The Duracell Powerpack 450 is the perfect portable power solution for camping, remote jobs, and emergencies. As seen in The Best Junk for Your Trunk article on the The Wall Street Journal Web site, the Duracell Powerpack 450 is ready to power your portable devices, jump start your car, pump up tires with air, and provide light during emergencies. The Powerpack 450 is also been featured in a Gizmodo article: The Duracell Powerpack 450 Talks You Through a Jump Start.

Check out our video review and tutorial on what the Duracell Powerpack 450 has to offer.

The Powerpack 450 puts out 340W continuous (450W peak) of AC power, to power laptops, radios, cellphones, lights and other small electronics and household appliances. The Powerpack 450 comes with 2 AC outlets, 1 DC outlet, 1 USB charging port, car jumper cables, air compressor, voice instructions and battery power level status.

Product Features:

• Micro processor controlled voice technology provides instant system diagnosis information on device runtime, battery status and fault conditions.
• 150 PSI air compressor for inflating tires and small sports equipment.
• Jumper cables designed for safe and efficient jump-starting.
• Built-in light provides illumination in emergency situations at home and on the road.
• AC charger stored in the unit.
• Recharge at home or from a vehicle.

Product Applications:

Work and Outdoor Power:
Will operate small power tools, stereos, internet modems and computers.

Home Backup Power:
Will operate camcorders, video games, blenders, TVs, fans, laptops and clock radios.

Emergency Power:
Will operate cordless phones, radios, lights and will inflate ties and jumpstart vehicles.

Duracell Powerpack 450 Portable Power Solution units are available on eBatts.com

Shipping batteries in the near future? UPS has a few helpful tips that could save you (and your package) from a bit of trouble. It's always good to keep in mind that there are different regulatory requirements when packaging each type of battery; however, these tips work to generally keep you and the recipient safe from harm.

• For loose batteries, cover the battery terminals (or leads) with an insulating cap or electrical tape, if the battery is not already contained in protective packaging.
• Ensure there is adequate internal protection to keep batteries from contacting metal or other batteries by wrapping them individually, either with bubble sheeting or plastic bags.
• Do not ship damaged, defective, or recalled batteries by air, as such shipments are prohibited by federal regulation. Also, UPS does not accept air shipments of recycled batteries.
• For battery-operated tools, laptops, or other appliances, provide effective protection for the switches to make sure they will not turn on accidentally during transportation.
• Lead-acid batteries contain highly corrosive liquids, making these batteries subject to U.S. and international shipping regulations. UPS hazardous materials restrictions may also apply.
• Package batteries securely to keep them from shifting, being crushed, or otherwise damaged while in transportation.

Source: UPS.com

The Lenovo ThinkPad X220 is now considered one of the longest lasting notebook  off of one full battery charge lasting 20 hours and 18 minutes on the LAPTOP Battery Test from www.laptopmag.com. The Laptop Battery Test consists of continuous surfing over Wi-Fi at 40-percent brightness. TheThinkPad X220′s 1,218-minute time beat the HP EliteBook 6390p record holder for the year of 2009 and its 854-minute (14:05) duration. The ThinkPad X220 achieved the endurance times with an extended battery, 9-cell with slice. Further information on the Lenovo ThinkPad X220 20 hour battery life review can be found on the LaptopMag.com Web site.

What happens when you combine the energy storage of a battery with the charging rate of a capacitor? Hopefully, you'll get something like what Professor Paul Braun of Illinois has developed.

Braun (middle), along with postdoctoral researcher Huigang Zhang (right) and graduate student Xindi Yu (left), has developed a three-dimensional nanostructure for battery cathodes which allows for drastically increased charging and discharging, without losing overall capacity.

The downside is that the process of assmebling the inner parts is time-consuming; however, research can be easily picked up and continued since the processes are not limited to a particular type of battery. The group has already demonstrated usage in both Li-Ion and NiMH versions.

These types of batteries could be especially useful in electric vehicles. If research is continued in this field, it could be another candidate for future use, which would eventually mean the replacement of current types of batteries.

Source: news.Illinois.edu

I know what you're thinking: those look like the phone cases that envelop your whole phone. Right? Wrong. These are actually some concept phones brought about by Kyocera. The idea behind them is that the phones will change shape based on certain circumstances: some will bend to your hand's grip and size, while others will re-form depending on your mood.

According to Kyocera, "70% of how we communicate is through our non verbal body language. This means only 30% of our intended message is conveyed through telecommunications. Realizing the nuances of unspoken communication, these surfaces morph to physically convey emotions to the call recipient."

How would it actually change based on your mood? Better yet, where would the battery be if the phone will continue to mold based on certain situations? Kyocera's answer lies with their definition of Biomimicry: "a polymer battery laminated with polytronic technology, provides the structure of this device."

Check out a few of the nifty shapes these (hopefully real in the future) phones can mold into:

Source/pictures: engadget.com