Power Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

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 ...

hacksugar: Wireless iTunes syncing makes it to jailbroken iPhones

by Erica Sadun (May 14th, 2010)

Cables, schmables. Why occupy valuable USB slots when you can make iTunes data fly magically over virtual intertubes to and from your home computer? New to the jailbreak world, Wi-Fi Sync introduces over-the-air sync to iPhone devices. The application works like this: you install a client ...

AutoSmiley uses the iSight to turn your face into an emoticon

by Mike Schramm (Mar 25th, 2010)

This one's a little silly but I still really like it -- AutoSmiley is a public domain app that runs in the background while you work, quietly monitoring your iSight's camera input. Whenever it detects a smiling face on the camera (so any time you smile while working), it will send a ":)" emoticon ...

Charge your iPhone, or any two USB devices with ZAGGsparq

by David Winograd (Feb 5th, 2010)

In the never ending saga of finding the best battery backup for your iPhone or iPod touch, Zagg has taken a different approach in releasing the ZAGGsparq [US $99.95]. Instead of a dongle or a snap in case, The ZAGGsparq is a big honking block, around the size of an Airport Express that contains the ...

How to get the most out of in-flight Wi-Fi

by Megan Lavey-Heaton (Nov 25th, 2009)

Over the weekend, I discovered that my annual flight from Phoenix to Alabama (via Atlanta) had in-flight Wi-Fi. Best of all? It happened to be free, thanks to eBay jumping in on the free holiday Wi-Fi bandwagon. The promotion was already active on the flight I took from Phoenix to Atlanta. If you're ...

The other new products that Apple released today

by Joachim Bean (Oct 20th, 2009)

Surprisingly, the Mac mini, Magic Mouse, iMac, MacBook, AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule updates are not the only things Apple updated today. Several other products were updated today, which include: Apple Wireless Keyboard: This keyboard, the subject of several update rumors, did get revised ...

Worldwide Mac: the dos and don'ts of international electricity

by Chris Rawson (Jul 20th, 2009)

Whether you're moving to another country or just visiting, chances are pretty good you're going to be bringing a lot of electronics with you. Chances are also pretty good that whatever country you're going to is going to have an electrical system with a different voltage or frequency than your home ...

Nearest Tube's augmented reality on the iPhone 3GS

by Mike Schramm (Jul 7th, 2009)

This (extremely loud, be careful) video has been making the rounds lately -- it's a demo of a new app called Nearest Tube that isn't quite in the App Store yet, but uses both your location information along with the iPhone's compass and video camera to show you an augmented reality picture of where ...

Apple supporting universal European handset chargers

by Dave Caolo (Jun 29th, 2009)

Last week I ordered my iPhone 3GS from the AT&T Store (no Apple Stores out here in the boonies). Five days later it was ready to be picked up and I drove out to the mall to get it. While the AT&T employee activated it and performed the soul-stealing voodoo that accompanies a new sale, a ...

Charge your iPhone wirelessly

by Tim Wasson (Jun 24th, 2009)

Do you have Pre-envy due to the Touchstone and wireless charging capabilities? Well, good news then. A company called WildCharge has stepped in to give you similar charging capabilities with your original iPhone or iPod touch. The bundle is just shy of $80 and includes the charging pad and a gel ...

16 hours of battery life for the MacBook Air

by Steven Sande (Apr 13th, 2009)

I have a MacBook Air. Although I can get about 5 hours of mobile use out of it by dimming the screen, turning off all wireless, and only running one app at a time, there are times I'd love to be able to stay unplugged for much longer. I could always get a solar charger, but that won't work well when ...

Two Apple VPs exit to -- you guessed it -- spend more time with family

by Robert Palmer (Nov 4th, 2008)

According to a press release issued by Apple this morning, two Apple vice presidents are leaving the company for personal reasons, "as they devote more time to their young family." iPod division senior vice president Tony Fadell and his wife, Danielle Lambert, vice president of human resources, will ...

LANrev 5.0 adds power management to workstation admin tools

by Michael Rose (Oct 29th, 2008)

Managing the power consumption of your Macs just got a little easier with the latest version of the LANrev cross-platform client management tool. In the new 5.0 build, the headline feature is bright green: you can assign power saving preferences to machines, including toggles based on whether a ...