batteries

For an iWatch to kick butt, Apple must innovate in batteries

If Apple is hard at work on an "iWatch," it will have to overcome battery issues bedeviling existing smartwatch makers.

This new crop of wrist devices has a lot more in common with smartphones than your old Timex. They have increasingly large displays, and can ferry over notifications and other data, acting as a second screen of sorts for your smartphone. For many of the latest models, that extra utility is not without a compromise: You've got to plug it in at the end of the day.

Charging a smartphone every day can be an annoyance, but … Read more

iOS 6.1.1 causes battery drain, say some iPhone 4S users

Rolled out this week for the iPhone 4S, iOS 6.1.1 may have fixed one problem only to create another, at least according to some users.

Several iPhone 4S owners chiming in on Apple's Support Communities say their battery drains faster after updating to iOS 6.1.1. In a discussion thread labeled "My iPhone 4S battery life is terrible, Even with iOS 6.1.1," many report that their battery life was much better under iOS 6.1.

Here's just a sampling of the comments:

The battery life on my iPhone 4S was fine … Read more

Tesla's Elon Musk lambasts New York Times article

Tesla's CEO Elon Musk has become incensed over a news article critical of the all-electric car that was published in The New York Times last week.

"I do not think this is a he said, she said situation," Musk told Bloomberg West in an interview today. "It is really black and white. The facts are the facts."

The tussle got started after New York Times reporter John Broder wrote an article about taking the Tesla Model S out on a test drive in the East Coast's freezing weather. He claimed that the car couldn'… Read more

FAA approves Boeing test flights of grounded 787 Dreamliner

Boeing was granted permission today to conduct test flights of its 787 Dreamliner as the aircraft maker tries to determine the cause of battery fires that have kept the fleet of planes grounded around the world.

The test flights will be subject to a number of restrictions, the Federal Aviation Administration said today, including limiting the flights to specific airspace over unpopulated areas. Other conditions include preflight testing and inspections, and in-flight monitoring.

"The traveling public's safety is our highest priority," the FAA said in a statement. "These test flights will be an important part of … Read more

Samsung cell phone battery explodes in man's pocket

Lithium-ion batteries are notorious for overheating, catching on fire, or exploding. Yet, they're in most electronics that people use daily.

One such battery set ablaze over the weekend while in a man's pants pocket, according to the Associated Press. The man was walking around with his Samsung mobile phone in his pocket when the battery caught on fire, giving him second-degree burns and a one-inch wound on his thigh. Officials said the battery was not inside the phone when it exploded.

The incident took place in South Korea, which is where Samsung is based. According to the local … Read more

Microsoft hits Reddit to address Surface Pro concerns

Microsoft addressed Surface Pro issues with disk space and battery life, among other topics, in a Reddit AMA today.

The discussion was led by Panos Panay, head of the Surface team at Microsoft. He provided relatively lengthy responses to two issues that have emerged as shortcomings with the company's newest tablet-laptop hybrid that runs Windows 8 Pro (and is scheduled to go on sale Saturday).

What follows are some excerpts from Panay's as well as other team members' responses.

Battery life: "If you compare it to say a MacBook Air, you will quickly see that pound for … Read more

MacBook EFI updates fix battery problems

Apple has released a set of EFI firmware updates to address a rare problem where some systems might unexpectedly shut down or stop functioning after the battery has been used extensively.

Apple's determines battery health in part by the number of charge cycles it has been through (one charge cycle being a sum of partial charges that equates to one full charge), and depending on the system claims that batteries should last between 300 and 1,000 charge cycles. However, a rare problem in some systems might result in a nonfunctional computer if the system detects that 1,000 … Read more

Beware of Battery Booster's false claims

Every smartphone user would love an app that could actually increase the life of their battery. This isn't the case with the Battery Booster app; it actually exploits your device instead of doing what it claims. Users are advised to read the developer's disclaimer before deciding to download this app.

Once we downloaded the Battery Booster app, it started installing a mild form of malware. It automatically downloads a separate program that gives you pop-ups in your notification bar. It also downloads links on your homepage without your consent. The biggest disappointment, though, is that this app doesn'… Read more

Boeing battery solution may keep 787 grounded until 2014

A battery expert and chemistry professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has some suggestions for how Boeing can solve its airplane battery woes, one of which could keep the fleet grounded until 2014.

The problems with Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, which was grounded earlier this month by Federal Aviation Administration order, could be solved by switching from the current lithium-ion batteries to nickel metal-hydride (NiMH) batteries, Donald Sadoway told Forbes. However, switching to NiMH batteries, which have a better safety track record, could result in a lengthy certification process that could take up to a year to complete, Forbes … Read more

How I replaced my iPhone 4S battery for $8

Talk about an inconvenient truth: right around the 12-month mark, your iPhone battery will start to wear out. You'll notice that it doesn't last quite so long between charges, a problem that just gets worse as more time passes. By 18 months or two years, you'll be lucky to get half a day of run time.

Apple famously (make that infamously) engineers iPhones without a battery door, so you can't just swap in a new power pack. However, you can indeed replace your iPhone's battery, and it's cheaper and easier than you might think.… Read more