While the semi-annual parade of new smartphone models at NTT DoCoMo often reveals some unexpected devices, this summer it had a bumper crop: we've already seen the new Sony Xperia A, Sharp's Aquos Phone Zeta and Aquos Pad SH-08E plus a Galaxy S4 in "arctic blue." Seven more phones round out the lineup and NTT DoCoMo is trumpeting 2,100 mAh minimum batteries, LTE, NFC and quad-core processors for the entire gamut. Other standout models include Fujitsu's 5.2-inch, 1080P Arrows NX F-06E, a model with a 16-megapixel camera you'll likely never see stateside, Panasonic's Eluga V P-06D with a 4.7-inch 1080P screen and a whopping 2,600 mAh battery, and Disney Mobile's F-07D, which should be an endurance wonder with a 720P screen and 2,600mAh cell. Naturally, there's a rainbow of new hues for most of the models, which will roll out over the summer in Japan -- click the source link PDF for detailed specs or check the PR after the jump.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile

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Source: NTT DoCoMo (PDF)

For the most part, battery packs have become what CD cases were in the late 90s -- generic and utilitarian. Nokia's new DC-18 portable chargers dare to be different. The sharp, tile-like designs house a modest 1,720 mAh cell, retractable micro-USB cable (that doubles as a a switch,) plus an LED battery level indicator that lights up when you extend the aforementioned appendage. It's available in four colors (red, white, yellow and blue), but only in select regions right now. No word on when and for how much, but color-coordinators can keep pinging the source to find out.

Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals, Mobile, Nokia

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Via: Gizmodo

Source: Nokia

Is the already insanely long battery life of the Galaxy Note II just not enough? Mugen Power's new extended battery might not have Samsung's giant smartphone running forever, but it sure will feel like an eternity. At 6,400mAh, the replacement has more than twice the capacity of the Galaxy Note II's stock 3,100mAh pack while keeping the NFC wireless. Just don't expect to shove the resulting franken-phablet into a tight pants pocket -- like most such batteries, Mugen's is much thicker than the default and even comes with its own kickstand to save wrist strain during a movie marathon. The pack normally costs $106 and is listed as working with most any Galaxy Note II variant, including at least the American variants for AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and US Cellular. Those who can bide their time until the quoted December 21st ship date will end up with a tank of a smartphone, but one that might just last a whole weekend away from a wall outlet.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung

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Via: HDBlog.it (translated)

Source: Mugen Power

If you were put off by the price of Goal Zero's Sherpa, then here's something that might be more deserving of that slot in your backpack. The Switch 8 Solar Charging Kit costs $100 and bundles together a 2,200mAh battery and Nomad 3.5 solar panel. The manufacturer says that the 8-watt dynamite-shaped battery can be tanked up via sunlight in six hours, although this time can be reduced to four if you use a USB power source before you head into the wilderness. Interchangeable tips, which will be sold separately in the coming months, will allow compatibility with a variety of devices and also let you use the battery pack as a fan or flashlight -- no cranking or pedaling required.

Continue reading Goal Zero's Switch 8 solar charger bundle now available for $100

Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals, Mobile

Goal Zero's Switch 8 solar charger bundle now available for $100 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Nov 2012 11:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mophie told us a couple of months back that it would be bringing its GS3-friendly Juice Packs to market sometime around late October / early November, and, well, today's the day the handy add-on is finally up for grabs. As you can see above, the battery case will be available in white and black livery, with the company promising its 2,300mAh peripheral can "virtually double" battery life on the Galaxy S III without adding too much heft to the device. GS3 owners can snag one of Mophie's renowned Juice Packs now for $100 -- and to do just that, all you interested folks have to do is head over to the source link below.

Continue reading Mophie Juice Pack for Samsung Galaxy S III now available for $100

Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals, Mobile

Mophie Juice Pack for Samsung Galaxy S III now available for $100 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Nov 2012 06:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A new and improved version of Vodafone's massively mobile multiple handset recharger is being rolled out just in time for thousands of festival-goers to all hold up their phones to record the same Black Keys performance. The revamped truck still does that whole charging 2,000 phones at once thing, but adds DJ booths and new hand scanners to help phone owners more efficiently retrieve their gadgets, when it comes time to check into Foursquare -- you don't want someone else to become the mayor of the chillout tent, after all.

