charge

With more patients needing heart transplants than there are hearts available, a tiny heart pump called a ventricular assist device (VAD) can be a lifesaver. But the pump, which is inserted into the aorta via a catheter that helps blood flow, requires wiring leads that run out of the patient's body to a battery pack, and this setup can easily result in infection.

So a team of computer and electrical engineering students at Rice University have devised a method to power the VAD without wires breaking through the skin.

The team used a small coil and a battery inserted … Read more

Automakers have endorsed a connector to charge electric vehicles in as little as 15 to 20 minutes, a technology which promises to make public charging stations more compelling.

German and U.S. automakers Audi, BMW, Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Porsche, and Volkswagen yesterday issued a statement saying they will support the same charging interface.

Called the Combined Charging System, the standard can charge electric vehicle batteries with alternating current from a home outlet, direct current from a home outlet, or "ultra-fast" direct current from public stations. The system will be demonstrated next week at the International Electric Vehicle … Read more

To a computer company like IBM, plug-in electric vehicles just look like more nodes on the network.

IBM tomorrow is expected to announce a demonstration project with Honda and California utility Pacific Gas & Electric to charge a fleet of Honda Fit EVs without disrupting the grid.

The smart-charging project will also test smartphone and Web-based apps for consumers, giving them an estimate of charge time and location of charging stations.

The power grid as a whole has the capacity to accommodate millions of plug-in vehicles, say experts. But if there's a concentration of electric cars charging at once, … Read more

Apple says its latest iPad model has been designed to keep charging, even after its indicator says it's reached 100 percent.

Following questions about the accuracy of the new iPad's battery status indicator and its recharging technology, Apple now says that it's part of its software to continue charging and discharging the battery when it nears 100 percent, and that there's no harm in leaving it plugged in.

"That circuitry is designed so you can keep your device plugged in as long as you would like," Apple VP Michael Tchao told AllThingsD today. "… Read more

A report from DisplayMate Technologies yesterday noted that Apple's latest iPad is not fully charged when it shows that it's 100 percent juiced up, and today the creator of that report says the problem is due to bad math.

In a note sent to CNET and other media outlets this morning, DisplayMate President Ray Soneira said the iPad's behavior here can be attributed to the calculations that go into determining how far along the recharging process is based on battery health and other factors:

The charge indicator on all mobile devices is based on a mathematical model … Read more

Do you like wires? Neither do we. And thankfully, you don't really need them anymore when you're using a smartphone.

No matter your preference -- iPhone, Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry -- any decent modern smartphone is equipped with wireless Bluetooth capability. In addition to hands-free calling with headsets and stereo headphones, phones can also be used as wireless music sources for an increasingly large array of Bluetooth speakers -- perfect for listening to MP3s on the phone, or Web-based audio services like Spotify, Pandora, Amazon Cloud Player, iTunes Match, or anything else.

As someone who uses Bluetooth gadgets daily, I'd frankly feel lost without my handy assortment of hands-free mobile toys. And I've collected a list of some of CNET's favorites. … Read more

File this under the unique but perhaps not entirely necessary, mobile accessories drawer.

In addition to the shiny new smartphones that it introduced last week at Mobile World Congress, LG also showed off a wireless charger that encourages you to use your device while it's receiving juice.

The WCD-800 is shaped like a cradle and can accommodate your phone in either a portrait or landscape position. So while you make calls, send texts, and watch a video, the charger uses electric coils located inside to power your device via magnetic fields.

It's an interesting idea, no doubt, though … Read more

The InCharge Auto BT is a simple device, both in form factor and function. Essentially, it features a 12-volt power connection on one end of a 4-foot cable and a male analog auxiliary audio connection on the other. You may be asking, "If one end of the cable connects to power and the other end connects to the car, where does my phone connect?" The answer is: wirelessly. That "BT" at the end of InCharge Auto BT doesn't stand for Brian Tong. It's short for Bluetooth and this unit uses Bluetooth HFP and A2DP/AVRCP to wirelessly receive audio from your handset to be output to your car's speakers via the aforementioned auxiliary audio connection. … Read more

Charging gadgets out in the wilderness is a challenge, but the BioLite CampStove could change that for the power-hungry. This 2-pound portable device features a USB port that can power or charge devices while you burn biomass.

So how does it work? Well, the thermal energy of the fire delivers power to fans inside the stove through a thermoelectric module. These fans blow air on the fire to improve combustion, which in turn creates excess energy. A USB port delivers the extra energy generated by the fire for charging devices such as smartphones, LED lights, or GPS units.… Read more