ImpactResistant
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Mophie's ruggedized 6,000 mAh Juice Pack Powerstation Pro: it's for argonauts
Did Mophie's 4,000mAh Juice Pack Powerstation not hold enough extra battery power for you, warrior of the road? Well, today you're in luck. The company has just introduced its new Pro variant, packing a massive 6,000mAh of total juice. Like its older brethren, it'll charge mostly any device over USB (even supplying pass-through power when you need to plug it in), and switches between 500 mAh, 1A and 2.1A to preserve its total capacity. The real kicker, however, is its "impact-restistant" casing, made of steel, aluminum and rubber, along with its "water-tight" USB ports. Notably, the Pro is also IP65-certified -- effectively ensuring a venerable level of protection from liquid, shock and dust. No word on pricing or availability just yet, but we're sure many a journeying LTE user will want one to store in their backpack ASAP. %Gallery-142401%
Apple patent application offers promise of stronger, scratch-proof stainless steel
As with all patent applications, it's a bit early to get too excited about this one, but a recently published filing from Apple dubbed "Nitriding Stainless Steel for Consumer Electronic Products" is one of the more interesting we've seen from the company as of late, especially when you consider its recent acquisition of Liquidmetal's intellectual property. Whereas Liquidmetal promises to let Apple create metal devices that are stronger and not limited to the usual structural or strength limitations found in conventional metals, this new patent application suggests that the company might also be working on a nitride coating for stainless steel that's described as "both scratch and impact resistant." What's more, the application suggests that the coating would not affect the appearance of the underlying stainless steel, and not cause any RF interference either. As pointed out in the application itself, that means it could be used on laptops, portable media players and, yes, even cellphones -- or it could simply be filed away with the countless other applications that haven't seen the light of day. Here's hoping for the former.
