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Apple this week has announced an iOS 5.0.1 update, which includes a fix for the battery problem plaguing many iPhone 4S users, who are reporting a battery life of less than half of the prior model. So, why are we announcing the news on this blog?

In today’s technologically-driven marketplace, the performance (or lack of) can directly impact the success of a consumer product. Not only is enough today to have an amazing electronics item with lots of bells and whistles, but the battery that powers the device better work in a way that meets customer expectations as well.

As Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales quickly approach, you’ll want to do your research before making an electronics purchase about the battery life of a product you are about to buy. Whether it is a toy, laptop, camera, smartphone, or a wide array of equipment or sports items on your list, it is important for the battery to have the life and strength to support the device. Or, why bother?

A good example of this is electronics

According to a recent article in Science Daily, batteries could get a boost from a discovery that increases power, energy density and safety while dramatically reducing charge time.

A team led by Hansan Liu, Gilbert Brown and Parans Paranthaman of the Department of Energy lab's Chemical Sciences Division found that titanium dioxide creates a highly desirable material that increases surface area and features a fast charge-discharge capability for lithium ion batteries. Compared to conventional technologies, the differences in charge time and capacity are striking.

"We can charge our battery to 50 percent of full capacity in six minutes while the traditional graphite-based lithium ion battery would be just 10 percent charged at the same current," Liu said.

Compared to commercial lithium titanate material, the ORNL compound also boasts a higher capacity -- 256 vs. 165 milliampere hour per gram -- and a sloping discharge voltage that is good for controlling state of charge. This characteristic

We have been writing weekly blogs about our quality batteries and how Impact Battery is your source for your power needs of all kinds, but this week we wanted to talk about why ordering batteries online makes sense.

Studies of consumer buyer trends continue to show how more and more people are purchasing online. Reasons are simple: consumers don’t have to drive around and “hunt” for a particular item they seek. Rather, they point and click, are able to read about the item from the comfort of their own home, are able to shop for prices and quality, and then know that the item they want will be delivered to their doorstep.

We stock a wide variety of battery types that aren’t always readily available on retailers’ shelves, and our customers have told us they appreciate knowing that a particular replacement or backup battery is available and will be ready for shipping right away. Since scooter batteries and batteries for toys, boats, power sports, RVs, wheelchairs, and other equipment are sometimes

Selling batteries is what we do, but when we saw the article this week from Techlicious about potential techie products that are possible dangers to children, we wanted to pass it on to our families.

Topping No. 4 on the hazards list is "button cell batteries", touted as potential poison pills. Since 1985, there have been 3,500 injuries and nine deaths. These small button-sized batteries are commonly used in items like remote controls, toys, light-up shoes, digital ear thermometers, and countless other products.

The danger here According to the National Capital Poison Center in Washington, D.C., is that children, usually toddler-age, swallow these batteries. The batteries can get stuck in children’s throats.  This is obviously a choking hazard but more often overlooked is the potential for severe chemical burns. "The effect starts within minutes of ingesting the battery and in as soon as two hours can burn a hole through the esophagus where it's lodged," says Dr. Toby Litovitz, executive

A futuristic concept called “reverse electrowetting” could change the way we recharge cell phones and other portable devices, but don’t look for it anytime soon.

Engineers are working on a new method to harvest the mechanical energy in our day-to-day strides, meaning they are looking at shoes to serve as a source for powering portable gadgets. The concept would utilize a micro-fluidic device consisting of thousands of micro-droplets that move past a nanotechnology-based film. The motion of the droplets would then be converted into an electric current. The idea is that you would have the energy to power devices whenever you choose to take a “power walk.”

Creators envision equipping special footwear with tiny mobile hotspots that are powered by the electricity-generating shoes. Researchers say in theory the shoes could generate up to 20 watts of electrical power.

While this additional convenience may sound appealing, it will have a long way to go before it is actually on shoe (or electronics)

Johnson Controls Inc. is planning to invest $138.5 million to convert its battery plant near Toledo, Ohio, into an Absorbent Glass Mat (AGM) battery facility for start-top and other high efficiency vehicles.

Alex Molinaroli, president for Johnson Controls Power Solutions, said that the company sees the start-stop vehicle technology market growing to 35 million batteries globally by 2015—including batteries not put into new vehicles—with the United States as an important piece of the market. By 2020, JCI projects, demand for start-stop systems in new vehicles will reach 70–92% in Europe, North American and China—essentially supplanting conventional internal combustion engine vehicles.

Johnson Controls’ Toledo investment will add 6 million in AGM battery capacity to the company’s North American AGM footprint by 2013.

Start-Stop is a technology applied to a standard gasoline-powered vehicle that automatically shuts the engine off during idle, reducing fuel use and emissions by 5–12 percent,

Nintendo’s 3DS portable gaming system has only been available in the U.S. for a short time, but it has already sold more than a million units. The 3DS is the first commercial device with a glasses-free 3-D screen and kids, teens and adult gamers alike are flocking to the new device.

But while they love the 3-D illusions, Science Daily is reporting that its three-hour battery life is less than half of its predecessor, the 2-D DS device, which may make some gamers quite unhappy with decreased play time.

But that may change soon, due to some innovative researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They have developed a fundamentally new approach to glasses-free 3-D called HR3D, which they say will double the battery life of devices without compromising screen brightness or resolution. The technique is claiming to also expand the viewing angle of a 3-D screen, which could pave the way to larger devices with multiple users while maintaining the 3-D effect.

Why are we putting this

It’s far from being on the marketplace, but Science News is reporting that a battery is being tested with a three-dimensional nano-structure for battery cathodes that allows for dramatically faster charging and discharging without sacrificing energy storage capacity.

Batteries that can store significant energy and release it fast and then recharge quickly are desirable for the up-and-coming electric vehicles. In addition, they are sought after in the medical field for equipment, lasers and in military applications.

The performance of traditional lithium-ion (Li-ion) or nickel metal hydride (NiMH) rechargeable batteries degrades significantly when they are rapidly charged or discharged. Making the active material in the battery a thin film allows for very fast charging and discharging, but reduces the capacity to nearly zero because the active material lacks volume to store energy.

The test design essentially wraps a thin film into three-dimensional structure, achieving both high active

There have been numerous reports about the battery market and how the tragic earthquake that has devastated parts of Japan could lead to a shortage. While it is true that Japan is home to numerous production sites, for not just batteries, but components for computers, cars and other technology, analysts are saying that consumers should not be adversely affected.

Most companies have a supply buffer already in place, and other plants throughout the world are stepping up production efforts to meet continued demand for Lithium-ion batteries especially, which are used to power a wide variety of consumer devices including smart phones and laptops. Battery manufacturers are also turning to alternative components sources besides those in the devastated parts of Japan to ensure supply remains constant.

The Japanese company Kureha, for one, which supplies a critical component that is used in lithium-ion batteries and in batteries used for electric vehicles, previously held over 70 percent of the