Nanobatteries, I sure love new words.

A company called mPhase has been developing a nanomaterial based battery with some very amazing properties. When they reach scale for mass production their claims for their nanobatteries are that they will be recyclable, they will have indefinite shelf life (in case you need to use it 50 years from now), and instant usability (which if they are touting seems odd, as that’s what you expect from a battery).

Traditional batteries, according to the mPhase site, have some built in limitations. They don’t lend themselves to miniaturization. They won’t work with production processes that put things on microchips, a big issue for such small things. They see the standard cost of materials as high. Finally, an issue on batteries I was previously unaware of which involves maintaining electrolytic separation (the energy generating chemicals from touching)

The plus side for these little buggers is huge! (follow the jump )

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You can never be too safe these days when walking around, which is why it is prudent to get this Taser C2 for the lady in your life. It looks like a shaver at first glance, but when one’s eyes glaze over the lightning flash symbol, it definitely spells trouble. The Taser C2 is touted to be the next wave in citizen defense, enabling you to stop a threat that is up to 15 feet away to keep you and your family safe. In case you are assaulted, the C2 can also be used as a contact stun device to repel the assailant.

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How many of you actually own some kind of home weather station at home? Most of the time, these personal weather stations offer nothing more than a myriad of readings that range from barometric pressure to the level where the mercury is at. The Animated Weather Forecaster is slightly different from the rest of the offerings as it comes with a miniature weatherman inside. This digitized avatar actually looks more like a boy who just hit puberty than anything else, but I’ll let that slip by for the moment. I guess the overall kiddy look is due to the fact that this device targets the children’s market rather than adults.

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Most of us these days work in buildings and hardly see what the weather is like outside until we step out for lunch or head home for dinner. Since tracking the weather on the Internet isn’t exactly the most interesting activity around, why not pick up the Ambient Forecasting Umbrella that leaves the guesswork to gypsies and quacks, relying instead on Accuweather.com for your area’s weather forecast? This unique umbrella not only shields you from the bitter wind and rain, it also comes with a built-in wireless data radio chip that retrieves the weather forecast from the aforementioned site.

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Telecom Italia and Polymer Vision have finally come to an agreement to develop the Cellular Book together. This unique device might look like some form of cellphone at the first glance, but it is actually a mobile device that comes with a rollable display which enables you to read various personal information, newspapers, and even electronic books. Dubbed the Cellular Book, it comes with a special Polymer Vision rollable display technology which offers readability that rivals that of printed paper under bright light.

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Xantrex’s XPower PowerSource Mobile 100, a name I don’t plan on repeating ever again, will lend some juice to 3 of your gadgets at a time. It only weighs about a pound.
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Digital stuff is great, but I’ve got to admit, it’s pretty easy to have someone jot down an address or directions on a piece of paper. Trying to enter that into your phone, PDA, or laptop is a little tougher, but chances are, you’ll appreciate having that information there later on. You can now, fairly easily, do both with Logitech’s io2, a gadget we’ve mentioned briefly before.
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On a plane, you’re pretty much out of luck if your battery runs out. That’s not that bad on say a 2 hour trip, but if you’re going cross country, you’ll end up being pretty bored by the end of the trip unless you carry around an extra battery. You might’ve noticed that a lot of airplane seats have a little power plugs underneath them, but this is no normal plug, it requires some special plug. Most people don’t carry these things around with them; they probably don’t even know the exist. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a gadget that let you plug in a normal plug into the airline’s power port? Oh, there is. Look to the left.
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