We all know how important batteries are in our modern electronics. They're also becoming an increasingly vital part of our vehicles. For people in both camps, the latest news from Toyota is disheartening: Li-Ion batteries have a "memory effect". Ni-Cad Batteries When the traditional, land-line telephone evolved from a corded beast into a clunky -- but wireless -- beast, there was much cause for celebration. The battery technology of the day was Ni-Cad (Nickel Cadmium). Batteries based on this technology were used in everything from cordless phones to satellites orbiting the planet. There ...

One of the main concerns while using a smartphone (and why not, a tablet) these days is battery life. We're happy when our beloved device makes it through the day so we can charge it once again overnight. However, batteries, as we know them today, might soon be replaced with new "microbatteries", thanks to researchers at the University of Illinois. What are microbatteries? Let the press release do the talking: "the most powerful batteries on the planet are only a few millimeters in size, yet they pack such a punch that a driver could use a cellphone powered by these batteries to jump-start ...

Dear OEMs, we, your loyal customers, have been patient long enough. You've given us some really great smartphones and tablets over the years. Your designs are becoming more practical with every iteration, without shedding their aesthetic beauty. We appreciate that, and thank you. Your batteries, however, have got to change. We recognize that your devices are getting faster and thinner, but we can't use them as long as we should be able to. Face it, a smartphone that only lets you use it for 4 hours isn't very "smart". In fact, it's pretty silly, if you ask us. Of course that's not what ...

Electricity has always been a thing of wonder, but like most technological advancements, it's had its challenges and even a fight for what standard to adopt. Thomas Edison developed what would become the first commercially available electrical power transmission using direct current (DC). One of the drawbacks of DC is its relatively limited range due to loss as distribution lines stretched further away from the power plants. Eventually power plants were created in neighborhoods and business districts to overcome the loss, but the plants were large, somewhat noisy, and generally ...

We've heard about flexible displays for quite a while. Most of us have envisioned screens that roll up or fold away. Although that may be possible in the future, it's probably not what we'll see right away. Since the Nexus S, Samsung has been working on curved displays, which they called the "Contour Display". Its younger brother, the Galaxy Nexus, also has a curved screen. That's not entirely true. Though the glass is curved, the "screen" is not, and the backs of the devices are decidedly flat. Samsung's YOUM design replaces the glass sheets used in traditional OLED screens with a ...

Last week on the Android Guy Weekly we talked about how batteries are holding our devices back. Our CPUs, GPUs, RAM, screens, and wireless radios are getting more power-hungry, but our batteries aren't making the same technological leaps as the other components. The comments on that episode we very informative and helpful, but a single thread began to stand out from the others: What can I do to make my battery last longer. What was more interesting that the comments were geared more to the lifespan of the battery, not the run-time per charge. We'll tackle that in today's episode of The ...