charging

Who will pay for the electric 'gas' stations?

Editors' note: This is a guest column. See Matt Mattila's bio below.

As every major automaker reveals plans to sell electric vehicles, the future appears to be upon us, replete with silent, emissions-free, peppy, electric vehicles.

Given this impending electric-vehicle revolution, where are all of the electric pumps?

With electric vehicles, you could probably do away with stopping at fueling stations entirely, as the majority of your fueling, or battery charging, will be done overnight while plugged in at home or during the day while parked at the office. But because it is conceivable that not every trip will … Read more

Hands-on look: Dexim P-Flip iPhone power dock

The Dexim P-Flip is two, two, two products in one. It's a long-lasting external battery for your iPhone and a desktop stand that keeps it propped up nicely.

This folding, three-position dock bears more than a passing resemblance to a flip-phone, albeit one that's even thinner and more compact.

Consequently, it slips easily into a pocket. It's small, despite packing a 2,000mAh rechargeable battery that, according to Dexim, will provide eight extra hours of talk time, 15 hours of games or movies, or a whopping 80 hours of music--I have my doubts about that last one.… Read more

Dell brings wireless recharging to laptops

That Dell is releasing a new laptop for business customers is the opposite of surprising. But the fact that it contains notable features not seen in any other laptops certainly is.

Most everything about the new Latitude Z is expected: It's yet another very thin notebook (a metric which PC manufacturers keep using to try to one-up each other), with a different kind of exterior finish (soft-touch, in this case), and comes in a black cherry. It measures 16 inches across, and is 14 millimeters thin at its most narrow point.

But you probably wouldn't guess that the Latitude Z charges wirelessly. And as far as we can tell, it's the first laptop to do so. Surprised that this is coming from Dell? You're not alone.

The wireless charging is handled elegantly enough. An inductive pad that's built into a laptop stand can accomplish a full recharge in "about the same amount of time" as a standard-issue cabled charger, according to Dell. While smartphone maker Palm has a similar (albeit smaller) wireless charging system for the Pre, and companies like Visteon and Wild Charge have debuted wireless charging accessories for phones, no PC maker has incorporated the idea until now.

… Read more

Dell Latitude Z could be first laptop with wireless charging

I'm really praying this isn't another Adamo. The soon-to-be-introduced Dell Latitude Z will have a premium design, super high-end specs, and a lofty price tag. I've heard that all before, but wireless charging in a notebook? That's new.

The laptop is said to have a 16-inch display, which is a larger screen than your average business notebook. Other than that, the details are few and far between. Apparently it will pack an Intel processor and, you know, RAM and a hard drive.

But back to the wireless charging that's being reported by Forbes, the details … Read more

Portable power for your iPhone: $9.99 shipped

Update: Looks like this is sold out already. You can find what looks to be an identical battery (in black) for $17.99 from HandHelditems--where you'll also find some very positive user reviews.

Until Apple sees fit to outfit iPhones and iPods with user-replaceable batteries (meaning never), travelers have no choice but to pack battery packs.

After all, the last thing you want in the middle of your playlist, movie, game, e-book, or audiobook is a dead battery. (It's not real convenient when you need to make a call, either.)

Meritline has a Mobile Power Station Battery for iPhone and iPod for $9.99. … Read more

Accessories: The Touchstone Charger

When I bought the Pre and openned a new account with Sprint, they offered me a 10% discount if bought two accessories. I wanted the Touchstone anyway, so I threw in some screen protectors and the discount covered those.

Palm has introduced some pretty slick new tech with the Touchstone charger. The kit comes with the Touchstone and another back plate.… Read more

Touchstone Charger, Does It Really Work?

The Touchstone charger is great in theory and a nice little take a look at what my Pre can do Iphone type of moment hahaha. but the question is does it actually work effectively? Thanks to my buddy at Best Buy for getting me the Touchstone charger so I could do a review for you all. I got as much light in the room as possible so sorry about the darker image on the video but you can still make it out without strain. Through some testing it was clear as day to see that the Touchstone charger took about 45 minutes longer to charge than straight usb. This is a bummer since you don't want to be waiting forever to charge your device. The reason that I will still be using is because it's wireless, great for having on my beds headboard, and makes turning off alarms easier in the morning. (not sure if the alarm thing is good though) Below is a video of it in action with some of the features explained a little more To make it quick for those that don't have access to videos here's a quick sum-up of the video review. There are two different kits for the Touchstone, you have the basic one which includes the docking station and the battery cover for the device. Than there is a 89.99 version that also includes new outlet plug and usb cord. The docking station has a very interesting feeling grip on the bottom, through some research I found out that they designed it after the gecko's paw so it could be placed anywhere without fear of falling. The reason for the battery cover involves a little science, the science of magnets. The new battery cover has a matte black finish with a rubbery, grippy feel, on the inside of the battery cover you will find four circles which are actually magnets. These magnets are attracted to the one in the docking station holding the phone in place. The whole wireless feature is a plus, but if plugging in the usb doesn't bother you I personally would stay with that route since the touchstone charger does seem to charge the battery at a slower rate.… Read more

Charging and USB

The charger and USB cable of the Pre are pretty well designed, and make charging and connecting to your Pre pretty easy and pleasant.

The charger is essentially a USB cable that plugs into a neat Palm base, so you can use the cable either for plugging into your computer or into the charger. The one end is standard USB for plugging into the charger or computer, and the end that plugs into the computer is a micro-usb I believe. The same connector that is on newer blackberry's (I haven't tried interchanging the power cables, I'm sufficiently … Read more

A Quick Battery Life Test

A night turned off and plugged into the charger yielded nothing. I woke up the next morning, turned the phone on and had a 9% battery. Turns out I had plugged into the wrong wall socket, one that is tied to my wall switch, and thus had never given it a charge.

Luckily, this allowed me to charge it from a near-zero battery state to see how long it would take. The result: a robust hour plus a little change gave me a full battery charge.

Taking the phone out with me Friday to the Seattle International Beer Fest would … Read more