Tag: batteries

Apple apologizes for confusion over slowdowns with older iPhones

Apple has been in hot water for the last few weeks after the company admitted that it sometimes reduced processor speeds on iPhones with aging batteries as a way to balance performance and battery life. Today, the company is apologizing for not being more transparent with its customers and released more details on how exactly iOS manages battery and performance. For starters, the company says that “we have never — and would never — do anything to intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product, or degrade the user experience to drive customer upgrades.” That’s been perhaps the biggest point of contention among unhappy owners who feel that Apple has reduced their phone’s performance as a way to drive more sales. To help mitigate the confusion Apple caused, the company is now offering reduced out-of-warranty battery replacement. For $29, you can get a new battery for your phone regardless of whether it’s covered by AppleCare or not; that’s down from the old $79 fee. Additionally, Apple says it is going to release an iOS update early next year that’ll give users more info on the health of their iPhone’s battery so they can see if its condition is affect phone performance. Apple also explained what various users have figured out over the last week . First, it explained the circumstances under which batteries age and degrade over time, something that’s unavoidable for any battery-powered device at this point. The company also notes that older, chemically aged batteries are “less capable of delivering peak energy loads, especially in a low state of charge” — the issue that led to unexpected shutdowns on some phones. To mitigate that, iOS 10.2.1 included a feature that “improves power management” to avoid unexpected shut downs in the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus and SE. “With the update, iOS dynamically manages the maximum performance of some system components when needed to prevent a shutdown, ” Apple writes. “While these changes may go unnoticed, in some cases users may experience longer launch times for apps and other reductions in performance.” Apple later rolled this out to the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus with iOS 11.2. Apple said that in recent months, it has heard more feedback from users about degraded performance in specific situations, which the company believes is coming from “continued chemical aging” of batteries coupled with minor bugs and a “normal, temporary performance impact” that comes with software upgrades. The company didn’t originally consider the batteries in the equation but now believes the the original batteries in older phones are likely playing a role. Source: Apple

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Apple apologizes for confusion over slowdowns with older iPhones

New zinc battery competes with lithium-ion

Enlarge / Lithium-ion batteries do a lot of great things, but they also do this more often than we’d like. (credit: Crushader) Lithium batteries are currently the belle of the battery ball. They have a lot going for them, including high energy storage for their weight and the ability to charge and recharge many times before losing much capacity. But we’re all familiar with the drawbacks, too. Lithium-ion batteries pose a fire risk, and the lithium and cobalt used in them aren’t the most abundant elements, which makes things more expensive. Plenty of other possible battery chemistries could compete with lithium, but getting them to live up to their theoretical potential is difficult. Zinc, for example, performs admirably in your non-rechargeable alkaline batteries, and it could theoretically make a safer and cheaper rechargeable one—with a water-based electrolyte rather than a flammable organic one. This hasn’t happened, though, and the reason becomes apparent if you throw the batteries under a microscope. Read 14 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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New zinc battery competes with lithium-ion

UW-Madison researchers invent a metal-free fuel cell

The development of fuel cell technology has been hamstrung by the need for expensive and difficult-to-manufacture catalysts like platinum , rhodium or palladium. But a team of researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison believe they’ve found an ingenious alternative that employs a molecular, rather than solid, catalyst . A fuel cell generates electricity from chemicals by reacting hydrogen and oxygen at its anode and cathode , respectively. Specifically, a catalyst at the anode oxidizes the hydrogen fuel to create free electrons and charged ions. The ions pass through the electrolyte while the electrons pass through a separate wire (to drive an electronic device) and the two recombine in the cathode with oxygen to create water or CO2. The team, led by Professor Shannon Stahl and lab scientist James Gerken, noticed that the aerobic oxidation reactions they had studied in their previous work closely mimicked the oxygen reaction in fuel cells. To see if this aerobic reaction could work as a fuel cell, they built one using a catalyst composed of nitroxyl and nitrogen oxide molecules to react with its electrode and oxygen. “While this catalyst combination has been used previously in aerobic oxidations, we didn’t know if it would be a good fuel cell catalyst, ” Stahl said in a statement. “It turns out that it is the most effective molecular catalyst system ever reported.” The results are more than impressive. “This work shows for the first time that molecular catalysts can approach the efficiency of platinum, ” Gerken continued. “And the advantage of molecules is that you can continue to modify their structure to climb further up the mountain to achieve even better efficiency.” [Image Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto] Filed under: Science Comments Source: University of Wisconsin-Madison

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UW-Madison researchers invent a metal-free fuel cell

Make a Tiny 9V Battery Power Switch From Parts of an Old 9V Battery

When you’re building your own custom electronics projects, a simple power switch isn’t always easy to find. If you have some DIY projects that use 9V batteries , this super small power switch is fairly easy to build and is mostly made from an old 9V battery. Read more…

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Make a Tiny 9V Battery Power Switch From Parts of an Old 9V Battery

New Ultralight Ceramic Cubes Can Be Squished and Recover Like a Sponge

A CalTech scientist and her team just announced the development of one of the strongest and lightest materials ever created. It’s light enough to float like a feather, and so uniquely strong, it can be crushed and completely recover its shape. And—get this—it’s made of ceramic. Read more…

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New Ultralight Ceramic Cubes Can Be Squished and Recover Like a Sponge

There’s a Massive 26,000 mAh Battery Hidden Inside This Briefcase

The bigger a portable charger you carry, the longer your gadgets can run while away from a power outlet. But backup batteries are heavy, so it’s a tradeoff between capacity and what’s comfortable to stash in your pocket. Unless you throw a bag like the Phorce over your shoulder, which makes it easy to haul around your toys, a laptop, and 26, 000 mAh of extra power Read more…

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There’s a Massive 26,000 mAh Battery Hidden Inside This Briefcase

Cheap Solid-State Batteries That Last Twice as Long as Li-On Are Coming

Most of our devices run (not for long enough) on lithium ion batteries. But there could be a new, old kid on the block—in the shape of a solid-state battery that can hold twice the charge as li-on. Read more…

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Cheap Solid-State Batteries That Last Twice as Long as Li-On Are Coming

This Temporary Tattoo Is Actually a Battery That’s Powered By Your Sweat

What if the sweat produced by your body could power your gadgets? And what if the connection between the two could be made by a temporary tattoo, the more you sweat, the more power the tattoo generates? That’s exactly what researchers at UC San Diego have developed—and one day, it could power your wearables. Read more…

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This Temporary Tattoo Is Actually a Battery That’s Powered By Your Sweat

Color-Changing Stained Glass Makes It Easy For Cathedrals To Redecorate

A group of Japanese researchers from the University of Tokyo, the Segawa Laboratory at RCAST, and Sony have created a prototype glass panel with intricate designs that’s able to change color based on the how much energy is supplied from an attached rechargeable battery. In other words, it’s stained glass for a generation who swaps their smartphone’s wallpaper five times a day. Read more…

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Color-Changing Stained Glass Makes It Easy For Cathedrals To Redecorate