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EE lets queue-jumpers pay 50p for faster customer service
If it didn't already feel like mobile operators were squeezing you for every penny, EE's new customer service charge could certainly help drive that notion home. BBC News reports that the carrier has introduced a new option on its support lines, allowing you to pay 50 pence to jump to the front. Think of it as the opposite of net neutrality, but for support centres.
UK joins the US in banning uncharged devices from flights
A few days ago, the US Government announced that all airline passengers with personal electronics would be required to turn their gadgets on in order to demonstrate that they work. Now, the Department for Transport has announced that those same regulations will also be applied to flights in and out of the UK. According to The Telegraph, you're more likely to be asked to turn on your smartphone on flights to the Middle East and Asia than others, but all travelers are advised to make sure their gadgets are fully charged before arriving at the airport. On the upside, if your device has suddenly lost its charge, you'll be able to leave your hardware with British Airways staff for safe keeping until you return. [Image credit: John Moore/Getty Images]
Tesla opens 100th Supercharger... in a state where sales are banned
You can't buy a Tesla in New Jersey, but now you can Supercharge one up! Tesla's 100th Supercharger just came online in Hamilton, located just a few miles from the NJ state capital of Trenton. The Garden State's very first Supercharger sports six stalls, and, since it's positioned just a few miles from the New Jersey Turnpike, can accommodate Tesla owners traveling down the East Coast, from Connecticut to Florida. Of course, while you can fuel up your Tesla in Jersey, you can't make a purchase -- direct-to-consumer sales are still banned, following a shady (Jersey-esque) backroom deal between politicians and lobbyists just last month.
Goal Zero's Lighthouse250 Lantern, solar panel tent charge your gadgets alfresco
Keeping your USB-powered gear powered up while camping in the woods or hiking the Appalachian Trail can prove quite a challenge. Solar chargers and backup batteries can help, sure, but when you're already hauling dozens of pounds of gear, an integrated solution is where it's at. Goal Zero has a pair of new products to help streamline things a bit. First up, the Lighthouse250 Lantern can provide 48 hours of 250-lumen LED output with a full charge, and it can charge up a gadget via a built-in USB port. If you don't have a solar panel handy, you can use the hand crank to juice up the lantern in the field. The company's also teaming up with Eddie Bauer on a solar panel-equipped tent, the 36-square-foot Katabatic 2 -- you'll need to add your own battery pack to store the energy collected from the 18-watt roof-mounted panel. Eddie Bauer has yet to announce pricing for the tent, which should ship next spring, but you can expect the lantern to retail for about 80 bucks in Q4.
JBL Rumble, OnBeat Mini and Charge spotted at CES, we go ears-on
One of the more colorful -- in the literal sense -- announcements during the CES build-up was the new line of Bluetooth speakers from JBL. Here at Pepcom we spotted them out in the wild, so thought we'd take the chance to go hands- and ears-on. The little guy, aka the Charge, was the first of the bunch we heard pumping out some tunes, and our inability to hear the company reps telling us more about it is testament to how loud it is for such a small device. The design of the Charge also looks -- objectively -- even better in real life. The modern design and materials work really well with the vibrant color schemes, and while we didn't have time to test out that 12-hour battery life, everything else looked pretty solid to us. The middle baby of the trio -- the OnBeat Mini -- is much more demure, with the low-profile unit sitting discreetly on the table top, just quietly -- or loudly, rather -- getting on with pumping out the jams from the iPad mini perched on top of it. This, of course, puts Lightning connectivity center stage, and despite its diminutive form (the connector, not the iPad) Apple's mini tablet felt securely housed within the dock itself. Our favorite of the bunch would possibly be the Rumble -- not just because the name sounds like it means business, but also because the bold design and impressive, weighty sound seem fitting of the name. The whole front of the unit has the classic speaker grille-style finish, and despite looking like a heavyset piece of kit, it's surprisingly light, yet solid feeling. More pictures of the whole family can be found in out gallery. Sean Cooper contributed to this report.
Nissan upgrades US Leaf warranties, will 'restore' batteries that lose too much charge
Nissan has thrown down the warranty gauntlet to other EV makers by announcing it would be the first to "restore" battery capacity if a Leaf's full charge fell below 9 out of 12 "bars" within 5 years or 60k miles. The new clause was announced by VP Andy Palmer and will go into effect in spring of next year on all models, including those sold in 2011 and 2012. The company stressed it would only "repair or replace the battery under warranty with a new or remanufactured unit to restore capacity at or above a minimum of nine bars," and not a full charge -- saying a gradual, but not excessive loss of charge was normal. Nissan added that it'd look to improve the accuracy of the battery gauge, since the aforementioned bars on the dash were computer managed and not exactly scientific. All of this applies to US-only vehicles for now, but similar policies will soon go into effect worldwide, according to the statement. So, if you've been starting to get range anxiety, check the PR below the break for more info.
