Batteries That Last 10 Years Developed By Hitachi [Batteries]

Doubling the Li-Ion battery life from 5 years, Hitachi reckons its new technology which extends the life of batteries will also cost less too—thanks to reducing the amount of cobalt used. Hitachi hopes to get them onto the production line in the next year.
[Gizmodo via Akihabara News]

Blu-ray Discs Increasing In Capacity To 128GB [Blu-Ray]

Blu-ray Discs are getting a step-up, after the Blu-ray Disc Association announced two new specs for the format—BDXL, and IH-BD. There's bad news however—you'll need to buy a new player/recorder to use the 128GB discs.

The new BDXL specification describes High Capacity Recordable and Rewritable discs which will write up to 128GB of content on each disc. These are write-once capacities, with the rewritable discs allowing for 100GB of storage. For now it's just for commercial usage, but the BDA will be launching consumer BDXL discs, which will be handy for those of us planning on investing in a Blu-ray recorder in the near future.

The IH-BD format will contain two layers of 25GB capacity each—one for BD-ROM use, and the other a BD-RE layer, designed for viewing but not overwriting data.

While the extra storage capacity for the BDXL discs is welcome, it's not all good news—as the BDA has warned that they won't be compatible with existing hardware. Look out for BDXL and IH-BD supported Blu-ray players and recorders soon.

[Gizmodo via BusinessWire]

Apple Holding Special Event To Preview iPhone OS 4 This Thursday [iPhone]

Apple has just sent out invites to press inviting them to a special event where they’ll “Get a sneak peek into the future of iPhone OS”.

The event, which obviously comes just after the launch of the iPad, will showcase the new features coming with the latest release of the iPhone/iPad operating system, giving developers time to plan for and integrate the new features into their apps. There have been rumors for months that this new update will include the ability for certain third party apps to run in the background.

Apple has been holding these developer preview events since before the App Store launched — there was one in March 2008 where the iPhone SDK was announced. And last March

Apple gave a preview of the iPhone 3.0 software update. Historically (by which I mean, the last two years) these updates have been released alongside new iPhones in the summer (the iPhone 3G came out July 11 2008; the 3GS was released June 19 2009).
[TechCrunch]

Tiny supercharger is like 10 wind turbines in one [Green Energy]

What if there were a palm-size charger that gathered power from the wind? A company called Humdinger says its Microbelt small-scale wind charger actually works, and it's 10 times more effective at generating wind energy than other units its size.

Where is the turbine, you ask? There isn't one — it uses "aeroelastic flutter and vibration of a membrane" for its wind power, operating sort of like that blade of grass you put between your thumbs to honk out some choice noises.

The amount of energy created by this diminutive device is minuscule — but it's efficient, outputting 2 milliwatts when the wind is blowing at 5.5 meters per second. That's enough power to run building monitoring and transit monitoring sensors; with one of these, there'd be no need to ever change batteries. Put a few dozen of these on an electric car, and you'll have something pretty close to a perpetual-motion machine.

[DVICE via Treehugger]

The World's Deepest Drill To Tickle Earth's Mantle [Drills]

The Chikyu research vessel is already the world's deepest drill, probing nearly 3000 feet beneath the ocean floor. But scientists hope to add another mile to the machine by 2013, allowing it to pierce Earth's mantle for the first time.

PopSci has a look at how the massive drill operates and what it will take to reach Earth's mantle, where scientists expect to find the elements and organisms that were present at our planet's early stages.

Transponders on the ocean floor keep the drill on target as it snakes its way down, with six computer-controlled propellers keeping it from drifting off course. Pipes are added one by one to extend the length of the drill, and synthetic mud is pumped down to the tip to keep it cool and to fortify it against the crushing pressure found at those depths. All the while, 30 foot-long samples of rock are collected and analyzed for various properties.

PopSci has more details on how the Chikyu operates and the measures researchers take to make sure it holds up under the extreme pressure and heat it encounters. It might not be quite as Jules Verne envisioned it, but, piece by piece, this crazy drill is on a journey to the center of the Earth.
[Gizmodo via PopSci]

Future is almost here: OLED wallpaper coming in 2012 [OLED]

We were hoping OLED wallpaper was on its way, but didn't realize it was going to be as soon as 2012. In just two years, gorgeous wallpaper like this will start to replace light bulbs. Don't like this design? OLED lighting will take on a variety of forms, limited only by the imaginations of its creators.


OLED lighting is tremendously efficient, 2.5 times more so than energy-saving compact fluorescent bulbs. That means a wallpaper panel like this can operate at an astonishing 150 lumens per watt, requiring just 3 to 5 Volts to power the OLED film that can function as anything from light-emitting wallpaper to a road sign.


This is all made possible by a breakthrough from British company called LOMOX, saying it's solved the main drawback of OLED lighting up until now: longevity. The company claims its OLED lighting will last longer than a compact fluorescent bulb. Better yet, it emits more lifelike light. The future looks bright.


[DVICE via OLED Display]

Taurus Balance Vehicle: Segway or Sexway? [Transportation]

Now I’m pretty sure that the whole Segway fad is over, but it looks like others have different ideas in mind. While this unusual horse-like vehicle looks interesting on paper, I’ve got trouble looking at it and thinking about transportation.

Designed by Erik Lanuza, the Taurus is supposed to be the Segway of the future, replacing cars and motorcycles as transportation in the inner city. One thing is for sure: from the looks of the photo above, the future will be sexy.

Honestly, it makes me think more of some kind of kinky sex-horse than anything else. What do you think?

[technabob via Wired]