Nokia Phone Owners, Check Your Pockets

About 46 million batteries manufactured by Matsushita between December 2005 and November 2006 and branded as the Nokia BL-5C have been recalled due to potential overheating problems.

Fortunately, Nokia noted in its statement about the problem that all of the approximately 100 overheating incidents happened while the battery was being charged.

A web page hosted by Nokia about the batteries lists the models that use the BL-5C, and provides a way to check the battery identification number against ones being recalled.

Nokia and Matsushita will replace batteries that prove to be from the production run in question. No serious injuries or property damage has been reported from any of the short circuiting incidents people have encountered with the battery.

I should have, and if you own an affected model, you should get your battery exchanged.

You may not be having problems (I saw no problems until this week) but chances are that you will. Interestingly, Apple doesn’t say that you actually will have problems, just that “We recently discovered that some 15-inch MacBook Pro batteries supplied to Apple do not meet our high standards for battery performance”. Well, that’s pretty vague, but here’s what I actually experienced:

I don’t often use my machine disconnected from power. I have calibrated it a few times, and never saw any problem during that. I fell out of the habit of discharging it slightly at night as I was doing originally.

Once every few weeks I bring the computer when I visit my mother at her nursing home; I use it to show her pictures of family and friends.

Three weeks ago I noticed something strange: the battery didn’t last quite long enough to show all the pictures. I thought that was unusual, but it was an unusually large batch of photos, and the battery had not been fully discharged for a while, so.. I thought it was normal.

But then this weekend I had another batch of pictures to show. I thought to bring my power adaptor just in case, and sure enough, the computer shut off part way through the pictures. I noted the time: it was only a few minutes. I plugged it in and finished showing the pictures.

The battery charge went back up to 100%, but now I was suspicious: I unplugged it again, and it shutoff within two minutes. Obviously something wrong..

Back home last night I let it charge up again. I noticed this time the charge won’t go beyond 98% and if I unplug it, it fails very quickly.

Apparently this is what Apple is concerned about.. so I found my serial number, checked it with their site, and yup, this is one of the “bad” ones. Check yours before you have a problem.

*Originally published at APLawrence.com

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A.P. Lawrence provides SCO Unix and Linux consulting services http://www.pcunix.com

The new 15.4-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pros will contain Intel Merom Core 2 Duo processors, the mobile flavor of the Core 2 lineup. 17-inch MacBook pros will come standard with a 2.33 Ghz processor, while the 15.4-inch notebooks will have a 2.16 Ghz chip for the base model, with an option to upgrade to 2.33 Ghz.

Overall Apple claims that the change in processor will give the MacBook Pro lineup a 39 percent increase in performance over the previous generation. It remains to be seen whether than number indicates an increase in overall system performance or a single, errant benchmark that happened to perform exceptionally well with the new Merom chips. Either way Intel’s Core 2 Duo is such a potent piece of silicon that it currently has no rival in the consumer market.

The new MacBook Pros also get a memory upgrade, with the 15.4-inch and 17-inch models boasting 1GB and 2GB of memory respectively. Apple’s trademarked Superdrive DVD-RW drive also comes standard on both notebooks, with 6x DVD-writing capabilities on the 15.4-inch book and a hefty 8x DVD-writer on the 17-inch.

Apple updated its iMac desktop lineup early in September, employing the desktop version of Intel’s Core 2 Duo dubbed Conroe. Benchmarks in the Core-2-Duo-equipped iMac lineup showed a 50-percent increase over its predecessors.

Check out Apple’s MacBook Pro Homepage

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*Originally published at TechFreep

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Mike Zazaian is the Editor-in-Chief and Webmaster of TechFreep.com, an online publication dedicated to daily technology and science news. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he majored in Film and Video studies with a sub-concentration in screenwriting. While only a minority of Mike’s formal education encompassed the technology field, he has worked as a web developer, a freelance web designer, and has been a tech enthusiast for the better part of his life.

The iPod loses eight percent of its battery when playing FairPlay AAC tracks, while PlaysForSure devices lose from 2-5 hours. The Creative Zen Vision: M dropped from 16 hours to 12 hours.

The theory (and probably the accurate reason) is that DRM music uses the processor of the player more, draining the battery faster. Of course, it is also possible that WMA/AAC files drain the battery more than MP3 files.

Either way, while this is something that companies should be working on, I think we can all agree that it is more important for them to concentrate on longer battery lives in general. After all, if your player gets 40 hours, but only 35 with DRM, that’s not terrible.

Still, its just another downside of DRM.

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In less esoteric terms, that means soon consumers won’t need to worry about mobile phone or notebook computer battery lifespan. It will power up and stay powered up.

