Posts in Gadgets

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Mercedes-Benz claims battery breakthrough

Wayne Cunningham | Mar 03, 2008

Current mass-produced hybrid cars use nickel-metal hydride batteries, but Mercedes-Benz says it will launch the first hybrid with Lithium-ion batteries. Lithium-ion batteries are more efficient than nickel-metal hydride batteries and have a better weight-to-power ratio, and are used in the all-electric Tesla roadster as well as in many plug-in hybrid conversions.

But large stacks of Lithium-ion batteries can overheat, a serious problem in an automotive application. Mercedes-Benz announced it has 25 patents around making Lithium-ion suitable for cars, detailing a key breakthrough of integrating the battery with a car's climate control system, which maintains the battery temperature at between 60 degrees and 95 degrees Fahrenheit. In this temperature range, Lithium-ion batteries offer optimal performance and long life.

Mercedes-Benz will first use Lithium-ion batteries in its S400 BlueHybrid, launching in 2009. The S400, unveiled at the 2007 Frankfurt autoshow, will use a 3.5-liter V-6 engine complemented by the hybrid system. Mercedes-Benz claims 30mpg for the S400 and a 0-62mph time of 7.3 seconds with its 300 horsepower.

Via Crave CNET

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Can you love an animatronic dinosaur?

Damian Koh | Mar 02, 2008

There are lots of things we get first in Asia, but there are just as many things we don't. Pleo--the new animatronic dinosaur robot from Ugobe--is one fine example. We were told that this artificial but utterly charming lifeform is currently out of stock in the US. So imagine our surprise when a local Pleo enthusiast agreed to loan us one for a product review, when all we (okay, I) wanted was to play with it until the editors started screaming to get on with the review.

So what is Pleo anyway? First of all, it's a newborn Camarasaurus (cue to look up Wikipedia if you haven't paid attention in history class) that has a mind and a life of its own. It takes between 3 and 4 hours for the battery to be fully charged and Pleo will live for about 2.5 hours before it needs to be plugged in again. Our Pleo was a US set, so we had to use a step-down transformer with the battery cradle here in Asia. Otherwise, dear Pleo would truly face electronic extinction.
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