Nokia says 46 million batteries may overheat

  First post by: www.itsbattery.com

Nokia Corp. is offering to replace 46 million PCGA-BP71 made by another company for use in its mobile phones because of a risk of overheating, Nokia said on Tuesday.


The faulty batteries were manufactured by Japan's Matsushita Battery Industrial Co. Ltd. and sold in a wide range of Nokia phones, from its low-end 1100 family of products to its pricier N91 and E60 devices.

The overheating can cause the sony laptop battery to "pop out" of the phone while it's being recharged, said Nokia spokeswoman Marianne Holmlund. She said there was no risk of fire, although it was unclear what caused the minor incidents reported.


"It may be that the device left a small burn on a shelf while it was recharging, it's hard to VGP-BPL2 say for sure," said John Devlin, research director for mobile technologies with IMS Research in the U.K.


People concerned about the problem can get their battery replaced for free, Nokia said. It set up a Web page that lists the phone models and describes how customers can check if their battery is affected.

The problem exists only with Matsushita sony vgp-bps5 manufactured between December 2005 and November 2006, and the phones would have been sold worldwide during roughly the same period, Holmlund said.

Nokia reported selling 347 million phones in 2006, making 46 million a significant proportion of its annual sales. "It is about 10 percent of all the phones sold, but we are talking about 100 incidents, which is only a tiny proportion," Holmlund said.


Nokia expects Matsushita to bear "certain financial responsibilities" for the replacement VGP-BPS3 program, she said. Peter Weber, a spokesman for Matsushita in Europe, said the financial terms are being negotiated now between the companies.


It's the first time Nokia has had to offer such a replacement program, Holmlund said.

Such problems in phones normally arise because of counterfeit batteries, making this case "a little unusual," Devlin said.


The problem is unlikely to affect other makes of cell phone since the batteries were VGP-BPS5 designed especially for Nokia, Weber of Matsishita said. Cell phone batteries are typically designed and manufactured for a particular phone maker, Holmlund confirmed.


It's only the latest incident involving rechargeable Lithium ion batteries used in portable electronics products. Late last year laptop makers including Sony Corp., Toshiba Corp. and Dell Inc. offered to replace a total of 8 million laptop batteries because of a manufacturing defect in Sony-made batteries that left them vulnerable to short-circuiting and catching fire.


Nokia said it will work with Matsushita and the Sony Laptop Battery "relevant authorities" to investigate the problem.

Consumer Electronics Help Nudge Economy

  First post by: www.itsbattery.com

The federal government last week reported a 6.1% contraction in the U.S. Sony Laptop Battery economy during this year’s first quarter — a grim headline in the making. But economists and IT industry analysts saw some hopeful signs in the latest numbers, as did Wall Street, where stock prices staged a midday rally.

The U.S. Department of Commerce, in its quarterly report on gross domestic product (GDP), said that consumer spending increased by 2.2% in Q1 on a sequential basis, after falling 4.3% in last year’s fourth quarter. Consumers account for about two-thirds of overall spending in the U.S., so the first-quarter jump was seen as a good omen for the economy as a whole.
“If consumer spending is starting to recover, that means you’ve got signs that the economy is starting to recover,” said Andrew Bartels, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc.

Bartels and other analysts said shrinking business inventories that also were cited in the Commerce PCGA-BP1N Department report may spur increased production to meet the growing consumer demand. Moreover, the federal government’s economic stimulus spending under the $787 billion bill signed by President Barack Obama in February has yet to fully kick in.

The first-quarter decline in inventories “is a classic sign of reaching a bottom, because now the shelves are empty,” said Frank Scavo, president of Computer Economics Inc., a market research firm in Irvine, Calif.
But overall, the first quarter was rougher than expected for the economy, and the drop-off in GDP followed a similarly sharp 6.3% decline during the fourth quarter of last year.
Tech Firms Report Tough Quarter

IT vendors were among the businesses that had a tough time in Q1. For instance, Microsoft Corp. reported a 6% revenue decline year-to-year, while IBM said its revenue fell by 11%. SAP AG Wednesday reported a 33% drop in software sales; its total revenue declined by PCGA-BP2NX only 3%, but that was thanks largely to increases in software support fees that took effect Jan. 1.

