Power Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Smart Cord may be the simplest app on the store, it's an on/off switch

by Victor Agreda, Jr. (Jan 12th, 2012)

Bombarded by CES news? This won't take long to read. The Smart Cord app is basically just one button, designed to control a simple but clever Bluetooth power cord. If you have an outdoor fountain that you like to turn off at night, or anything that needs a remote-controlled on/off switch, Smart ...

iPhone battery problems may persist with iOS 5.1

by Kelly Hodgkins (Dec 2nd, 2011)

Some iPhone 4S owners continue to experience worse battery life than they expected, even after the iOS 5.0.1 update. Not all devices are affected, but there are enough reports that Apple acknowledged there might be a problem. The next version of iOS, 5.1, is currently in the testing phase for ...

Apple patent suggests charger for multiple devices

by Mike Schramm (Nov 17th, 2011)

A new patent application filed by Apple suggests the company is working on putting together a device that would charge multiple Apple products at the same time, including an iPhone or iPod and a MacBook at the same time. The patent is for a "multi-output power supply" that would hook up a ...

XtremeMac InCharge Home USB charger for iOS devices

by Steven Sande (Nov 4th, 2011)

A couple of weeks ago, we ran a post about the release of the XtremeMac InCharge Home USB charger (US$29.99) for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Now the device is available in the wild, and one was sent to the sprawling TUAW Labs for hands-on testing. Read on for a detailed look at this ...

Adafruit Industries now selling the iNecklace

by Mike Schramm (Sep 1st, 2011)

This is great -- the iNecklace is Adafruit's latest open-sourced, electronic jewelry. It's a pendant shaped like a power button, complete with a pulsing LED inside. It's beautiful, stylish, and a nicely subtle way to proclaim your loyalty to tech in a sleek and cool way. It's all open source, ...

Energizer travel charger powers your Mac, iPhone, and iPad ... all at once

by Mike Schramm (Aug 20th, 2011)

I often travel with more than a few Apple devices, all of which usually need power at some point during the day, so the idea of this one intrigues me a lot, obviously. Energizer (the bunny people) is releasing a brand new travel charger that, as you can see above, goes industrial on charging ...

TUAW's Daily Mac App: UnPlugged

by Samuel Gibbs (Jul 4th, 2011)

The Magsafe is a fantastic innovation, but it has made it slightly easier to disconnect your Mac from the AC outlet by accident without realising it. UnPlugged is a little free utility that notifies you via Growl when the power cord is disconnected. Now it's true that if you're running a ...

Aluratek Mini Surge Dual USB Charging Station: Pocket-sized power package

by Steven Sande (Jun 21st, 2011)

One of my major gripes while traveling is the lack of available wall sockets in hotels, as I often have two or three devices while my wife brings her iPhone and iPad. To help keep us from fighting over where to plug in our gadgets, Aluratek is now shipping the Mini Surge Dual USB Charging ...

Third Rail zaps iPhone case market with detachable battery pack

by Michael Rose (May 11th, 2011)

For every gadget that claims to charge an iPhone on the go, there's sure to be a constituency that swears by it (or quite possibly at it). With external battery packs from HyperMac, Zagg, Kensington, Newer and Monoprice, you can dangle a cable; with battery-equipped cases from Exogear, Boost ...

GoDAP amplifies your mobile audio and provides optical output for iPhone 4

by Mike Schramm (Jan 7th, 2011)

Most of the gadgets we're seeing here at CES 2011 this year aren't too big a surprise -- we set up meetings even before we walked into the convention center, and the surprise is in seeing the new gadgets we've only read about before. But the GoDAP was a surprise, found just by walking around the ...

Delta Airlines to install gate-area charging stations in 19 U.S. airports

by Sam Abuelsamid (Dec 11th, 2010)

Delta Airlines is helping to make life a bit easier for travelers that hope to top off their batteries before getting onto a plane. Until now, fliers often had to scour the corners of gate areas to find an available outlet to scrounge some spare electrons. Last week, the world's largest airline ...

Patents aplenty: iPhone radio, fiber optic MagSafe, 3D without glasses

by Mike Schramm (Dec 3rd, 2010)

Apple's patent team must be cramming before the end of the year, because this past week we've seen a flood of patent applications come out of Cupertino. First up, Apple has patented a radio system in the iPhone (finally!), allowing you to listen to standard FM and AM broadcasts on the smartphone. ...

HyperMac forced to stop selling MagSafe charging cables

by Dave Caolo (Oct 18th, 2010)

A lawsuit from Apple has forced HyperMac to stop selling MagSafe-compatible charging cables as of November 2nd, 2010. HyperMac has produced a number of small, portable batteries that can provide power to a variety of Apple portable devices. When connected to a MacBook Pro with their MagSafe-like ...

Apple considering MagSafe charger on iPad

by Matt Tinsley (Oct 11th, 2010)

Here's something to get your mind wondering this Monday afternoon. Patently Apple is reporting that Apple may be considering integrating the MagSafe Power Port to its portable products, like the iPad. The continuation patent, published on October 7th 2010 by the US Patent and Trademark Office, ...

Apple's new battery charger is deceptively cool

by Dave Caolo (Jul 27th, 2010)

Rounding out the list of hardware updates from Apple this morning is a battery charger. Before you dismiss it (as I initially did) as just a battery charger, consider the following. First, Apple is pushing its green aspects. For example, the charger is smart enough to pull less power once the ...