Sporeling Sprout, the humanoid wild pet you've always wanted
If you haven't purchased the Pandaren Monk pet off of the Blizzard store (or don't have access to the numerous limited edition murlocs and holiday pets), it can be a challenge finding a good humanoid pet to use in pet battles, especially early on in your battling career. The first one you'll gain access to is the recently implemented Harpy Youngling from the Northern Barrens, but it isn't very good as a humanoid pet as it has primarily flying-type moves. You can acquire the Stunted Yeti as early as level 12 in Feralas, but in my humble opinion, the first humanoid wild pet worth its weight is Zangarmarsh's Sporeling Sprout, acquired around pet level 18. The Sporeling Sprout, which spawns in Zangarmarsh near Sporeggar, possesses a moveset that deals a mix of humanoid, undead, and elemental damage, all depending on which abilities you decide to use. Its attacks are as follows:
SOE defends EverQuest appearance system cost
If you've been a heady mix of excited and confused over EverQuest's upcoming Hero's Forge appearance system, then it's time to take confusion out of the equation. SOE's posted a nine-point FAQ on the system, explaining its various features and specifics. The Hero's Forge will not be free but instead purchased for each character you'd like to dress up. SOE defended this separate cost by stating that "because of the very intensive nature of developing features such as Hero's Forge, by selling this feature in the Marketplace [SOE] can make it immediately available to players who desire such content much more quickly and without tying it to an expansion." The studio says that there are over 10,000 items created for this system and that even those who don't buy the system can benefit by selling pieces they find or make. SOE has plans to expand the Hero's Forge in the future, including the possible addition of wizard hats and holiday-related outfits.
Nintendo clocks Wii U controller life in at three to five hours on a charge
Nintendo wasn't particularly forthcoming with the specs at its keynote earlier today -- and, well, some things are probably best not mentioned when attempting to hype up your new console. Like, say, the three to five hour battery life on the Wii U GamePad. That's the word coming from a spec sheet posted by the gaming giant. Of course, that usage depends on factors like the brightness of the screen, and Nintendo warns that things may end up being shorter in the end. The slightly better news here is that you can plug the controller in to charge while playing, so that's something, right?
Vodafone's recharging truck returns for the 2012 festival season, wants to scan your hand
A new and improved version of Vodafone's massively mobile multiple handset recharger is being rolled out just in time for thousands of festival-goers to all hold up their phones to record the same Black Keys performance. The revamped truck still does that whole charging 2,000 phones at once thing, but adds DJ booths and new hand scanners to help phone owners more efficiently retrieve their gadgets, when it comes time to check into Foursquare -- you don't want someone else to become the mayor of the chillout tent, after all.
FCC begins tracking wireless carriers' implementation of bill shock notifications
If you've ever mistaken your wireless bill for your phone number, only to discover a dollar sign in front of all those digits, you're far from alone. The CTIA estimates that one in six mobile subscribers have experienced bill shock, but thanks to the efforts of the nation's wireless carriers -- along with a bit of help from the FCC -- consumers will start to receive notifications of any potential overages, along with alerts when the threshold has been crossed. The program is still in its infancy, but the FCC has launched a website to track wireless carriers' implementation of the notification system, which will alert consumers to any voice, data, SMS or international roaming charges. Carriers have until October 17th to have alerts for at least two of these categories in place, and will have until April 17th of next year to implement all four. Consumers may track the monthly progress of individual carriers at the FCC's bill shock website, but for a current peek at their progress, just hop the break. [Bill shock photo via Shutterstock]
Insert Coin: The PowerPot portable electric generator (video)
In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line. Assuming you're not getting through the day with a bounty of fuel cell-powered gadgets, you've probably been in a situation where you needed power and it was nowhere to be found. The PowerPot isn't the most practical solution for every scenario, but it's likely to come in handy at least once. The power-generating pot uses thermoelectric modules to convert temperature differences into a 5-, 10- or 15-watt regulated power stream, sufficient for juicing up USB devices like smartphones, GPS devices and LED lamps. The most traditional method for creating this temperature difference is to put a pot of cold water over an open flame, but the device is adaptable to other configurations -- a pot of snow on a thermal spring, for example. Assuming you've taken the fire approach, you can also use the pot to boil water or cook food as you charge your gadgets. The inventor has created a functional prototype that features fire-proof components and looks quite polished, but now the team is turning to Kickstarter to advance the project to production. Your pledge could net you any of a variety of PowerPots, ranging from a 5-watt portable V flavor for $125 to the 15-watt XV for $500. You can also pre-order a 10-watt PowerPot X for $199. If you're feeling generous, there's also an option to donate a PowerPot to folks in developing nations who may not have the cash to spare, but are in need of a cost-effective solution for power generation. Jump past the break to see the PowerPot V in action, and hit up the source link to scroll through the available configs before making your pledge.