The data released by the Commerce Department explains why the revenues of tech vendors were down during the first quarter. The agency’s report shows that spending on software dropped by 8% in Q1 and that purchases of computers and peripherals were off by 25%, Bartels said.
But with the consumer-spending data suggesting that the economic downturn is flattening out or perhaps even coming to an end, Bartels expects businesses to revisit their capital investment plans and decide that they might have overreacted in making spending cuts. And although federal spending was down 4% in the first quarter, the stimulus plan “is going to turn government spending from negative to positive very quickly,” he said.

The Federal Reserve, in a statement issued this afternoon, said it also has seen signs of improvement in the economy, although its comments were guarded. The Fed said that “the pace of contraction appears to be somewhat slower” and that since March, “the economic outlook has improved modestly.” Household spending “has shown signs of stabilizing but remains constrained by ongoing job PCGA-BP2NY losses, lower housing wealth and tight credit,” the Fed said, adding that weak sales prospects have prompted businesses to cut their inventories, investments and staffing levels.

Swine Flu an Issue
One wild card is the possible economic impact of the swine flu outbreak, especially if the World Health Organization determines that it amounts to a pandemic. Such a declaration might increase demand for technologies that support telecommuting, but it would hurt the travel industry and other businesses. Overall, Scavo said, a full-blown pandemic “could lengthen the recession, and that in turn could suppress demand for IT equipment and services.”

There is one economic sector that may be unaffected by the downturn: lobbying. Tech vendors spent $29.5 million in the first quarter lobbying Congress and the White House, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. That amount is on track with last year’s levels, when the PCGA-BP2R industry spent about $118 million on lobbying efforts for the year as a whole.

Keep the Power Flowing

  First post by: www.itsbattery.com

The recent Laptop battery recalls, due to the potential risk of overheating or fire, have inconvenienced millions of mobile professionals. But lithium ion batteries--widely used to power today's laptops--are here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future.


I recently offered tips on how to safely handle lithium ion batteries to minimize the already minimal risks of overheating or fire. This week I've got advice on keeping your notebook's lithium ion battery in top condition and powering your portable PC as long as possible.

Use It or Lose It

If unused for long periods of time, lithium ion Sony Laptop Battery can very slowly lose their capacity to hold a charge. Fortunately, lithium ion batteries hold their charge better over time than other rechargeables, including nickel cadmium and nickel metal hydride. But you want your spare to be ready when you need it, so if you've got an extra battery for your notebook, use and then recharge it on occasion to keep it ready to go.


Shut Down Completely

When your notebook is running on battery power, there are things you can do to extend its charge. For one thing, when you're finished working, shutting down your computer instead of putting it into Stand By or Hibernate modes preserves battery power. Though Stand By and Hibernate enable you to restart quickly, both modes PCGA-BP2Scontinue to draw power from your battery. (Hibernate uses less juice than Stand By, however.)


Turn Off Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Cellular Modems

Always turn off Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and cellular modems when they're not needed. These wireless network technologies can be a significant drain on your laptop battery's charge. Many newer notebooks have buttons to turn wireless connections on and off. You can also go to Start, Connect To, "Show all connections," then select the connection you want to enable or disable.

Remove Discs and Devices

When they're not needed, remove CDs, DVDs, flash media cards, PC Cards, ExpressCards, PCGA-BP2T and connected peripherals. When you have media inserted in a computer drive, such as a disc in the CD/DVD drive, the computer continues to try and communicate with that drive. And everything a computer does--including those communication attempts--is a drain on its battery power.


Tweak Power Settings

Your notebook's display is one of its main battery drains. Thankfully, Windows XP notebooks include a utility for adjusting display and other settings that can affect your battery charge.

But here's a caveat: Don't get too ambitious with your power conservation settings. Your notebook must expend power every time the hard drive and monitor are awakened from their sleep. So for maximum efficiency, make your settings fit your usage patterns. As a general rule of thumb, I recommend that when you're running on battery power you opt to have the hard disk turn off after about 20 minutes and the monitor after about 10 minutes.

