Phone Accessories Chargers/Batteries

The EVO companion is a Swiss Army knife for the mobile world

Walking around with a sliver of plastic, glass and electronics in the pocket that is essentially a full fledged computer is the fundamental appeal of the smartphone. Unfortunately, many have to make sure they bring along the requisite charging cable, a case, a power bank for extra power, etc., suddenly making that sliver of engineering not as portable.

At just the size of a key fob, the EVO smartphone companion consolidates a wide range of products into one, easy-to-use gadget. For starters, EVO replaces both a user’s charging cable and wall adapter for an iOS or Android device with its built-in USB cable with Lightning attachment. In addition, EVO’s Bluetooth connectivity lets it act as a remote to control music and camera functions from afar. That Bluetooth connectivity works as a safety net, too. It’ll automatically lock and unlock the connected smartphone based on the proximity of its owner, doubling as a Bluetooth tracker to prevent users from walking away from their phones or losing their keys completely.

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Chargers/Batteries Health and Wellness

Tylt Vu Pulse adds heart rate, wireless charging to Pebble Time

Heart rate tracking is one of the most helpful features of some fitness activity trackers and smartwatches including the Apple Watch. But it’s not a feature (yet anyway) on the Pebble Time smartwatch. The need to plug in the watch to charge it, meanwhile, can be a major hassle.

Tylt Vu Pulse is an add-on, protective case for the Pebble Time and Pebble Time Steel that adds heart rate monitoring, as well as wireless charging, to those smartwatches. The case connects to the accessory port of the watches and syncs with Android and iOS mobile devices using Google Fit and Apple Health.

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Chargers/Batteries

Wireless charging is in the air with the TCharger

Every day, our powerful smartphones and tablets are held back by their constant thirst for a charge. On days with heavy use, that can mean scrambling from outlet to outlet in search of fueling a few more hours. The idea of wireless charging has long held promise, but fractured standards and virtually nonexistent range has held back adoption

Scicorn Technology LTD’s TCharger hopes to turn the tide of wirelessly charging smart devices at a range of up to 30ft—at least, devices in the home or car. To do this, the TCharger combines the use of two plug-in transmitters that give off alternating currents. When these two currents meet at the point where the TCharger receiver is, electricity is generated, charging the smartphone or tablet it’s connected to. For larger homes, extra transmitters can be used to extend range.

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Chargers/Batteries

ATOM battery pack charges everything under the sun and then some

One of the biggest issues with the many pieces of technology that make life so much more enjoyable, productive, and fulfilling is their incessant need for electricity. Everyone has experienced that moment where their laptop, phone, or wearable was on the cusp of death, instantly ruining future plans. In this day and age, that just shouldn’t happen.

The team behind the ATOM is on a mission to make sure of that. The ATOM is an small, unassuming black box comprised of a universal power outlet and a battery pack with a rapid charging USB port. The battery pack’s tiny size betrays its monstrous capacity for power — 30,000 mAh to be exact.

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Chargers/Batteries

Batteriser promises to give your batteries up to eight lives

Remember batteries? They used to show up in things like pagers, digital cameras, voice recorders, flashlights and other things that smartphones replaced.  They’re still used in many toys, remote controls and relatively high-tech products such as cordless mice and keyboards as well as smart door locks. And when they run out of juice, they have to be replaced.

Rechargeables are one way to cut down on their consumption. But rechargeables aren’t recommend for all devices and recharging them can be inconvenient. This tends to lead to a lot of waste that could be cut significantly if batteries lasted longer, the goal of Batteriser. According to the campaign, we tap only about 20 percent of an alkaline battery’s energy before it gives up the ghost. The invention is an ultra-thin sleeve that greatly extends the life of the battery with a tiny amount of circuitry that regulates the battery’s voltage. One demonstration shows a flashlight maintaining its output for hours with Batteriser on its batteries while its brightness goes down significantly without it.

