charge

LAS VEGAS--Wireless charging pads are available now for a selection of smartphones and small devices, but the technology--anchored by the Wireless Power Consortium's (WPC) "Qi" standard"--is about to get a lot bigger.

Here at CES 2012, Fulton Innovation--a founding member of the WPC--has been showing off its eCoupled wireless power system, which can charge a phone or device that isn't physically touching the charging surface. Fulton director Bret Lewis demonstrated the technology for me charging a phone in a cluttered purse, as well as through a thick wood tabletop. Lewis says that a recent breakthrough also allows for a charge to even be delivered to a device through certain types of metal cases.… Read more

Apple's iTunes Match service is running up cell-data charges for some unsuspecting iPad users.

For $25 a year, iTunes Match stores your iTunes library on Apple's iCloud servers and makes them available on any PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, and other iOS devices. CNET blogger Lance Whitney describes the iTunes Match service in a December 28, 2011, post; Apple provides an iTunes Match FAQ.

When I signed up for the iTunes Match service, it took several hours to upload via a cable-modem connection about 5,500 MP3s that were stored in the iTunes Library on a Windows … Read more

The cable for charging and transferring data from iPhones, iPods and iPads could soon undergo another major shift, switching to technology that could speed up both tasks.

In a freshly published patent application, picked up by Patently Apple this morning, Apple details a new type of cable that blends together increased power and faster data transfer technologies, including Thunderbolt.

While not going so far as to call out the technology by name, the patent application notes that the proposed cable could support DisplayPort and PCI Express--the two technologies that are bundled together in Thunderbolt's architecture.

Along with the faster … Read more

Buying a home charging station for your electric vehicle is now as easy as buying the latest James Patterson novel and you can find both at the same place--Amazon.com.

GE Energy today announced the GE WattStation Wall Mount is now available on Amazon.com for $1,099.

The wall-mounted EV charging station delivers a full-cycle charge to a 24 kWh battery in only 4 to 8 hours, compared to standard electrical outlet that would require 12 to 18 hours to charge an EV.

"As demand and interest in the GE WattStation continues to grow, we're excited to … Read more

GM set to make changes to the Volt in response to fires, Nissan moves ahead on wireless charging for EVs, so long Aptera, many young Americans prefer the Internet to a car, and we drive the new Camry with Entune.

Instead of plugging a cable into an electric vehicle, drivers may some day just need to park it on the right spot.

Daimler yesterday disclosed it is working on a wireless charging system for electric vehicles that uses inductive charging. Nissan is also working on an inductive charging pad, which is expected to be made available with future versions of the Leaf.

In its tests, Daimler is using a modified Mercedes-Benz A-Class E-Cell, which includes a large coil under the car chassis. The car needs to be positioned above another coil placed on, or built into, the pavement. As … Read more

Rather than fiddle with cables, Nissan EV drivers will have the option to park over a wireless charger.

Nissan is working on a system in which drivers park over an induction charging mat that creates a wireless connection to an electric vehicle's on-board charger. Using a dashboard display to navigate, drivers back up so the charging map is under the rear wheels. Sensors stop the car at the appropriate spot and the charging is started by operating a touch-screen display on a charge point.

The automaker released a demonstration video of induction charging with the Leaf last month in … Read more

To many of you, one USB car charger is just as good as the next, but if you've ever tried to plug your shiny new iPad or massive screened smartphone into a cheapy charger, odds are you quickly learned how wrong you were.

Not all powered USB ports are created equally. Most USB car chargers output about 0.5A of charging power, which is a massive jump over the original "low load" USB standard of just 0.1A. However, tablets require a bit more juice still than these powered ports can supply. In the case of the … Read more

For laptops or any portable device, perhaps obviously one of the more important features is battery life, and how to get the most time out of the device without needing to plug it in.

Apple ships its laptops with an advertised 5 to 7 hours of battery life, but depending on how you use your system you may find the battery life to be well below that. For instance, my 2009 MacBook Pro gets about 5 to 6 hours of battery life instead of the advertised 7 to 8 hours. This is remarkable battery performance given the battery's age … Read more