Adjust Screen Brightness

You can also save battery power by lowering your laptop PCGA-BP2V screen's brightness. In most cases, this is done using a combination of function keys. For example, on my HP Pavilion dv1000, I hold down the Fn and the F7 keys together to decrease screen brightness and the Fn and F8 keys to increase it. You may be surprised to find that your display is quite comfortable to view at a lower brightness setting than the default.


Get a Long-Life Battery

Many notebook vendors now offer an option for an extended-life battery. Usually, these batteries are heavier, bulkier, and more costly than standard batteries. But they can significantly extend the time your notebook operates away from a wall socket.

Consider a Notebook Battery Booster

Some third-party power products are available that can significantly extend your notebook's PCGA-BP4V life.


Xantrex's XPower Powersource Mobile 100 ($130) is like carrying around a wall socket. Plug the AC adapter of your notebook (or other device) into this power brick, and the Powersource's internal battery will keep the notebook running for about 2 hours, according to my informal tests. The Powersource also lets you charge USB devices. And it could come in extremely handy during a power outage. The downside: At 2.4 lbs., the Powersource weighs nearly as much as some ultraportable notebooks.

Down with 3-Cell Batteries: Netbooks Should Have 5+ Hours of Battery Life

  First post by: www.itsbattery.com

count AC adapters. When I walk into a Starbucks the first thing I check out is not the blend of the day, but the number (and the brand) of the laptops being used by the fellow java chuggers, along with if they are plugged into the limited wall Sony laptop battery sockets.


Waiting for a friend to meet me at a local Starbucks last week I took notice of the two netbooks—an ASUS Eee PC 1000HE and an HP Mini 1000 – in the shop. The ASUS Eee PC 1000HE’s owner drank her Frappuccino without an AC adapter awkwardly hanging from the table. The 1000HE, which is outfitted with a high capacity six-cell battery, got over 7 hours of battery life on our Web surfing battery test. The lady with the HP Mini 1000 (with a 3-cell battery) however, had a power cord laptop battery stretched across the table and connected to the wall (I suspect that her coffee had turned cold by the time the table next to that socket freed up). That netbook, while more compact than most on the market, gets only 2.5 hours on a charge.


There are a handful of netbooks, including the ASUS Eee PC 1000HE and the Samsung N110, that don’t have to be accompanied by their power cords for a day trip, because their standard six-cell batteries provide over five hours of battery life on a single charge. And it is that type of netbook that should be standard in this crowded market. But it isn’t.


Many netbook manufacturers, including Dell, HP, and Lenovo, seem reluctant to ship devices with extended batteries, saddling users with 3-cell systems that last just over two hours. Currently, Dell only offers its Mini 9 and 10 with a 4-cell battery. HP does offer an upgrade to a 6-cell for Sony VGP-BPS5 battery $79, but most models come standard with a 3-cell battery.


The reasoning behind this? The reigning theory is that it has to do with price, but manufacturers also seem to think that people don’t want to use undersized netbooks with 10-inch screens and cramped keyboards for more than a few hours at a time, so what does it matter, anyway?

But that is just not the case. Even if you won’t use a netbook for more than two hours at a time, one of the best use cases for netbooks involves pulling it out of your bag to shoot off an e-mail or surf the Web for an hour and simply tossing it back in your bag when you are done. It is anywhere, anytime computing, and that “where” often includes places where there are outlets.


A few months ago, we asked LAPTOP readers in an online poll how much Sony VGP-BPS8 battery power was enough for a netbook. The overwhelming answer was 5 to 8 hours.


Some of the largest notebook vendors are crippling their netbooks by bundling them with 3-cell batteries. Are they doing this on purpose to prevent cannibalization and make their larger laptops look good? Consumers want longer battery life. If the cheaper netbook doesn’t provide adequate run-time for, let’s say, a plane ride from New York to California, they will inevitably pick one of the longer running mainstream laptops in the company’s line up. On the other hand, they might just choose a vendor like ASUS, Acer, or Samsung, all of whom offer solid 6-cell systems.