The Care and Feeding of Warriors: Keep yourself alive
Every week, WoW Insider brings you The Care and Feeding of Warriors, the column dedicated to arms, fury and protection warriors. Despite repeated blows to the head from dragons, demons, Old Gods and whatever that thing over there was, Matthew Rossi will be your host. One of the most important lessons I was forcibly reminded when killing heroic Yor'sahj this week was that dying makes you useless. Even if you can be given a battle res, that's not only lost damage time for you, it's lost damage or healing time for the person bringing you back from the dead. It means that battle res won't be available for a tank as the fight progresses, it's just a big mess. This was further reinforced by our Ultraxion kill. Killing Ultraxion on heroic means not only does everyone need to hit a minimum DPS threshold of about 33k sustained throughout the fight, they need to do this while performing nearly flawlessly on Hour of Twilight and Fading Light. Having tanked the past couple of weeks, it was a lesson I needed to relearn. DPS players can't rely on being the target of a dedicated healer -- there's usually two or three healers at most in 25 man raids (and less, perhaps just one in 10's) focusing their attention on the raid as a whole. Even if they break the healing up into assignments and don't deviate, there's still several people at any given time needing the healers attention. While they certainly usually do their best, if we don't help them out we're only hindering ourselves. The days of 'meh, they'll heal me through it' are long gone.
PowerPad 16 USB station charges your iPad and 15 others
So you've found the perfect solution for staying juiced up during your month-long African safari, but how are you possibly going to keep all 16 iPads powered until just before it's time to go? Why the Datamation Systems PowerPad 16 ES-IP-PP16 USB Charging Hub, of course! Sure, there's no practical household application for the PP16, even in the most gadget-obsessed of families, but it'd be more than welcome in an enterprise environment or even an airport (especially an airport). The PowerPad's maker claims that it was "designed for charging Apple devices," though there's no reason you wouldn't be able to put 16 2.1-amp USB ports to use with other battery-powered devices. And we do need to address the elephant in the room -- that rather beastly fan-sporting housing -- but as Datamation points out, the thing can always live under a counter and out of view. Hit up the source link for a closer look.
Researchers increase charging capacity, speed of lithium ion batteries by a factor of ten
It's not every day that we get to write about advancements in battery technology -- much less one as potentially groundbreaking as what a group of engineers at Northwestern University claim to have pulled off. In fact, Professor Harold Kung and his team say they've successfully managed to increase both the charging capacity and speed of lithium ion batteries by a factor of ten. The key, according to Kung, is the movement of the lithium ions nestled between layers of graphene. The speed at which these ions move across a battery's graphene sheets is directly related to how fast a device can recharge. To speed up this process, Kung decided to poke millions of tiny, 10-20nm-sized holes into a mobile battery's graphene layers, thereby providing the ions with a "shortcut" to the next level. As a result, Kung's perforated batteries were able to charge ten times faster than traditional cells, going from zero to hero in 15 minutes. Not satisfied with that achievement alone, Kung and his squad then set about increasing their battery's charging capacity, as well. Here, they increased the density of lithium ions by inserting small clusters of silicon between each graphene slice. This approach allows more ions to gather at the electrode and, by taking advantage of graphene's malleable properties, avoids some of the silicon expansion problems that have plagued previous attempts at capacity enhancement. The result? A battery that can run on a single charge for more than a week. "Now we almost have the best of both worlds," Kung said. "We have much higher energy density because of the silicon, and the sandwiching reduces the capacity loss caused by the silicon expanding and contracting. Even if the silicon clusters break up, the silicon won't be lost." There is, however, a downside, as both charging capacity and speed sharply fell off after 150 charges. But as Kung points out, the increase in charge retention would more than make up for this shortcoming. "Even after 150 charges, which would be one year or more of operation, the battery is still five times more effective than lithium-ion batteries on the market today," he told the BBC. For more technical details, hit up the links below.
