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Seawater Plus Fresh River Water Plus Nanotech Equals Green Electricity

Research at Stanford has resulted in a rechargeable "battery" that uses a mix of sea- and fresh water and a dash of nanotech to generate electricity. Green power plants at river mouths could be the ultimate result.READ»

RETAIL   |  Comment

Plug 'n' Pay: E-Charge Stations Coming to an Airport Near You

A convenient method of charging electronics on low battery is set to hit malls, cafes, and airports across the country.READ»

Adobe's Smartphone Flash Player Launches on iOS4 Release Day: Take That, Apple!

Adobe has just released its Flash Player for Mobile 10.1--empowering certain smartphones to play flash content on the Web. Curious timing, since Apple's just shipped its new Flash-free iOS4. Is Adobe trying to make a point? The ...READ»

IPHONE 4   |  Comment

Leaked iPhone 4 Enables First Hands-On Review

Apple's iPhone 4 has now been manhandled and fondled and talked about endlessly ... but in the days before its launch we've still not seen one in action in the wild... until today. Somehow, one of the readers of Czech Web site ...READ»

LITHIUM   |  Comment

Afghanistan's Potential Billions in Lithium: Why It's Important

This weekend rare and fabulous news came from Afghanistan that trillion-dollar mineral deposits have been discovered. Chief among the riches is lithium, an element central to the most popular type of rechargable batteries used today. ...READ»

Use Reverse Innovation to Inspire Ethonomics

Last week I wrote about reverse innovation. We often witness this in other countries where the local conditions--whether due to political uncertainty, low local income levels, or unfavorable geography-- seem like a hindrance to ...READ»

IPAD   |  Comment

No iPad Tethering, but Games for Days: Steve Jobs

It's just 25 days 'til iPad arrives on sale in some global locations, and the fever's mounting. To spur it on, Apple pushed its first ad during the Oscars, which Steve Jobs was at. He's also been emailing fans to confirm some ...READ»

BUSINESS   |  Comment

Electric Car True Costs Report 2010

New Research forecasts 14 million electric or hybrid cars likely sold in 2020 in China, Japan, the United States, and Western Europe.  SustainableVirtualBiZ.com projects that some 1.5 million will be fully electric, 1.5 ...READ»

Pixel Qi: The Screen Tech Behind CES' Most Buzzworthy Gadgets

Ever tried to read an email on your smartphone in direct sunlight? Well, if you haven't, don't--because it's pretty much impossible. That's because the screens on most computers and cell phones are backlit, especially now that both ...READ»

Nissan Claims It Can Double EV Battery Range by 2015

Battery life is the bane of of electric vehicle manufacturers. At this point, batteries aren't advanced enough for cars to go significant distances without either switching out for a fresh battery or recharging at a designated ...READ»

BATTERIES   |  Comment

Xtreme Power's 20-Year Battery Works Even After Being Machine-Gunned

Watch out, Duracell. Xtreme Power may have you beat on the durability front with its PowerCell battery, a cheap dry-cell battery that lasts up to 20 years and keeps working after a machine gun blasts it repeatedly. The fiberglass ...READ»

WHEEGO   |  Comment

The Nuts and Bolts of Wheego's Electric Car

This week I had the privilege of test driving Wheego's low-speed electric vehicle, the Whip, which costs about $12,500 after a $7,500 tax credit that expires this year. The Whip isn't meant for highway duty; it uses relatively ...READ»

Coming Soon: A Lithium-Air Battery with Storage Capacity to Spare

Lithium-air batteries are a strong candidate for electric car energy storage, but they face a major  hurdle: internal clogging due to solid byproducts. It's an issue that has prevented li-air batteries, which offer 10 times the ...READ»

TESLA   |  Comment

Inside Tesla's First East Coast Store

California-based Tesla Motors opened its third retail store today in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood, kicking off a rapid retail expansion plan that should land stores in eight major U.S. cities before the end of 2009. Unlike the ...READ»

One Small Electric Car and Its Big Fight for Buyers

In the race to build the first affordable electric car, one company is taking an unusual approach: they're not treating it as a race at all. "We don't want to be the first, or the biggest. We just want to be the best," says Mike ...READ»

GE   |  Comment

GE to Open Sodium-Based Battery Plant to Power Hybrid Locomotives, Create "Green Collar" Jobs

GE is making a move into the sodium-based battery business with a $100 million battery manufacturing plant in upstate New York. The company has previously invested heavily in lithium ion batteries--the batteries of choice for ...READ»

FORD   |  Comment

Sign of the Times: Ford Transforming SUV Assembly Plant Into a Small Car Plant

Ford Motor Company is spending $550 million to turn its Michigan SUV plant into a small car plant for the fuel-efficient Ford Focus. The plant will eventually manufacture the 2011 battery-electric version of the Focus as well. ...READ»

HITACHI   |  Comment

Hitachi Speeds Into Hybrids with World's Most Efficient Lithium-Ion Battery

Without a super-efficient battery, Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) are little more than scrap metal. The more efficient the battery, the longer a car can run--and the more attractive it is to people who need to drive long ...READ»

The New Great Race - - Tesla versus Clarity

Listening to battery enthusiasts wax poetic about the Tesla recently--and seeing a few of them appearing on the streets of west Los Angeles--I began thinking about the old Tony Curtis film "The Great Race." The roads and Holiday Inns have improved dramatically since the period depicted in the movie, but the idea of testing the claims of exciting new technology at the dawn of a new transportation age is very much the same.READ»

PEAPOD   |  Comment

First Look: Peapod's Minimalist Electric Car

The Peapod Mobility is an all-electric mini-car with a four-person capacity and a grille that seems to smile. Sure, it only goes 25mph with a 30-mile radius, but the uber-cheap buggy will have green enthusiasts lining up to buy in ...READ»