Highly mobile laptops should run for at least five hours, and all netbooks should come standard with six-cell Sony VGP-BPS9 battery. Not only will end users be happier, but I won’t have to count as many AC adapters.

Lithium-ion laptop battery , in 2009 achieve a leap

  First post by: www.itsbattery.com

Lithium-ion rechargeable battery the advantages of easy to say that is the Sony VGP-BPS10 battery weight, volume of only nickel-metal hydride (Ni-MH) rechargeable batteries dell battery , Latitude D620 battery , Latitude D820 battery can achieve about half of the same performance. Battery performance in general to unit weight of energy and power to express, lithium-ion rechargeable battery unit weight of the energy density (the density in particular related to the EV travel distance) and power density (related to the HEV of the ease of charging and discharging) are nickel Hydrogen 2 times.

Sanyo Electric said that the development of batteries for the Audi, and its power density and energy density Sony PCG-R505 battery of nickel-metal hydride has reached 2.3 times. Same, AESC’s batteries have reached about 2 times, from the point of view of volume, it is estimated to reach about 2.3 times.

R & D in the current HEV, EV, PHEV three electric vehicles, the recognized are the closest practical level of HEV. System has been used in nickel-hydrogen recedent to Prius as an example the use of the HP battery capacity is only about 1.3kWh.

On the other hand, EV and PHEV prototype car has also finally debut. EV at the field, the real production car will be iMiEV and Plugin Stella Concept of production constitutes the performance target. At this point even if the capacity are light vehicles of iMiEV, also required Prius 12.3 times 16kWh.

Mitsubishi iMiEV At bottom, under a number of configurations. Capacity of 16kWh, voltage of 3.7V, with a Sony PCG-V505 battery capacity of 88 units 50Ah battery.

EV Energy all drivers want to rely on batteries, and therefore more stringent requirements of the Apple battery . Compared with the HEV battery status is usually (SOC) of 50% as the center, the scope of work of the at its upper and lower 10%, EV’s use of greatly expanding the scope of the need.

However, CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions from the perspective of consumers, EV more advantages than the HEV. Click on the basis of projections Sanyo , HEV mode at 10.15 the CO2 emissions 123g/km, while the EV for 49g/km, the former can be reduced to 1 / 2 below.

PHEV can be equipped with more than HEV batteries Apple A1078 , Apple A1008 , Apple A1079 , to extend the driving distance between the requirements for the HEV batteries with batteries and battery between EV. Nissan EV from the development Sony PCG-Z505 battery experience, EV driving power required by the vehicle weight of 1.7t at level 150 ~ 250Wh/km. If you are 1.3kWh the Prius, use about 20% of the SOC, the farthest we can only travel less than 2km.

And the PHEV Prius prototype vehicles through the nickel-metal hydride rechargeable IBM battery and in parallel double the size of obtained 2.6kWh capacity, will be extending the use of the SOC to 20 ~ 80%, so that battery-powered driving distance reach 13km. If its replaced by lithium-ion rechargeable batteries IBM ThinkPad T43 , IBM ThinkPad T41 , IBM ThinkPad T40P , Ni-MH rechargeable only half the weight, you can achieve the same performance PHEV.

HEV and EV require different characteristics of

The characteristics of the in HEV, EV, PHEV three cars on what Sony laptop battery are the differences? Data to Toshiba as an example, the company developed for HEV batteries, the power density reached 3800W/kg, belong to high-power attention to type. Even though at supporting and accelerating the renewable electricity requirements with respect to accessibility of HEV high current flow through a short period of time, but not because of the battery-powered Long time traveling, so belong to a lower energy density level.

Toshiba’s performance and strive to achieve. HEV battery connection at a power density of the development of 3800W/kg products. At PHEV batteries Toshiba battery are being developed with a capacity of 10Ah and 20Ah products. The EV Acer battery objectives are to achieve energy density 150Wh/kg.

The EV is just the opposite. Although 100Wh/kg required more than high energy density, but not so high power laptop battery density requirements. The PHEV performance target is between the range of HEV and EV. To Toshiba’s PHEV as an example, the company’s goal is to achieve power density 1300W/kg, the energy density of 120Wh/kg.

