BatteryPack
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Panasonic starts locking out third-party batteries with new firmware
Kodak's already taken some steps to cut down on counterfeiting of its batteries, and it looks like Panasonic is now taking some fairly drastic measures of it own, which could leave some users of its cameras a tad unhappy. Apparently, the company has determined that some third-party batteries amazingly don't meet its own rigid safety standards, so it's now released a new firmware update that can detect said batteries and prevent them from working. At the moment, that only includes cameras that use DMW-BCF10, DMW-BCG10, or DMW-BLB13 battery packs (some sixteen cameras in all), but it seems safe to assume that this'll soon be standard practice on all Panasonic cameras.[Via Slashdot]
Road Tested: Mophie Juice Pack Air
iPhone 3G and 3G S owners now have an attractive, lightweight, and functional way to provide extra juice to their power-hungry devices -- the Mophie Juice Pack Air. Available in black, white, and purple, the Juice Pack Air is a slightly more svelte version of Mophie's Juice Pack. Compared to the original Juice Pack, the Juice Pack Air is .1" (2.54 mm) thinner and a full third of an ounce (9.44 grams) lighter. I had a chance to try out the Juice Pack Air, and my impressions are quite positive, albeit with one exception. Read on for a TUAW road test of Mophie's latest battery pack.
External battery packs for Mac laptops
In what looks like a first for the Mac laptop line, support of MacBook and MacBook Pro owners everywhere, a 3rd party is offering external battery packs for MacBook, MacBook Pro and MacBook air models.The batteries, from Sanho in California, are available in 4 different capacities, 60Wh, 100Wh, 150Wh and 222Wh, giving a computer like the MacBook up to 32 hours of battery life. The company is also offering a car charger. These items are all available for pre-order and will ship later this month. Prices are $149.95US (car charger), $199.95 (60-watt-hour battery), $299.95 (100Wh), $399.95 (150Wh) and $499.95 (222Wh). The batteries also come with a USB power port so you can charge an iPhone at the same time or separately. The first thing I thought of when I saw this announcement was how the company was able to offer a charger with a MagSafe adapter, because that design is protected by Apple patents. I checked with the company president, Daniel Chin, and he told me: "What we did is obtain the MagSafe connector and cable from the original MacBook AC adapter, remove the adapter and splice in our own charger plug, which interfaces with our battery and car charger products. Since we are using the original Apple MagSafe plug and did not modify the actual plug (which the patent in question covers) in any way, we are still respecting Apple's IP and in no way infringing upon their patent."That might or might not satisfy Apple, but it did allow the company to offer these chargers which are likely to be highly desired by some customers. At the very least, I'm surprised Apple has not offered a car charger for laptops. I can think of many times such an adapter would have been handy.Update: Several commenters have pointed out the QuickerTek and MikeGyver power solutions for the MBP line, which predate the Sanho offering and use the same approach of sacrificing a MagSafe adapter to provide the plug connector. Apple's Airline adaptor, while electrically similar to a car adapter, is not recommended for automotive use (some have tried it with success, your mileage may vary). Lastly, you can of course use a DC inverter for in-car charging, but please be careful not to obstruct vents or leave the device plugged in and unattended... they can get very hot while in use. Happy motoring!
Canon's EOS 5D Mark II displays multiple LP-E6 battery capacities
You may think you know everything there is to know about Canon's marvelous EOS 5D Mark II, but have you heard of this tidbit? Hailed as the first DSLR to "manage" multiple batteries, this here camera includes technology to read up to six separate LP-E6 batteries and display data about them right on the rear LCD. The LP-E6 cell includes an embedded microchip with a unique 8-character serial number; after it's installed once and "registered" in your EOS 5D Mark II body, the camera then displays each cell's serial number, the last time it was charged, the number of shots taken since the last charge, its remaining capacity in 1% increments and its recharge performance. It's a small inclusion, sure, but for pros who go 18+ hours on a single set, we can imagine this coming in handy when trying to select which battery to use on the next excursion.[Thanks, Peter]
Nyko's Energy Pack keeps your Wii balance board juiced
If you're anything like our boy Ryan, you've been wearing that Wii Fit out ever since you took delivery. Unfortunately, you've probably been doing a bit of unintentional jogging when logging miles back and forth to the local mini-mart for batteries. If you can't seem to keep your Wii Balance Board charged, Nyko has introduced a novel solution: the Energy Pack for Wii Fit. Our pals over at Nintendo Wii Fanboy were able to get ahold of this very unit and put it through its paces, and generally speaking, they were quite impressed with the $20 peripheral-for-a-peripheral. Head on over for the full writeup and a smattering of pics.
