The main unit will look familiar to most of us. It’s a rounded rectangle with a USB port out the side. There’s a 5200mA lithium-polymer battery inside, complete with four LED battery power status indicator lights, and then you can charge your iDevice of choice as you see fit. The iPhone 4S has a standard 1432mAh battery, so the base unit is enough to charge it more than three times. The Exovolt Plus will also work with most other smartphones and tablets, since it has a 2A max USB port for output.

But what if you want more? That’s where the “sub battery” accessory comes into play. The sub battery essentially stacks underneath the main unit and provides it with an extra 5200mA again. And you can stack several of these sub batteries together for even more power. The main difference is that the sub battery cannot work on its own; it needs to dock with the main battery unit.

No specific release date has been announced. The official page simply states that the Exovolt Plus system is “coming soon,” but we do know the the main unit will retail at $89.95 and the sub unit will sell for $49.95. The main battery package includes a 30-pin charge cable and a microUSB cable, as well as a handy carrying pouch.

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The stock battery for the Galaxy Nexus is rated at 1750mAh, putting it right in the middle of the pack with most other Android smartphones. The replacement battery from Mugen Power, on the other hand, is rated at a whopping 4000mAh. Not surprisingly, this upgraded battery won’t fit under the OEM shell of your smartphone, so it comes bundled with a new battery cover. The net result is more than double the battery life, but also about double the size with a rather unsightly humpback. So much for being slim.

Embedded below is an unboxing and demo video of the upgraded battery. It’s not in English, but you get the idea. The Mugen Power 4000mAh battery for the Galaxy Nexus, including the “free” battery cover replacement sells for $98.95.

[Source]

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Tesla Motors might be hiding a big battery issue from their customers. Apparently, the company’s electric vehicles, including their Roadster and the upcoming Model S, feature a battery pack which if completely discharged might leave a huge financial burden on the unfortunate owner. But is the owner unfortunate, or simply a bit careless?

According to an article by Michael Degusta over at theunderstatement.com, if a Tesla electric car, such as the Roadster is parked unplugged, it will eventually become what the company calls a “brick”. The vehicle can no more be started or even pushed down the road. This is the result of the car’s always-on subsystems which continually feed on the battery.

And when the battery dies, the owner ends up paying Tesla approximately $40,000 for replacing the battery pack. Reportedly, there is no protection available via warranty or a car insurance policy for this particular problem. Apparently, at least five Tesla owners were unfortunate enough to end up with this problem. Degusta says Tesla is unwilling to let their customers know about the issue, although they know that it’s a big one.

But don’t you have a slight feeling that Degusta’s argument is nonsense. That’s because it is.

If you are familiar with electric cars or batteries or even smartphones, you might know the fact that the battery which is not recharged will eventually die. And since the battery pack on a Roadster is not your usual $100 laptop battery, people will have to pay a huge price for not finding the time for maintenance.

And a Tesla, as you know, has an electric motor. There is lot less maintenance required for the vehicle when compared to a vehicle with a combustion engine. So it’s not too difficult to pay attention to the charge in the battery packs. And the company has designed the car in such a way that it warns the owner (and even the company, in the case of the latest Roadster) when the battery is low. The owners who ended up with a brick might have ignored all the warnings.

So who is culpable here?

Tesla has this to say in response to Degusta’s article: “All automobiles require some level of owner care. For example, combustion vehicles require regular oil changes or the engine will be destroyed. Electric vehicles should be plugged in and charging when not in use for maximum performance. All batteries are subject to damage if the charge is kept at zero for long periods of time. However, Tesla avoids this problem in virtually all instances with numerous counter-measures. Tesla batteries can remain unplugged for weeks (or even months), without reaching zero state of charge. Owners of Roadster 2.0 and all subsequent Tesla products can request that their vehicle alert Tesla if SOC falls to a low level. All Tesla vehicles emit various visual and audible warnings if the battery pack falls below 5 percent SOC. Tesla provides extensive maintenance recommendations as part of the customer experience”.

The post Who Bricked The Electric Car? You Did! appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

As we continue to gather more and more powerful gadgets, our need for portable power continues to increase too. There are external battery packs you can buy for different cell phones, but what about your other gear? Offering an all-in-one solution is the new AbsolutePower from Kensington. It charges three devices at once.

We’ve seen thsoe supplementary batteries before with powered USB ports, but many don’t give you enough juice to charge up something like an iPad, let alone a full blown notebook PC. The AbsolutePower is different, as this charger offers 100W of power and is compatible with a whole whack of products, including smartphones, tablets, and laptops. They say it works with everything from the BB Torch to the Sony Xperia, as well as the iPad 2, Playbook, and Galaxy Tab. And yes, your Windows laptop is totally fair game too.

The claim is that it “intelligently charges up to three devices at the same time,” presumably cutting off the juice when it recognizes that your iPhone has had enough. It also helps that the AbsolutePower is roughly the same size as a modern smartphone too, making it easy to pack away in a spare pocket or bag. It also comes with a number of adapters, serving most of the popular gadgets. Each of the two USB ports offer 2.1A.

The Kensington AbsolutePower portable charger will retail for $119.99 when it launches in October.

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