A hunt for lithium-ion batteries is likely to reveal quite a few of them inside a standard home, with a host of gadgets tapping into them these days. In fact, Li-ion batteries are gaining ground in other key industries, including hybrid automobiles and alternative energy. Now, a new breakthrough promises Li-ion batteries with vastly improved performance.

Researchers at Georgia Institute of technology have devised a new "bottom-up" self-assembly technique to overcome technical difficulties that had rendered more efficient silicon-based anodes impractical. The current crop of batteries only feature anodes made from graphite.

But the new technique uses “nanotechnology to fine-tune its materials properties,” allowing silicon-based anodes to be  more stable inside the battery, and thereby paving the way for “a ten-fold capacity improvement over graphite.”  Not only will the new technique improve the storage capacity of Li-ion batteries manifold, but such batteries will also last much longer.

"Development of a novel approach to producing hierarchical anode or cathode particles with controlled properties opens the door to many new directions for lithium-ion battery technology," said Gleb Yushin, an assistant professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. "This is a significant step toward commercial production of silicon-based anode materials for lithium-ion batteries."

Image Credit: Liliputing

One of the biggest gripes with Apple's handheld products is that you can't swap out the battery yourself, at least not easily. So what happens if you're out-of-warranty iPad tablet stops holding a charge?

"If your iPad requires service due to the battery's diminished ability to hold an electrical charge, Apple will replace your iPad for a service fee," Apple states in its FAQ section.

The service costs $105.95 ($99 plus $6.95 for shipping) and is subject to local tax. But put another way, should your battery die for good, a Benjamin gets you a 'new' (likely refurbished, and scratch-free) iPad.

Apple points out that your replacement iPad won't retain any of your personal data.

"Before you submit your iPad for service, it is important to sync your iPad with iTunes to back up your contacts, calendars, email account settings, bookmarks, apps, etc. Apple is not responsible for the loss of information when servicing your iPad," Apple warns.

The other caveat is that your iPad has be to be in working order. In other words, if you spill your coffee all over your iPad or otherwise kill the unit by trying to open it yourself, Apple's not going to replace it.

Thoughts on the policy? Tell us in the comments section below!

MSI on Monday announced the availability of its "2010 iF Product Design Award Winning" Wind U160 netbook. This is MSI's second netbook built around Intel's Pine Trail platform, and taking full advantage of the new spec, the company claims you can expect up to 15 hours of run time when in MSI's exclusive ECO mode.

Everything you'd expect from a modern netbook is included, such as a 10-inch backlit LED display, Intel Atom N450 processor, 1GB of DDR2 memory, a 6-cell battery, Bluetooth, Windows 7 Starter, and a 6-cell battery. It also comes with EasyFace facial recognition security software.

Where MSI looks to separate the U160 from the spate of Pine Trail netbooks is in its physical design.

"Abandoning the traditional clamshell form, the Wind U160 ushers in a new era of netbook design," MSI said. "From the illuminated MSI logo on the netbook's outer surface to the power button placed on the U160's cylindrical hinge, the newest Wind model sports a slim new footprint. Just 0.98 inches at its widest point, the U160 is the thinnest Wind model to date."

The Wind U160 is available now for $380 at Fry's, Newegg.com, and Buy.com.

Image Credit: MSI

MSI on Monday announced the availability of its "2010 iF Product Design Award Winning" Wind U160 netbook. This is MSI's second netbook built around Intel's Pine Trail platform, and taking full advantage of the new spec, the company claims you can expect up to 15 hours of run time when in MSI's exclusive ECO mode.

Everything you'd expect from a modern netbook is included, such as a 10-inch backlit LED display, Intel Atom N450 processor, 1GB of DDR2 memory, a 6-cell battery, Bluetooth, Windows 7 Starter, and a 6-cell battery. It also comes with EasyFace facial recognition security software.

Where MSI looks to separate the U160 from the spate of Pine Trail netbooks is in its physical design.

"Abandoning the traditional clamshell form, the Wind U160 ushers in a new era of netbook design," MSI said. "From the illuminated MSI logo on the netbook's outer surface to the power button placed on the U160's cylindrical hinge, the newest Wind model sports a slim new footprint. Just 0.98 inches at its widest point, the U160 is the thinnest Wind model to date."

The Wind U160 is available now for $380 at Fry's, Newegg.com, and Buy.com.

Image Credit: MSI

Pretty soon you won't even be able to buy a toaster without worrying that it might be infected with malware. We're not quite at that point yet, but you can add an Energizer USB battery charger to the growing list of devices on the potentially contaminated list.

It's not the gadget itself, but the software that comes with Energizer's Duo Charger, model CHUSB. According to Carnegie Mellon University's Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT), Energizer has been unkowingly distributing a backdoor Trojan since 2007.

The software was designed to let users check the status of batteries inserted into the charger, but it's the inclusion of a nasty DLL file (Arucer.dll) that's troubling. Once infected, the malware could download and execute files, send a directory listing to the remote attacker, send files to a remote attacker, and make changes to the registry.