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Chargers/Batteries

Better Re turns old smartphone batteries into a new smartphone charger

Due to the fast replacement cycle on smartphones, there are a growing number of perfectly good batteries either collecting dust in drawers all over the world or, even worse, being thrown in the trash.

patent-claimedBetter Re is a smartphone charger that provides a green solution to that problem because it operates using any old smartphone batteries. Users can boost the device’s charging capacity as needed –- when charging a large-capacity device like a tablet, for example — by adding expansion packs that are joined together via built-in, tiny magnets. An LED indicator shows if a battery is usable or not.

The charger uses materials -– 100 percent recyclable aluminum and walnut and maple hardwood — that its maker says will cause minimal harm to the environment. Better Re costs about $75 and ships in November. Its maker set a Kickstarter goal of raising $50,000 by June 9.

Better Re doesn’t seem to be able to adapt to newer and higher-capacity removable batteries  in phones such as the LG G4. It will likely appeal mostly to green-conscious consumers. Many others may write it off and opt instead for one of the many cheaper chargers on the market.

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Chargers/Batteries Home

SnapPower gives USB an outlet with no rewiring

The best place to charge a phone at home seems to be “anywhere” but in many households stuffed with electronics and appliances, it’s difficult to sacrifice a whole outlet for the fraction of power needed to charge a phone.

SnapPower addresses this issue with an outlet coverplate that includes a small “chin” to accommodate a USB port. While there have been other ways to add add such a smartphone charging convenience, they have included undesirable tradeoffs between aesthetics and installation. Some products that are basically chunky rectangular power strips simply plug into the existing outlets, adding a lot of bulk to the outlet Stealthier products require playing around with wires.

SnapPower, on the other hand, draws power from the screws used to connect the device. Simply remove the old coverplate, add the new one, and you’re done. The company, which previously created an LED-based nightlight using a similar technique, seeks $35,000 from Kickstarter backers by May 15. Bundles of SnapPower coverplates — which are available in traditional and decor varieties — start at about $15 per unit and go down from there as the bundles grow. They’re expected to ship in August.

SnapPower offers an affordable and easily installed charging convenience. it would be nice if it could support two phones by adding a USB port to either end, but one can just purchase a few more for other outlets around the home.

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Cell Phone Accessories Chargers/Batteries

Juicer uses one Android device to help juice another

Power-hungry smartphones often need to be charged frequently. Unfortunately, there isn’t always a charger around or a free electric outlet in sight.

The maker of the Juicer is out to remedy that. The Juicer is a dual-sided charging cable that enables Android phone users to transfer battery power from one Android device to another. The device costs only $10 and will ship in August. Its maker is hoping to raise $65,000 by April 10.

The Juicer holds some promise for Android users. While it isn’t the fastest-charging device around (it’s about as fast as a computer’s USB port) it’s still useful as sometimes all that’s needed is a quick 5 or 10 percent bump, just enough to make a call or send a few texts. Another plus is that the device is small enough to fit on a key ring or inside a purse. On the negative side, its lack of iPhone compatibility significantly limits the device’s addressable market.

 

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Chargers/Batteries

Shake the VAGA HandEnergy to charge your phone, burn your lunch

Throughout the day, many people are understandably preoccupied with ensuring that their smartphones, tablets, and laptops are sufficiently charged and ready to go at a moment’s notice. Unfortunately, finding the requisite “juice” can often be challenging as outlets can be scarce and portable batteries themselves need to be charged as well.

A novel solution to this problem would be a battery capable of charging itself as opposed to one which requires an outlet for charging. Thankfully, this product exists and is called the VAGA HandEnergy. The VAGA HandEnergy is a compact, handheld device that uses kinetic energy to produce power that can be used to charge smartphones. All you have to do to generate a charge is shake the device your hand. Although the device features a single USB port, the campaign isn’t clear about whether or not the VAGA HandEnergy can charge other devices like tablets as well. In any case, there are a wide variety of colors to choose from, so backers won’t be without choice. The product is priced at $39, with an unclear ship date and a $50,000 campaign goal.

VAGA HandEnergy may seem like a novelty product, but alternative means of generating energy is a growing market and the VAGA HandEnergy therefore finds itself in good company. Products like Hydrobee also seek to cut the cord on outlet dependence, making both devices ideal for always-on-the-go types who absolutely need their phones on, fully charged, and ready for anything.