Continue reading Vodafone's recharging truck returns for the 2012 festival season, wants to scan your hand

Vodafone's recharging truck returns for the 2012 festival season, wants to scan your hand originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 03 Jun 2012 21:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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At the Frequencies media summit in Seattle over the last two days, HTC walked us through the fine details on how its smartphones are developed, going from the boring rectangular ABS block to the more refined plastic mockups that are presented to carriers and focus groups -- the findings of which then shape the final product. Sadly, we weren't allowed to take photos of the One X mockups that were shown to us, but do read on to learn the general process of how an HTC phone goes from inception to the final product.

Continue reading HTC talks smartphone design: from inception to final product

HTC talks smartphone design: from inception to final product originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Apr 2012 23:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Panasonic pimps portable power packs purportedly powering phones (and tablets)

Panasonic pimps portable power packs purportedly powering phones (and tablets) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Apr 2012 09:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Still holding out on Nokia to squash any lingering battery bugs lurking inside your Lumia 800's beautiful shell? For some of you, today's your lucky day, as Espoo's just released a fresh batch of bits, which bring "significant improvements in battery performance and power management." We've seen version 1600.2487.8107 make the rounds once before, but previously when it was a Vodafone-branded variant -- which you may recall WPCentral discovered was responsible for an impressive 3x improvement (!) in battery life. Enhancements to audio are present in the build as well, with the company tweaking bass for "better voice quality" and your music enjoyment. Those ready to update should peep the Zune desktop software, although Nokia cautions not everyone will will get updated today, as coordinating across multiple carriers in different markets is like "herding sheep," resulting in a multi-stage rollout in the coming four weeks. More details, including a video on how to update, await at the source.

Nokia's Lumia 800 firmware update juices handsets, banishes battery issues originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Mar 2012 17:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you've ever felt the burning urge to mirror your smartphone's display onto a larger screen, then you might consider stuffing GeChic's portable, 13.3-inch monitor into the ol' man purse for your next wayward outing. We're not promising that it'll be simple, but in addition to supporting laptops, game consoles and digital cameras, you can also rig up your smartphone to the On-Lap 1302 monitor -- with the assistance of a tangle of adapters, batteries and cords, that is. The product is said to be just 8mm thick, but most importantly, this 1366 x 768 display can be powered either from your laptop's USB port or an external battery pack. It includes proper hookups for VGA and HDMI video connections (via a proprietary 30-pin connector), but laptop users may also purchase a Mini DisplayPort accessory. Throw in Apple's Digital AV Adapter or an MHL to HDMI solution, and boom, you've also got support for your iPhone and many Android smartphones. Okay, so it's a bit convoluted, but the product's video touts this as, "The best idea ever," and along with its homespun production, we think you'll enjoy it for a good laugh -- so just hop the break. Those interested in such gear will find it on Newegg next month for $199.

Continue reading GeChic On-Lap 1302 is a 'Secret Tool' to give your smartphone dual screens (video)

GeChic On-Lap 1302 is a 'Secret Tool' to give your smartphone dual screens (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 17 Mar 2012 03:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If the engineers in Waterloo have their way, your future mobile handset may be able to recharge itself on-the-go with the help of fuel cells. A new patent from RIM describes a method of manufacture that sandwiches a fuel cell assembly between the keyboard and printed circuit board, wherein the fuel cell ventilates through the keyboard (and likely, channels in the keys themselves). The claims describe the PCB as being formed on the fuel cell -- perhaps in effort to reduce size -- to which a fuel tank is then located beneath the printed circuit board. It seems that users will be able to initiate the fuel cell assembly in some manner, as the claims also describe a conductive, metallic plunger on at least one of the keys that's able to fit through a hole within the fuel cell. One omission we've spotted right off the bat is a lack of description of how the fuel tank is filled, so perhaps we'll learn that tidbit another day.

