charges

Activists fighting on behalf of WikiLeaks brought down MasterCard's Web site today, according to the BBC and other sources.

The hacking group Anonymous is taking responsibility for a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack on the credit company's site in retaliation for MasterCard's decision on Monday to block donations and payments to WikiLeaks, which was first reported by CNET.

MasterCard's main site was at times either offline or extremely slow to load this morning. Ping requests to the site also timed out, an indication that the site was unreachable.

Early this morning, the Anonymous group, which … Read more

Wireless charging stations for electronics have been a hot topic ever since the introduction of the Powermat and the universal wireless charger standard was established. These methods, however, require the battery-operated devices to be compliant with the wireless charging standard they use. This means other products, namely the majority of all electronics, won't be able to take advantage of them.

The ElectroHub, which will debut at CES 2011, is a new wireless charging station that's designed to work with virtually all electronic devices. Though the details are still a little sketchy, basically this new charging station works similarly … Read more

You have a chance to bid on the first production Volt available to the masses. General Motors has put the first Volt off the assembly line up for auction. The electric vehicle, with extended range, will have a MSRP of $41,000.

The car up for auction has a Viridian Joule exterior, light neutral interior with dark accents and loads of extras, including the premium trim package, rear camera and park assist package, and polished wheels. The auction also includes a 240-volt charging station and home installation (a $1,500 value).

How to bid for the car is as easy … Read more

The Walgreens pharmacy chain will offer rapid-charging EV stations at 18 Houston-area stores next year, through a partnership with power utility NRG Energy.

NRG's eVgo Network(pronounced ee-vee-go), one of the first commercial electric-vehicle-charging networks to launch in the U.S., will initially consist of over 100 charging stations and cost NRG about $10 million in infrastructure investment.

The eVgo Network will be rolled out in early 2011 throughout Houston and Harris County, Texas, and include two types of facilities, as well as two types of EV charging stations.

The eVgo network will be an integration of both Level … Read more

We have to admit, we're suckers for a good charging accessory, and the iHome iB969 fits the bill as a multifaceted charging station for iPods, iPads, iPhones, and other devices you charge via USB.

Though the mostly plastic iB969 doesn't exactly ooze sleekness or high-end build quality (pick it up and it feels pretty light), it looks attractive enough and has dual docks for the iPhone or iPod as well as an integrated stand for iPads. To demonstrate its capabilities, iHome on the package depicts an iPad with an iPhone, iPod Nano, and Sony Reader. A look under … Read more

Energizer's AP1201 has been shipping for about a month, but one just showed up in the mail, so we thought we should give it a little ink because it's pretty nice.

The first thing to note about it is that it's relatively lightweight and thin but packs in a rechargeable battery and seems to offer good protection. We also liked the feel of the case, which is made partly out of hard plastic and partly out of recycled silicon rubber. While Energizer serves up a bunch of statistics on how much extra battery life it gives you (… Read more

Audi announced today at its first appearance at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas that it has developed and is bringing to market one of the first OEM applications of wireless device charging for its vehicles. With this charger, Audi claims that people will be able to charge their smartphones in their Audi vehicles without connecting a charging cable, cord, or adapter.

The system was developed in collaboration with Electronics Research Lab, Qualcomm Incorporated, and Peiker and works similarly to the inductive charging mats that we've seen enter the market over the last year or so (such as the … Read more

In an increasingly crowded business of electric vehicle charging stations, a couple of companies are touting speed.

Ecotality and Coulomb Technologies today announced direct-current charging stations that can significantly refill an electric car's battery in around a half-hour. Both companies displayed their DC charge stations at the Business of Plugging In conference here.

Ecotality's Blink DC Fast Charger has the ability to blast 200 amps of current to a car's battery. The company expects to have 150 of the systems installed in public places as part of the EV Project public charge station network by next summer, … Read more

Twelve Best Buy stores will plug in Ecototality charging stations for electric vehicles, part of an effort to build out the fueling infrastructure for electric cars in the U.S.

Ecotality said today that its Blink EV charging stations will be installed by March at stores in Tucson, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Seattle. Based on data gathered at those locations, the companies will consider installing more charging stations in other regions.

With electric vehicles, including the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt, now coming onto the roads, the auto industry and governments are seeking to ensure that drivers have … Read more