New nanotube battery technology leads to blisteringly fast recharges, improved safety features
Some day, your restroom break may be enough time to charge your [insert nifty gadget here] halfway. A group of researchers at the Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory has discovered that nanotubes composed of titanium dioxide can switch their phase as a battery is cycled, gradually boosting their operational capacity. The upshot: laboratory tests showed that new batteries produced with this material could be rejuvenated to 50 percent of their maximum charge in less than 30 seconds. This was accomplished by replacing conventional graphite anodes with titanium nanotube andodes. Following the experiment, lead researcher Tijana Rajh and her colleagues noted that as the battery cycled through several charges and discharges, its internal structure began to orient itself in a way that dramatically improved the battery's performance. Furthermore, using anodes composed of titanium dioxide instead of graphite could improve the reliability and safety of lithium-ion batteries and help avoid scenarios in which the lithium can deposit on the graphite anodes, causing a dangerous chain reaction known as "thermal runaway." Copious amounts of related technobabble can be found in the links below, and there's a video just past the break, too.
FCC and CTIA get set to hit back against bill shock
Bill shock? It's "a real consumer problem that needs to be fixed," according to FCC chairman Julius Genachowski. The department teamed up with the CTIA and the Consumers Union today to address the problem of unexpected mobile bill charges. The solution? Alerts about overages and international roaming sent to subscribers before they rack up bills they can't afford. It's a plan the organization talked up last year, thanks to the findings of a Consumer Task Force. The FCC hopes that a rollout of the plan will be completed in the next 12 months.
Panasonic, Tesla rekindle romance, strike supply agreement for Model S batteries
Panasonic and Tesla renewed their corporate wedding vows yesterday, with a new supply agreement on lithium-ion batteries. Under the accord, Panasonic will provide Tesla with cells for some 80,000 cars over the next four years, effectively ensuring that the manufacturer will meet its ramped-up production targets for 2012 -- including more than 6,000 orders for its Model S EV. As for the batteries themselves, they'll be made using Panasonic's nickel-type cathode technology, which, according to the company, will offer the highest energy density known. Of course, we're still awaiting for the Model S to actually enter full production, but you can whet your electric appetite with Panasonic's full press release, available after the break.
Crapgadget: 'it seemed like a good idea at the time' edition
We're sure that most inventors out there are genuinely looking to make the world a better place, but the best intentions don't always produce the best inventions, and while the following gadgets will all likely appeal to someone, somewhere, we can't exactly recommend, say, an ear-shaped iPhone case or a $300 toothpaste squeezer. But as the saying goes, "one man's crapgadget is another man's treasure." Read - It's like a beanbag chair for your iPad! For your lap! Read - At $300, this toothpaste tube squeezer should pay for itself exactly one day before the sun burns out. Read - How is this iPhone case different than all other iPhone cases? Simple: it makes it look like you've contracted some sort of engorged ear disease. Never get bothered during important phone calls again! Read - It's a battery charger! For the ladies!%Poll-69353%
Iomega Mac Companion 2TB hard drive on sale now for $240, we go hands-on
The Mac Companion hard drive that we told you about back in early August has started to ship from Apple's online store and is ready to take its spot beneath your iMac's monitor. We got a little hands-on time with the HDD and have to say, it's a slick peripheral that will certainly fit in with the collection of the aesthetic-conscious Apple devotee out there, with a metal-bordered exterior that seems to have taken a few fashion cues from the iPhone 4. On the front of the drive are four white LEDs, which turn off one by one as you fill up more space, letting you know how much room is left on the thing. Iomega's TV with Boxee (Box) hitting Europe by 'by mid-October,' or so it says Discount education-only iMac appears, makes you wish you'd opened that institute of higher learning Iomega Mac Companion Hard Drive offers 3TB of storage and a filling station for your iPad The top of the drive is a glossy black surface, which is a bit of a fingerprint magnet -- again, familiar territory to those with Apple products. Upon plugging it in (Iomega gave us the 2TB version to play with, though there's also a 3TB model), the Mac Companion will ask whether you'd like to back your system up via Time Machine. Transfer-wise, the drive does USB 2.0 and FireWire. In our limited testing, we got around 35MB/sec and just under 60MB/sec, respectively. The Mac Companion also doubles as a hub for your peripherals -- with two USB ports on the rear and a 2.1 Amp port on the side. The ports on the rear require the drive to be connected to a computer to charge and sync devices. The high-powered port on the side, however, will charge up devices like an iPad or iPhone even when the drive isn't connected to your Mac. The Mac Companion is a fairly straightforward, good looking drive, which worked quite well out of the box on the Lion system we tested it out on -- and the fact that it does double duty as a USB port sets the thing apart from much of the pack. The 2TB version will run you around $240 online.%Gallery-133759%