Energizer, now aware of the problem, has discontinued sale of the product and is advising consumers "that downloaded the Windows version of the software to uninstall or otherwise remove the software from your computer," in addition to removing the Arucer.dll file.

Pretty soon you won't even be able to buy a toaster without worrying that it might be infected with malware. We're not quite at that point yet, but you can add an Energizer USB battery charger to the growing list of devices on the potentially contaminated list.

It's not the gadget itself, but the software that comes with Energizer's Duo Charger, model CHUSB. According to Carnegie Mellon University's Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT), Energizer has been unkowingly distributing a backdoor Trojan since 2007.

The software was designed to let users check the status of batteries inserted into the charger, but it's the inclusion of a nasty DLL file (Arucer.dll) that's troubling. Once infected, the malware could download and execute files, send a directory listing to the remote attacker, send files to a remote attacker, and make changes to the registry.

Energizer, now aware of the problem, has discontinued sale of the product and is advising consumers "that downloaded the Windows version of the software to uninstall or otherwise remove the software from your computer," in addition to removing the Arucer.dll file.

We've seen increased efforts lately to push greater cell phone adoption into developing nations, and the latest to enter the fray is a low cost handset powered by commonly available AAA-sized batteries. Called the "FrvrOn," short for "forever on," Indian mobile phone company Oliver Telecommunications also outfitted its mobile phone with a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, but has good reason for including an AAA compartment.

"We have electrification all across the country but the power supply is erratic," marketing manager Ravi Perti told AFP. "With our phone, all one needs to do is pack a few extra cells (batteries) if one is traveling in areas where one expects power supply disruptions."

Perti says, the phone can run for up to three hours on the stock lithium-ion battery, and another hour on a single AAA battery.

According to government figures, there are 10,000 impoverished Indian villages with access to grid electricity. Even still, India represents the world's fastest-expanding mobile market, adding an average of 15 million customers every month.

Image Credit: Olive Communications

ViewSonic, a newcomer to the ULV laptop market, has just unveiled its VNB131 ViewBook Pro, the company's first nobeook to utilize ultra low voltage technology. According to ViewSonic, this is just the first of many more to come.

"Our mobile and desktop PC products range in size and functionality in order to meet every individuals' computing needs," said ViewSonic's senior director of product marketing Sally Wang. "With our ULV VNB131 ViewBook Pro, mobile warriors get all the power they need, packaged to go in a lean, green design."

More specifically, ViewSonic's first ULV notebook ships with a 13.3-inch screen and an Intel Core 2 Duo ULV SU7300 processor clocked at 1.3GHz. Other specs include a 320GB hard drive, 2GB of RAM, and a removable DVD burner. That last bit is particularly noteworthy because if you take the optical drive out, ViewSonic says you can pop in an extra 3-cell battery for up to 12 hours of run time.

The rest of the specs include 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, a 1.3MP webcam, 7-in-1 media card reader, HDMI, two USB 2.0 ports, a 6-cell battery, and Windows 7 Home Premium.

This one is available now for $950.

Image Credit: ViewSonic 

ViewSonic, a newcomer to the ULV laptop market, has just unveiled its VNB131 ViewBook Pro, the company's first nobeook to utilize ultra low voltage technology. According to ViewSonic, this is just the first of many more to come.

"Our mobile and desktop PC products range in size and functionality in order to meet every individuals' computing needs," said ViewSonic's senior director of product marketing Sally Wang. "With our ULV VNB131 ViewBook Pro, mobile warriors get all the power they need, packaged to go in a lean, green design."

More specifically, ViewSonic's first ULV notebook ships with a 13.3-inch screen and an Intel Core 2 Duo ULV SU7300 processor clocked at 1.3GHz. Other specs include a 320GB hard drive, 2GB of RAM, and a removable DVD burner. That last bit is particularly noteworthy because if you take the optical drive out, ViewSonic says you can pop in an extra 3-cell battery for up to 12 hours of run time.

The rest of the specs include 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, a 1.3MP webcam, 7-in-1 media card reader, HDMI, two USB 2.0 ports, a 6-cell battery, and Windows 7 Home Premium.

This one is available now for $950.

Image Credit: ViewSonic 

You're not likely to find the Solar Egg on any Denny's menu, nor would you want to put one in your mouth anyway. Feel free to toss it out into low sunlight, however, where developers XPAL and Intivation claim the Solar Egg's internal 500mAh battery can reach over 90 percent charge in just 4 hours of exposure in "average charging conditions."

"Solar power is a huge unrealized energy source particularly in the Western world which tends to have fewer hours of sunlight than developing markets," says Christian Scheder, President, XPAL. "As personal devices demand more energy and solar charging technology improves, we are making solar power available to more consumers and changing the way people power their portable devices."

The two companies are touting the Solar Egg as the world's first high performance solar charger. They say it's built to power a range of devices, from phones to MP3 players.

This one will start shipping next month in "select regions," followed by a global rollout later this year. No word yet on price.

Image Credit: XPAL via Engadget