SonyBattery
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Sony demos paper-fueled battery; Paper Mario runs for life
Remember Sony's sugar high from a few years back? Sony has been trying to get electric results from glucose-based batteries for some time. But with the competition showing off cool concepts like Coke-powered phones, Sony's Bio Battery program brought its latest development to Eco-Products 2011 in Tokyo. This info just might be worth the paper it's printed on because, well, the battery runs on paper. By using the enzyme cellulase, the device can break down the glucose from cellulose-rich paper or cardboard, which generates enough energy to run a small fan. It's not quite ready for prime time, but given the potential of easily turning junk mail into electricity at a more portable scale, this is certainly worth a continued look.
Hitachi recalls 16,000 Sony laptop batteries, too
Oh Hitachi, you too? Joining the ranks now of, well, pretty much anyone wheelin' and dealin' a laptop these days, Hitachi just issued a recall on 16,000 Sony-made lithium-ion batteries shipped mostly to businesses in Japan. So, let's tally it up: if you or your buds are proud owners of a laptop from Dell, Apple, Fujitsu, Lenovo, IBM, Toshiba, Panasonic (are we missing any?) and now Hitachi, you'd best be checking those lists to if you've got a potential burner on your hands. Oh, and be sure to tell your friends and neighbors of this massive general recall, who knows, you could be a hero. Acer, HP, you next?
Apple to recall 1.8 million Sony-made batteries
As of today, Dell isn't the only major victim of Sony's exploding battery fiasco. (Well, if you don't count the millions of consumers potentially in danger -- and who does?) Apple has just recalled 1.8 million iBook and PowerBook laptop batteries, 1.1 million of those in the US and 700,000 abroad. They've had their fair share of recalls already, including the unrelated MacBook Pro battery recall just last month, and another Powerbook/iBook recall last year, but this one really takes the proverbial cake. Apple says they've received nine reports of overheating, with two incidents of minor burning and a few claims of "minor" property damage. The laptop models include the 12-inch iBook G4, 12-inch PowerBook G4 and 15-inch PowerBook G4, and the recall includes computers sold from October 2003 through August 2006. So unless you're looking for the next hot pic of a laptop inferno, we suppose you'd better head on over to the official recall site and peep your battery serial number for the official word on your particular model.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
