An aluminum graphite battery that could charge your smartphone in 60 seconds

Smartphones are pretty amazing devices, but their most vexing problem remains battery life. No matter how power efficient the hardware gets, manufacturers end up using all of it and more for improved displays, faster performance, and more features. Now scientists at Stanford University may have come up with what is nothing short of the Holy Grail for mobile devices: an ultra-fast-charging aluminum battery that could be produced on a mass scale.
Just how fast are we talking about? 60 seconds.
“We have developed a rechargeable aluminum battery that may replace existing storage devices, such as alkaline batteries, which are bad for the environment, and lithium-ion batteries, which occasionally burst into flames,” said Hongjie Dai, professor of chemistry at Stanford, in a statement. “Our new battery won’t catch fire, even if you drill through it.”

The aluminum-ion battery contains a negatively charged anode and a positively charged graphite cathode. Researchers placed those two inside a flexible polymer-coated pouch with an ionic liquid electrolyte. Aluminum has always been a compelling material for battery design, but it’s been too difficult to work with. It’s inexpensive, not flammable, and could potentially have high capacities. The problem up until this point, the researchers said, is developing the right materials that could repeatedly produce sufficient voltage after multiple cycles of charging and discharging.
Current lithium-ion batteries in smartphones can take several hours to charge. Some manufacturers like Samsung and HTC have developed fast burst modes that give you 25 percent of initial battery life with just 15 minutes of charging, and have also baked in new slow-burn, emergency efficient modes to eke extra time out of the last few percentage points of battery life. But this new aluminum-ion battery prototype has “unprecedented charging times” down to just one minute. Plus, the researchers were able to charge and discharge the battery 7,500 times without loss of capacity, compared with 1,000 cycles or less for today’s packs.
The researchers said that in addition to phone batteries, the aluminum-ion design could also be used to store extra capacity in renewable power grids, and the two-volt output could also be an environmentally replacement for 1.5-volt disposable AA and AAA batteries.
And that’s where the research continues: That voltage, while better than the disposable batteries, is still only about half that what you need for a smartphone. It’s the last major hurdle, after inexpensive materials, safety, ultra-fast charging, and long life cycle. Here’s hoping they nail it, because at this point we’re all sick of having to charge our devices all the time.

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Report: Google working on Apple iPhone compatibility for Android Wear

We’re not sure it’s going to do much for the current Apple Watch fever, but apparently Google’s not going to take Cupertino’s closed ecosystem sitting down. A new report says Google is working on getting its year-old Android Wear smartwatch platform to work with the iPhone, and is very close to finishing it. It’s from an anonymous source for now. But if true, it means Google would be able to position Android Wear-compatible watches from LG, Samsung, and other manufacturers right up against the new Apple Watch.
Android Wear is a fairly robust platform in its current state. It’s a touch-based interface that lets you swipe notifications and cards, and manufacturers are free to add an extra crown button or two (like Motorola did with the 360), but it’s not required. Android Wear acts as a notification center for your wrist, and duplicates the functionality on an Android phone. It also has built-in, voice-activated Google search, as well as Google Now information cards that are location-based. It also has Google Fit, which on supported devices can measure heart rate, steps, and other basic metrics.

The LG G Watch R, a round-faced Android Wear smartwatch.

Having said all that, Android Wear hasn’t exactly caught on yet. Despite the initial promise of a Google-sanctioned smartwatch platform, in lieu of proprietary solutions and app platforms from Samsung, Sony LG, and others, reviewers have found Android Wear is still too difficult to use.
Remember that this wouldn’t be the first time a non-Apple watch worked with iOS. That’s been Pebble’s schtick since the beginning, after all, for both notifications and music playback, among other things. And it also remains to be seen whether Apple would even allow an Android Wear app from Google in its App Store. But Apple has learned over the years that its ecosystem stands tall on its own merits, and doesn’t necessarily need platform lockdown. Apple released iTunes for Windows platforms in late 2003, six months after it launched the iTunes Music Store and two years after the iPod first came out (and had only worked with Macs at the time). The same goes the other way, with Microsoft and its new Office apps for the iPad, now that Satya Nadella is running the show.
Would you buy an Android Wear watch for your iPhone? Or do you think this isn’t going to amount to much of anything? It’s tough to argue that a current Android Wear watch is better than the Apple Watch, although there’s hope if Motorola can shrink the Moto 360 and Google can continue to refine the software platform.

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