The energy storage device is called an ultracapacitor-a next generation super-battery that stores energy as an electrical field using atomic-level nanotube structures. Though ultracapacitors have been around since the 1960′s, and used in fuel-cell vehicles for extra acceleration, the nanotube-based devices are now small enough to be used in a range of electronic devices.

Developed by M.I.T.’s Laboratory for Electromagnetic and Electronic Systems (LEES), the ultracapacitors hold a 10-year-plus lifetieme, are indifferent to temperature change, highly immune to shock and vibration, and have high charging and discharging efficiency.

The key to developing an ultracapacitor small enough to be used in mobile electronics and outlast a standard lithium ion battery was the utilization of vertically aligned, single-wall carbon nanotubes. The nanotubes are one thirty-thousandth the diameter of a human hair and 100,000 times as long as they are wide.

By making them vertically aligned, developers were able to overcome problems with irregular shapes that reduced efficiency and increased surface area. The LEES ultracapacitor nanotubes are only several atomic diameters in width, and can be made into any of the sizes currently available, produced by conventional technology.

“This configuration has the potential to maintain and even improve the high performance characteristics of ultracapacitors while providing energy storage densities comparable to batteries,” said Joel E. Schindall, the Bernard Gordon Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) and associate director of the Laboratory for Electromagnetic and Electronic Systems

“Nanotube-enhanced ultracapacitors would combine the long life and high power characteristics of a commercial ultracapacitor with the higher energy storage density normally available only from a chemical battery.”

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Apple computers affected include the 12-inch iBook G4, the 12-inch PowerBook G4 and the 15-inch PowerBook G4. These batteries were manufactured by LG Chem Ltd. of South Korea. The numbers on the Apple batteries include:

12-inch iBook G4 – A1061 – HQ441-HQ507

12-inch PowerBook G4 – A1079 – 3X446-3X510

15-inch PowerBook G4 – A1078 – 3X446-3X509

Apple said exchange isn’t a problem. Contact them to verify the information and a battery will be issued. Once received, just send back the defective product. They warned also to check recently purchased replacement batteries for these computers as well as the iBook G3.

HP’s recall seems a little more extensive. Their recalls total about 135,000 worldwide and 85,000 in the U.S. They said they’ve received reports on 16 overheating batteries but no one had been injured. They recommended advice similar to Apple’s. Contact them and they will make arrangements to ship a new battery to the consumer.

The recalled battery packs for HP are labeled with bar codes starting with GC, IA, L0 or L1. There are several models of computer listed including some in the HP Pavillion, HP Compaq, Compaq Presario and Compaq Evo product lines.

The HP batteries were purchased between Mar 2004 and May 2005. The Apple batteries were listed in October 2004 to May 2005. In both cases, computer users should not use the computer with the batteries until the replacement arrives. They said to keep it strictly to the power cord.

This wouldn’t be the first time Apple’s had problems with batteries either. They had problems with iPod batteries several months ago. It took a little effort to get Apple moving but they eventually got it together. Because this particular case is government mandated situation, it’s moving a bit smoother.

John Stith is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.

Unfortunately for the Cupertino-based computer company, those customers decided to think “class action” and sued over batteries that would not hold a charge for the advertised amount of play time, or would not charge at all.

A tentative settlement will have Apple provide $50 vouchers and extended service warranties to as many as 2 million customers who bought older generation iPods through May of 2004.

Eight customers filed the suit in the fall of 2003. They complained the iPod battery was not lasting the product’s lifetime, and that it did not provide 10 hours of continuous playback.

Batteries were failing after 18 months, outside of the device’s one year warranty. Apple then told customers they would have to replace the battery at a cost of $99. With thousands of customers affected by the problem, the lawsuit was filed.

The terms of the settlement provide a $50 voucher good for any Apple product or service outside of iTunes downloads or gift certificates, for anyone eligible who fills out a claim form. Claimants must have a receipt for purchase of their iPod, thus making purchases of iPods through outlets like eBay ineligible for relief.

Further, customers who experienced the battery problem may have the battery or the iPod replaced via a claim through the lawsuit. Apple’s normal one-year service agreement will be extended to two years to cover those affected by the problem.

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.

Using Sanyo’s latest advancements in fuel cells, which can be used to increase the longevity of notebook batteries, the two companies designed a prototype fuel cell system that could supply up to 8 hours of power on current and future ThinkPad models.

The driving force for the joint-design was to develop a fuel cell that would not require the alteration of the ThinkPad notebook’s internal power architecture. With power supplies lasting this long, notebooks will be better equipped to run powerful applications like multimedia and graphics programs, while performing tasks such as security updates and scheduled maintenance without draining PC battery power.

