Lithium metal-air batteries hold 10 times more charge

Lithium-ion batteries have been the de facto standard for high-capacity portable power for decades. By wrapping lithium with a graphite electrode, it prevents the volatile element from coming in explosive contact with water. However, this limits the amount of lithium, and hence electric charge, which the battery can hold.

The next evolution in portable power is for a battery made up entirely of lithium, with the surrounding air as the electrode. This allows the cell to have more than 10 times the capacity of today's lithium-ion battery. PolyPlus, the company developing this technology, overcomes the issue of water contact by using a ceramic electrolyte material overlay called lisicon.
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Windows 7 on a thumbdrive for Netbooks

Microsoft is considering offering Windows 7 on a thumb drive to allow Netbook owners to more easily upgrade their machines, a source tells CNET News.

The move, which is still under consideration, is one of several things Microsoft has looked at to try to make it convenient to upgrade machines that don't come with a CD or DVD drives.
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How much will it cost to upgrade to Windows 7?

In anticipation of the October 22 launch of the Windows 7 operating system, Microsoft has announced today an upgrade program for those who are planning to purchase new computers.

According to the software company, "from June 26, 2009, anyone who buys a PC from a participating manufacturer or retailer, with Windows Vista Home Premium, Business or Ultimate, will receive an upgrade to Windows 7 at little or no cost". The offer may, however, vary for each manufacturer or retailer as some may charge a fee for shipping and handling.

The program will last till January 31, 2010, with software redemptions offered until the end of February 2010.
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Asus offers Windows 7 upgrade path to new customers

You can almost smell Windows 7 in the air as we get closer to the October 22 launch date. If you have been holding off buying a PC till after the release of the new operating system, you may not have to wait much longer. Asus is one of the first vendors to announce their Windows 7 upgrade program for those who have purchased eligible laptops and Nettops during the qualifying period.


This program also includes the Eee PC ET2203 Nettop as well. Those who have purchased their machines between June 26 2009 and January 31 2010 can log on to http://event.asus.com/2009/windows7 to register for the software upgrade kit. Though the kit is free, you will still have to fork out for shipping and handling charges. However, this doesn't mean that you can get your hands on Windows 7 earlier than the rest of the public, as you'll still have to wait for the official launch on October 22 before these installation discs will be sent out. The specific upgrade path for each version of Vista to 7 is given below.

New Acer Blue Gemstone notebooks shave price

Prices keep dropping on laptops, and Acer, as always, is right in the middle adding fuel to the budget fires. Monday, Acer announced updates to its Blue Gemstone line of multimedia laptops, with 16 x 9 LED-backlit displays, Dolby Home Theater surround sound systems, 802.11 b/g/n, multitouch pads, and one-touch Acer Backup Manager included in all models. The most impressive part of the announcement is the price.

The Acer Aspire AS5536 Notebook has a base model starting with a 15.6-inch 16 x 9 LED-backlit display, a 2.1GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 QL-64 Dual-Core, 3GB of DDR2 RAM, ATI Radeon 3200 graphics, a 320GB hard drive, and DVD burner for US$479.99.
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