RIM gets funky, patents fuel cell manufacture for mobile devices originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Mar 2012 20:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Earlier this week in Refresh Roundup, we wrote of a Vodafone-branded update for the Lumia 800 with a designation of 1600.2487.8107.12070. Among the enhancements, the new software version was said to provide longer battery life -- a welcome improvement, no doubt -- but we could've never guessed the significance of the gain. The folks at WPCentral recently forced the update onto their own phones and, get this, they assert the new software has nearly tripled(!) their battery life. While our heads are still spinning at the assertion, they claim the improvements are in part due to better management of the screen's brightness and cite an approximate discharge of 70mA when idle. Meanwhile, reports in the forums of xda-developers claim that battery drain is in the neighborhood of 80mA and 90mA when idle -- not quite as stunning, but still a huge improvement in comparison to the approximate 150mA discharge with the previous version. While your mileage may vary, this latest update could prove to be a true godsend for Lumia 800 owners.

Nokia Lumia 800 update reportedly triples battery life originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Mar 2012 23:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola's own website has pointed to a January 26th launch for the long-awaited Droid RAZR Maxx, but it looks like February 6th is the date to really pay attention to. With battery life becoming an even more serious concern due to the proliferation of life-sucking 4G networks, it's become obvious that companies are finally placing those longevity statistics atop their priority list. Samsung itself has already promised to significantly improve battery life in its phones during 2012, and we're now hearing from a trusted source that Moto will be streaming a pretty unorthodox event in order to put its own RAZR Maxx to the test. We're told to expect a 24-hour marathon event, streamed out to the gaping masses, where the aforesaid handset will be powered on and presumably used for a full day -- it's like a David Blaine trick, but for phones. Might as well pencil in 2/6 if you're eager to see if this might actually meet your long-term demands.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

Motorola planning 24-hour Droid RAZR Maxx longevity event for February 6th? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sure, we all love having the latest and greatest smartphone from the likes of Samsung, but the power consumption driven by larger displays, LTE, and more use is making it increasingly harder to get through the day. Samsung's vice president of product innovation, Kevin Packingham, said in an interview with CNET that Korea's darling has set the lofty goal that smartphones coming out this year last an entire day under average to moderately heavy use. Samsung's plans include beefing up batteries, but it also intends to look at improving energy efficiency by tweaking the various radios -- LTE, WiFi -- to make them a little less greedy. Motorola has already seemingly caught this wave with the RAZR MAXX -- a slightly chubbier Motorola RAZR -- which is essentially the same set as the RAZR but with enough juice so you can use it instead of spending your day looking for an outlet to charge it. Unfortunately, things could get sticky as the definition of "moderately heavy use" is a pretty tough thing to pin down. Would you put up with a huskier phone to get you through the day or is a slim set more important? Feel free to chime in with your comments below.

Samsung commits to improve smartphone battery life in 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading SpareOne cellphone claims 15-year battery life, we go hands-on (video)

SpareOne cellphone claims 15-year battery life, we go hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Jan 2012 09:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Battery life is a key issue for smartphones - and it's an area where the Palm Pre with its removable battery has some definite advantages over Apple's iPhone.
Not least that Innocell is developing a new battery for the Pre that has twice the capacity of the handset's original.

Palm's Pre smartphone has received a pre-launch boost with a succession of (mostly) favorable reviews.
And, in what must be the ultimate accolade in the highly competitive smartphone market, the device has even been described as a tough competitor to Apple's iPhone.

Apple's next-gen iPhone could be unchanged in physical design but include changes relating to speed, memory and the camera.
At least that's according an unnamed employee at Apple's manufacturing partner Foxconn, who claims to have used prototypes of the handset.

Watching movies on smartphones has in the past had its drawbacks - picture quality, screen size and memory limitations among the most obvious.
Those are fading rapidly but it seems that delivering video content to mobiles is occupying a lot of people's attention.

Smartphone sales in the EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) market reached 12.57 million units in the second quarter of 2008, representing a 28.2 per cent on-year growth, according to market research firm Canalys.
While the results signal the second biggest quarter ever in volume terms for “converged” devices, the growth was the lowest level recorded in the past 18 months.

Filed under: HTC, Accessories

The Touch Diamond's controversial rear-end styling not bold enough for you? Well, that's an easy fix, mate -- just make it stick out a little bit more. HTC has now detailed an extended battery kit for the Touch Diamond which includes a 1340mAh pack (up from 900mAh out of the box) and a larger battery cover to help you contain all that go-juice. Looks like it's still on pre-order at this point, but once it pops, it'll run £40.95 (about $81).

[Via MoDaCo, thanks Ward]

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