liquid

Liquid Metal Battery, a company pursuing a breakthrough battery design, has attracted Bill Gates and an oil driller as seed investors.

Many battery companies are working to improve existing technology, but the founders of Liquid Metal Battery are taking an unusual approach that they hope will slash energy storage costs and deliver batteries able to store several hours of wind and solar power. The target of the company, which was spun out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is to have demonstration systems connected to the grid in three to five years, executives said. An official announcement of the series … Read more

According to French Apple site Hardmac, Apple's infamous (to some) Liquid Contact Indicators--sensors responsible for allowing Apple technicians to determine if your device has had substantial contact with liquids--are not present in the newly released iPad 2.

Many problems have come about because of Apple's liquid sensors, even resulting in lawsuits, and causing Apple to adjust how it handles indicators that have been activated.

As a manager in an Apple Store a couple years ago, when the first Liquid Submersion Indicators, as they were named then, were included on the original iPhone, we were told that the sensors … Read more

We weren't terribly impressed with the Kobo Wireless e-reader when we reviewed it, but now that Borders is discounting it in some stores to $59.99, we're actually thinking it might make a decent pick up if you're looking for an e-ink e-reader that supports ePub files.

We don't know exactly which stores might be carrying the discounted Kobo e-readers, but this particular display was spotted at the 2nd Avenue store in Manhattan that's in the process of liquidating its stock (yes, the store is closing).

Let us know if you've seen the Kobo … Read more

Nestled amid all the tech products and services at CES this week is the Bravo TV booth, featuring cooking demos by former "Top Chef" contender Richard Blais. But Blais isn't totally out of place here: he applies a bit of science and tech to cook up his culinary delights.

Narrowly losing the Top Chef title in season four of the series, Blaise is well-known to fans of the fast-paced cooking show for his molecular gastronomy approach to food preparation, a process that dives into the chemical reactions that occur as different ingredients are combined.

One of Blaise'… Read more

LAS VEGAS--If you find the traditional black and silver handsets to be boring, then you might want to check out the newly introduced Acer Liquid Mini line of Android phones.

Available in five different colors--royal blue, lime green, light pink, and yes, piano black, and jet silver--the Liquid Mini focuses on style, with chrome edges, a curved body, and soft-touch finish. It features a 3.2-inch, 480x320 multitouch screen and Acer's customized user interface, which sits on top of Android 2.2.

The Liquid Mini isn't just about looks, though. The smartphone also has a 5-megapixel camera with … Read more

Some Apple employees are apparently having fun sending pictures of internal policy documents to the Boy Genius Reports tech Web site. Recently, a screenshot of Apple's LCD replacement policies surfaced on the site, and currently another is available, which shows changes to Apple's liquid-damage policies for iPods, which may indicate some good news for iPod owners.

Apple's mobile devices come with small Liquid Contact Indicator (LCI) patches that react and change color when in contact with water. Apple uses the color change to determine whether a device has been submerged in water before honoring warranty claims for … Read more

Apple has changed the name of one of the key components used to determine whether or not damage was caused by liquid submersion. Though the change is subtle, now the Liquid Contact Indicator, it could signal a change in Apple's repair policies.

Formally the Liquid Submersion Indicator, a sensor that is meant to determine if the device (now on iPhones, iPods, and iPads) has been immersed in liquid, has been the subject of many consumer complaints saying the indicator was not accurate in particular climates.

When I worked in Apple Retail, as part of the original iPhone launch, we … Read more

I've been a fan of pen technology for a while now, so I was more than a little intrigued by Sharpie's recent introduction of the Liquid Pencil.

It's sort of a hybrid between pen and pencil (and I'm a fan of things that cross boundaries once thought to be immutable.) That said, it can be kind of hard to wrap one's head around Sharpie's new creation, at least until you pick one up.

Although it looks like and writes like a pen, it uses liquid graphite and erases much like a pencil.

On the plus side, it writes smoothly, doesn't break or need new lead and it is even less smudge-producing than a standard pencil and far less smear-prone than any pen.

Its erasability varies based on a bunch of factors from the type of paper to how hard you press. In general though, it erases quite well soon after writing, which tends to be the only time I would want to erase anything anyway. It's supposed to get more permanent after the first 24 hours, but will remain somewhat erasable long after that.

Engadget has soured on the liquid pencil over the fact it doesn't become truly permanent. Sharpie responded that it might have overstated things when it said in a blog post that writing from the Liquid Pencil becomes permanent like a Sharpie.

Indeed, if you are signing a contract, writing a will or what have you, I'd definitely grab a pen. But, for those who want a pencil that won't accidentally disappear over time, I think you are probably safe with the Liquid Pencil. … Read more

Indecisive people of the world, we bring you Sharpie's new liquid pencil.

The reinvented classic writes like a pen, but erases like a pencil. And here's the thing wavering minds might like: the liquid graphite "ink" doesn't become permanent for three days, so you have a full 72 hours to decide if you want that treacly poem you wrote to your friend/roommate/mom/amor (with pen and paper, no less!) to live on in perpetuity.

The new liquid pencil will hit stores next month, according to the Sharpie Blog. But Wired noticed that Office … Read more