“There are a number of vendors developing fuel cell battery prototypes for PCs and mobile devices, but the combination of IBM’s first-class ThinkPad notebooks and Sanyo’s leadership position in the technology will accelerate research and development in the field,” said Peter Hortensius, vice president, IBM Personal Computing Division. “We do not focus simply on the ‘wow factor’ of fuel cells — we see it as a powerful enabler that could support a wide variety of business applications. These companies are collaborating to help carry ThinkPad notebooks to the next generation of power supplies, while supporting the highest levels of business productivity.”

IBM has made a 2-minute demonstration video available to those who are interested. To view the demonstration, click here.

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The reason for the excitement comes from Toshiba’s prototype for the new lithium-ion battery, which can be recharged to 80% strength in one minute. When released, the battery will boast the fastest recharge time on the market, reducing the time for recharge by a factor of 60.

According to Toshiba, in order to facilitate the rapid recharge time, the company employed the use of nano-material technology. Toshiba indicates how the nano-technology will provide such improvements by saying:

A breakthrough technology applied to the negative electrode uses new nano-particles to prevent organic liquid electrolytes from reducing during battery recharging. The nano-particles quickly absorb and store vast amount of lithium ions, without causing any deterioration in the electrode.

The battery should be available in 2006 and is currently intended for use in the automotive and industrial sectors.

Toshiba also provides an example of the battery’s application, while detailing various specifications:

The battery’s advantages in size, weight and safety highly suit it for a role as an alternative power source for hybrid electric vehicles.

Major Specifications of New Battery

Excellent Recharge Performance
The thin battery recharges to 80% of full capacity in only a minute. Total recharge takes only a few more minutes.

High Energy Density
Small and light, the new battery offers a high level of storage efficiency. The prototype battery is only 3.8mm thick, 62mm high and 35mm deep and has a capacity of 600mAh.

Long Life Cycle
A prototype of new battery (a laminated lithium ion battery with 600mAh capacity) was discharged and fully recharged 1,000 times at a temperature of 25 degrees centigrade and lost only 1% of capacity during the test.

Temperature
The new battery operates well in extremes of temperature. It discharges 80% of its capacity at minus 40 degrees centigrade, against 100% at an ambient temperature of 25 degrees centigrade, and loses only 5% of capacity at temperatures as high as 45 degrees centigrade after 1,000 cycles. These characteristics assure the wide applicability of the battery as a power source for products as diverse as hybrid vehicles and mobile phones.

Eco-friendly Battery
The new battery can quickly store energy produced by locomotives and automobiles. This speedy and highly effective recharge characteristic of the battery will support CO 2 reduction, as the battery can save and re-use energy that was simply wasted before.

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I became much more familiar with the ins, outs, ups, and downs of the iPod battery when I was writing iPod: The Missing Manual earlier this year. After months of research for the book, which included regular wading through Apple’s Knowledge Base and discussion boards, lurking on Web forums, and listening to anything iPod-related within earshot, it soon became apparent to me that battery life was a rather toasty topic among iPodders. People are not just comparing play time between charges, but battery behavior, overall life span, and other factors that affect the iPod’s ability to keep the tunes spinning.

Apple estimates that the battery in the first two generations of the iPod, (those released in 2001 and 2002), can last for up to ten hours of playback time. The 2003 iPods, with their slimmer size, have a smaller battery that is supposed to last for up to eight hours of use. There are a lot of factors to consider in attaining these numbers, and many folks complained that they just weren’t getting ten or even eight hours of life out of their Pods before they had to rejuice.

To keep the music playing as long as possible, here are ten things to consider about the battery and how to use its power effectively.

1. Just Press Play

The iPod can hold thousands of songs, but be-bopping all over the unit to go from one unrelated track to the next can burn down the battery because the iPod’s hard drive has to keep spinning to keep up with you. Settling into a nice long playlist and not jumping around lets the iPod buffer the tracks into its memory, take a load off its hard drive, and ease the need for more battery power.

2. Size Matters

That same memory cache that the iPod uses to store songs and keep them from skipping also works best with song files that are smaller than nine megabytes in size. This isn’t too much of an issue with pop songs compressed in the MP3 or AAC formats, but if you’ve got hefty, uncompressed AIFF files, large batches of songs cobbled together into one giant megatrack, or other music files bigger than nine megs, you’ll probably burn through your battery faster than someone cruising through a playlist of AAC files.

3. The Price of Illumination

The iPod’s bright white backlight makes it easy to see your songs in the dark, but at a price. The power-hungry backlight can put a real drain on the player’s battery, so use it sparingly to preserve more time for songs between charges. You can adjust the amount of time your backlight stays on automatically when you do have to turn it on. Just go to the iPod’s Settings menu and select Backlight Timer. You can have the backlight stay automatically on for two, five, ten, or twenty seconds when you need it, or opt to just keep it always turned off.

