Archive for the 'Laptop Batteries' Category
About notebook-use batteries, including the reports about the battery recalls.
Laptop Industry Faces Battery Shortages
Notebook computer industry is affected by a shortage of laptop batteries, partly because of a recent fire at a plant of LG Chem, the second biggest South Korean battery cell maker, Reuters reports.
The fire at the major battery supplier has caused an increase of battery prices, Dell Inc. said adding that it works with other suppliers to limit the price growth.
New Flight Rule Bans Li-Ion Batteries in Checked Bags
Airline passengers are no longer allowed to pack loose lithium ion batteries in checked luggage. Instead, passengers are required to take loose batteries with them in carry-on baggage, according to a new regulation, which took effect on January 1st, 2008.
Li-ion batteries in carry-on baggage must be packed in plastic bags. However, the regulation won’t apply to lithium batteries that are already installed in electronic devices, such as laptops, MP3 players and others.
New Li-Ion Batteries to Provide 10 Times Longer Run Time
Stanford researchers have developed the new version of lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, that could extend battery life in notebooks and other devices ten times.
“A laptop that now runs on battery for two hours could operate for 20 hours,” a NanoTechWire’s report says.
Betavoltaic Batteries to Provide 30 Years Run Time
Betavoltaic batteries, which could enable notebook computers to operate for 30 years without a single recharge, are planed to hit the market in about 2 to 3 years, Next Energy News reports.
“The breakthrough betavoltaic power cells are constructed from semiconductors and use radioisotopes as the energy source. As the radioactive material decays it emits beta particles that transform into electric power capable of fueling an electrical device like a laptop for years,” the report says.
XX25 Fuel Cell for Getac V100 Tablet PC Introduced
UltraCell Corporation, a producer of reformed methanol fuel cells (RMFCs) for mobile power applications, has announced its XX25 fuel cell meets the power source specifications for the Getac V100 rugged Tablet PC. The fuel cell is claimed to provide the V100 with 12-18 hours of continuous work between charges, which is up from 6 hours with the notebook’s standard 6-cell battery.
The XX25 fuel cell weighs around 2.73 pounds and plugs into the same port as the V100’s power adapter.
Notebook Components in Short Supply
Laptop makers may fail to meet their annual shipments targets for 2007, due to shortages of computer components, according to the DigiTimes’ sources at Taiwan notebook manufacturers.
There is a lack of LCD panels, battery cells, optical drives, circuit boards and other important parts, according to the manufacturers and component suppliers.
Toshiba Recalls 5,100 Laptop Batteries Worldwide
Toshiba recalled today about 5,100 laptop batteries, sold with its Dynabook, Dynabook Satellite, Satellite, and Tecra notebooks in Japan, the U.S., Europe, Australia, and China.
According to Toshiba’s representative, there were three cases in which these batteries caught fire - two in Japan and one in Australia. However, there were no injuries.
Toshiba Reminds Users to Replace Recalled Batteries
Toshiba Corporation today unveiled that one of its notebook computers with a Sony battery pack recently caught fire, and announced the additional measures to encourage customer participation in the global Sony battery packs replacement program, which started last year.
“On May 24, 2007, a Toshiba portable computer with a Sony battery pack caught fire. Toshiba immediately asked Sony to investigate. The investigation confirmed that the cause of the fire was the battery pack, as in other incidents reported earlier,” the Company’s press release says.
Gateway Recalls Batteries Used in 400VTX, 450ROG Laptops
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) today announced a recall of the notebook batteries used in some of Gateway 400VTX and 450ROG series notebooks, because of overheating problems.
These batteries could pose a fire hazard to consumers, which are advised to stop using recalled products immediately and contact Gateway regarding battery replacement. Gateway has received four reports of battery packs overheating, including minor property damage, but no injuries have been reported.
Battery Update 1.2 for MacBook and MacBook Pro Released
Apple has released Battery Update 1.2 for MacBook and MacBook Pro laptops. The patch “updates battery firmware and improves battery functionality” and is released after the company discovered that some batteries used in its notebooks may have battery performance issues. However, if the affected batteries do not work properly after the installed Update, Apple will replace these batteries free of charge.
The factors causing the performance issues do not present a safety risk, so users may continue to use current batteries, according to Apple.
Acer Recalls Sony-Made Laptop Batteries Due to Overheating
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Acer America Corporation, today announced a voluntary program for the replacement of certain notebook computer lithium-ion batteries containing Sony-made cells.
“As announced previously by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, there have been 16 reports of notebook batteries overheating. These reports were associated with earlier recalls by other notebook computer manufacturers of batteries containing these Sony cells. These previous reports involved only minor property damage and two minor burns. None of these reports involved batteries in Acer notebook computers,” Acer published.
PolyFuel Patented Key Portable Fuel Cell Technology
United States Patent and Trademark Office recently issued two broad patents for fundamental fuel cell technology to PolyFuel, Inc. The patented technology includes fuel cells’ membranes, which resemble flexible sheets of cellophane. These membranes are the core of the “critical technology behind portable fuel cells, and to a large degree dictate their size, cost, power and efficiency”, according to PolyFuel.
“Such ‘micro power’ fuel cells are widely expected to begin supplanting batteries as the primary power source when extended runtimes are desired for increasingly power-hungry portable electronic devices such as laptop computers, PDAs, and smart phones,” PolyFuel says.
Gigabyte to Showcase Dual Graphics Laptops and 8-Hour Batteries
Gigabyte Technologies has announced that it will introduce the notebooks with dual graphics system, the eight-hour laptop batteries and Santa Rosa platform-based notebooks at forthcoming CeBIT 2007 show.
Sanyo: Battery Defects Limited to Lenovo
Sanyo Electric Co., manufacturer of the laptop batteries recalled this week by Lenovo, claimed Friday the defects causing overheating are limited to Lenovo battery packs only, CMP reports.
The recalled nine-cell battery packs were designed based on Lenovo’s specifications for its notebook computers, according to Sanyo.
Lenovo Recalls 100,000 Notebook Batteries in the U.S.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in cooperation with Lenovo today announced a voluntary recall of the nine-cell extended batteries for laptops sold between November 2005 and February 2007 with ThinkPad R series, T series and Z series, because of accidents caused by battery overheating.
“If the battery in the laptop is struck forcefully on the corner, such as from a direct fall to the ground, the battery pack can overheat and pose a fire hazard to users,” CPSC says.