Care to send you a ticket

  First post by: www.itsbattery.com

Litter next year to send your battery carefully tickets


Reporters yesterday that, “Sichuan Province of hazardous Sony PCGA-BP2V battery waste pollution prevention approach,” the official introduction of a few days ago and will be on January 1 next year the implementation of, the public or flats for sale and indiscriminate dumping of hazardous wastes will be subject to severe penalties, resulting in strict


- Most people do not know the investigation of hazardous waste


Chengdong reporters yesterday in a residential district in Chengdu were investigated. In the area of the ground floor of the corner is more than 200 households in a transit point for garbage, garbage bags of various colors, containing all kinds of garbage, piled up together Chengshan. In these garbage Sony PCGA-BP4V battery in people’s daily life can be seen everywhere in the commonly used batteries, lamp.


Reporter interviewed a number of residents, most people are familiar with hazardous waste, do not know what is around hazardous waste, hazardous waste recycling sites together with the sound, then the public of hazardous wastes into trash bags, fling is over. The results of a large number of hazardous wastes and mixed solid waste, environmental pollution has become a hidden danger.

Recycle Bin just to make money, regardless of pollution


In urban Chengdu, many used to hide the Recycle Bin. Qinglong field in the vicinity of, a number of recycling of waste electrical appliances shop business is booming. Due to electrical appliances in the waste contains large quantities of recyclable non-ferrous metals, ferrous metals, plastics, glass, and some parts are still useful in terms of their broad prospects for future recycling. Refuse collection of used electrical appliances hawkers went ahead with the dismantling or burning of the home appliances containing gold, silver, Sony PCGA-BP71 battery copper, tin, chromium, platinum, palladium and other precious metals, “down” out of the remaining waste to throw away, a serious pollution the environment. A hawker said that they want useful waste, of course, not only with the throwing, “which control what pollution Oh!”


But, in fact, in the electrical circuit boards, fused, such as the “possession” has harmful chemical raw materials, etc. In case of high temperature will produce harmful substances; there are other non-degradable, such as broken shells and tubes, screen such as garbage, such as the soil will be buried in the underground water pollution.


High cost and difficult handling systems Sony VGP-BPL2 battery business to run


At present, some large enterprises in the handling of dangerous waste, a large number of “jerry-building” phenomenon. A business person in charge told reporters that the process of their production volume of the plating bath is very large, if the charges dealt with in accordance with the current month to spend tens of thousands of dollars. Although the companies have their own simple processing equipment, but the handling capacity of less than 1 / 5. The remaining liquid waste emissions only quietly. He bluntly, many polluting enterprises to establish their own system of dealing with pollutants, really very little Sony VGP-BPS3 battery running.


Interpretation - set up hazardous waste identification


To be implemented next month “measures,” the provisions of the next hazardous waste containers and packaging, as well as the collection of storage and transportation of hazardous waste disposal facilities, premises, means of transport must be in accordance with relevant state regulations, set up hazardous waste identification. Prevention and treatment of hazardous waste facilities, premises, shall not be disabled, idle or even shut down, removed; to engage in collection, storage, disposal of hazardous waste operations of the unit, should have to adapt their business activities in technology, premises, equipment and pollution prevention and control capacity , and in accordance with the relevant provisions of the license. Prohibiting the operation Sony laptop battery permit, or not in accordance with licensing requirements, super scope, super-elements involved in the collection of hazardous wastes and other activities. Prohibited hazardous waste units will be commissioned to provide or pollutants to the land shortage of undocumented Carpenter, recycle bin for waste collection, disposal and so on. Engaged in the collection of hazardous waste management activities such as staff access the system to be implemented.


Hazardous waste a maximum fine of 30,000


“Measures” indiscriminate dumping of the collection, storage, disposal, possession of, hazardous waste, such as damage to the conduct of the detailed requirements. The maximum fine for violations of up to 30,000 yuan. At the same time, in accordance with the provisions of national law, in violation of laptop battery explosive, flammable, radioactive, toxic, corrosive materials regulations in the production, storage, transport, use of a major accident, causing serious consequences will be sentenced in accordance with the law.