4. The Big Turn-Off

The iPod will go to sleep after a few minutes of inactivity, but you can shut down when you’re done with it by holding down the Play/Pause key for a few seconds. This might be a good habit to get into anyway, lest you have set your iPod to repeat an album, playlist, or library over and over. If you forget to turn it off, you may return to an iPod with a depleted battery and no music to share until you charge it back up again.

5. The Handy Hold Switch

There is a Hold button located on the top of the iPod, as well as one located on the remote control for those of you who purchased iPods with the full swag bag of accessories right out of the box. Flipping on the Hold switch disables the controls on the front of the iPod, which can keep it from jumping around, or turning itself off when something nudges the controls. Likewise, if you’ve tossed your iPod loosely into your gym bag or purse or been in some other situation, like a jam-packed subway car where the controls can get bumped, the Hold switch is quite helpful in preventing the iPod from accidentally being turned on and running down its battery.

6. Don’t Go to Extremes

Excessive heat or cold not only makes people cranky and sluggish, but these factors can also affect your iPod’s performance. The iPod works best in temperatures between 50 degrees to 95 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees to 35 degrees Celsius), and might behave erratically otherwise. Don’t leave the iPod in direct sunlight or in a hot parked car.

If you accidentally leave it out in the cold for too long, let the iPod warm up to room temperature before turning iton, else the iPod might flash its dreaded Low Battery icon in your face. And when you do charge it up, let it breathe–place it upright in its charging dock and take it out of any case or cover you might use with it, so the heat of the charging battery doesn’t get trapped within.

7. Check the Charging

Remember, not all FireWire ports are powered, especially when it comes to Windows. When you plug the iPod into a computer or an AC adapter to juice it up, make sure you see the animated “charging battery” action graphic on the display screen. If you plug it in to charge and nothing happens, you may have a bad AC adapter, malfunctioning FireWire port on either end of the connection, crimped cable, or an unpowered FireWire port.

8. Feed When Not In Use

It may seem sacrilege to have an iPod and not use it for a few weeks, but if this is the case, you’ll still need to recharge it. If you haven’t been using it, the iPod still requires a small bit of power while it’s sleeping away in a drawer. To keep the iPod gassed up and ready to rock and roll, charge it at least every 14 to 18 days.

9. And Now, This Update…

The ability of the iPod system software to efficiently manage the battery’s power is often the subject of great debate among devout Pod People. A huge howl went up from many users after version 1.2 of the iPod software was released because the then-new Clock feature generated a noticeable reduction in average battery life between charges. This was not a pleasing option for some folks, who promptly ditched the new software, skipped the Clock, and went back to iPod software version 1.1 so they could enjoy long hours of music again before they had to come home and recharge.

Apple, of course, recommends that all iPod users download and install each new software update as it is released. The past few updates for the 2001 and 2002 iPods have included efforts to improve battery and power management issues. The latest iPod system software for all Macintosh and Windows models is at http://www.apple.com/ipod/download.

10. The Replacements

There comes a time in every battery’s life when it just won’t hold a charge. Don’t take it personally–it’s just the nature of chemistry. Age, the amount of use, and the number of charge cycles all affect a battery’s overall life span, and sometimes, you just get a dud in the first place. If you find your iPod is barely holding a charge and constantly flashing the Low Battery icon at you, take action. If you’re still under Apple’s one-year warranty, contact them about the problem. There’s an online form at https://depot.info.apple.com/ipod/index.html. Even if you’re beyond the warranty, you can get a repair estimate from the company and decide it you want to mail your Pod to the doctor for a battery transplant.

If you’re a fearless do-it-yourself user or just want to save some money, you have other options. If you have a 2001 or 2002 iPod, you can get a replacement battery to install yourself for $59 at http://www.ipodbattery.com. You can also get a new battery for the same price at PDASmart.com. But if the thought of prying open your Pod gives you the heebies, PDASmart has a mail-order service, wherein you mail your iPod to them and they swap in a new battery and mail it back to you for a mere $68. Details are at http://www.pdasmart.com/ipodpartscenter.htm.

First published at O’Reilly’s MacDevCenter.

iPod: The Missing Manual not only covers all iPod models for both Mac and Windows, including the super-slim 2003 series, it’s also the ultimate guide to iTunes, MusicMatch Jukebox Plus, and even the new iTunes Music Store. With humor and authority, New York Times tech columnist J. D. Biersdorfer lays bare an astonishing collection of useful tips, tricks, and shortcuts. No matter what kind of music moves you, iPod: The Missing Manual will help you get much more out of your iPod–and much more into it.