Kensington unveils Battery Pack and Charger for iPhone / iPod
Sure, there are already a handful of options out there for extending the life of your iPhone / iPod battery, but since when have we been ones to gripe about a little competition? Kensington has just introduced a standard and miniature version of its Battery Pack and Charger for iPhone / iPod, which unsurprisingly provides juice to your device's internal battery and can be recharged simultaneously. As you could likely guess, the only differences between the two contraptions are the size, price and battery life; the 0.22-pound standard model extends play time to up to 100 hours (music) / 6 hours (talk), while the even tinier mini version livens things up for another 30 hours (music) / 3 hours (talk). Each is available now for $69.99 / $49.99.
Power your PSP with a trio of AAA batteries
For those of you who just can't get enough playtime with your ever lovin' PlayStation Portable, and have a knack for running low on juice while not even remotely close to an AC outlet or recharging venue, here's a mod that can offer you some battery powered backup for your handheld Sony. Not at all for the faint of heart or the novices in the house, this battery hack joins the incredibly long list of hackerations that we've seen come the PSP's way, and while it takes a bit more effort than just picking up the X2, we're sure the bragging rights alone make it worthwhile. The crafty gurus over at Acidmods have apparently found a way to gut, re-wire, and completely transform your average PSP battery pack into a vessel that can hold a trio of AAA cells in order to power your bantam machine. Admittedly, this ranks pretty far right on the DIY difficulty scale, so we wouldn't recommend risking your life on this one unless you know quite a few tricks of the trade, but if you've nothing better to do on a Sunday afternoon than create a battery pack out of a battery pack, the read link is waiting for your attention.[Via PSPFanboy]
JoyTech announces Wii PowerStation to keep your Wiimotes juiced
JoyTech's no stranger to the Wii accessory scene, and the firm is hitting us up once more with its Wii PowerStation. As the title implies, this docking unit can safely house two Hattori Hanzo swords potentially dangerous Wiimotes, and comes stocked with twin rechargeable battery packs to save you those late night trips to the battery department. Additionally, there's a pull-out cradle on each side to place your nunchuck, and while there's nothing to prove (or disprove) the theory, it looks as if the charging station can receive power from any USB port. So if the days on end of Wii Sportin' it are chewing through the Engergizers at an unacceptable rate, you can pick this up in late January for £19.97 ($39).[Via VideoGamesBlogger, thanks Mark]
Princeton's PMB-BP18 external battery pack for USB devices
Whether in the form of compressed images spun from disk or received over the air, portable video is a battery killer. Toss in a bit of WiFi and Bluetooth wireless to grind modern handhelds to a halt in just a few hours. This unfortunate truth makes sad chunky slabs of plastic and lithium polymer a must for those of you in need of some extra go-go juice. The Princeton PMB-BP18 is a 75-gram external battery pack capable of re-charging any portable USB device such as cellphone or iPod when away from the mains. What's more, Princeton touts the device's ability to charge the typical Japanese cellphone (via accompanying au and DoCoMo cables) twice before the PMB-BP18 external battery requires a refill. Sorry, that's an adjustable stand, not the backside of an LCD you're looking at, which somehow manages prop up your phone or mp3 player for viewing without the device sliding into your lap. Available now in Japan for ¥4,980 or about 44 US bucks.
APC's Mobile Power Pack delivers juice via USB
Add the Mobile Power Pack from APC to the growing list of accessories able to provide your portable gadgets with precious extra hours of runtime. Promising up to 55 more hours of juice for your iPod nano or eight to ten hours for your Treo, the MPP UPB10 sports a high-capacity, user-replaceable lithium polymer battery that can power and charge nearly any device with a USB or mini-USB jack. If you don't have the time/inclination to build your own solution, this may be seventy bucks well spent.
Belkin introduces TunePower
The folks at Belkin understand that you want to watch video on your iPod, and for a greater amount of time than its battery will allow. So, they've introduced the TunePower rechargeable battery pack. When fully charged, the TunePower will run your iPod for 8-10 hours all on its own. Also, it ships with several attachments that will allow you to use it with any iPod model with a dock connector.Finally, the included detachable DC/FireWire cable will charge both your iPod and the TunePower simultaneously. Pretty cool. You can grab one for $79.99US, and it's shipping now.
