Imgur is now even more beautiful to look at while searching for cat GIFs

Imgur has rolled out quite the update for Android smartphones. The company has implemented performance improvements, app-wide design enhancements, as well as some notable changes to improve the user experience.

Here’s what else is new in the latest release:

• Various crash and bug fixes
• More text without covering the photos in grid view
• New topic picker screen
• Camera icon used for Upload
• Moved vote and favorite buttons to the top in details view
• To quickly upvote, double-tap an image
• Quick way to scroll to comments on long posts
• Share button is moved to the bottom right
• Native Google Login
• Muzei integration for phone wallpapers

It’s a comprehensive changelog for a bunch of improvements we’re sure will come as a pleasant surprise to those who enjoy firing up Imgur every now and then to check out what GIFs have been submitted. Download Imgur from the Google Play Store.

Which wireless charging pad should you buy for the Galaxy S7?

Don’t fumble around with charging cables anymore — get a wireless charging pad instead!

So you just got the Galaxy S7 and now you want to charge it without having to plug it in each time? Samsung has once again opted to include multiple wireless charging standards on their latest phone, so you will have a variety of options available to purchase. Qi and Powermat have some differences, and not everyone will have the same needs in their chargers.

So, if you just got the phone and wanted a wireless charging pad, which would we recommend? Well, let’s take a look at a few options.

Samsung Wireless Fast Charging Pad

Want that Samsung branded charging pad to match your brand new phone? Well, be sure to grab the fast charging version so you can get the most out of it. Samsung offers two versions of the charger, with the key difference being how long it will take to charge up your phone. Since time is money, you’ll want to opt for the faster one and get your phone juiced up as quickly as possible. You can grab Samsung’s official charger at Amazon for around $50.

See at Amazon

GMYLE Qi Charging Pad

The GMYLE Qi Charging Pad has a similar look, being all round and flat, but when you compare it to Samsung’s offering you’ll notice a distinct difference: the price. You’ll sacrifice fast wireless charging in the process, but at the same time you can buy three of these for the price of one from Samsung. Built into the pad is an LED which lets you know when your phone is charging, and the anti-slip rubber rim holds your phone in place. The charging pad comes with a 24-month warranty from GMYLE, and it comes in both black and white. You can grab one of these for around $15 at Amazon.

See at Amazon

TYLT Qi Charging Stand

TYLT has been making wireless charging accessories for years, and has been a name that is trusted in the space. With TYLT products, you often have a variety of colors to pick from, making things a bit more fun. It is angled at 45 degrees for optimal viewing while your phone is charging, and it also has a LED to indicate its charging progression. You can grab one in red, black, blue and yellow for around $50 at Amazon.

See at Amazon

Spigen Qi Charging Stand

Spigen is a well-respected accessory maker, and their Qi Charging Stand is a prime example of why. This charging stand has a base to rest your phone on, and is angled so you are still able to see your display easily while it is charging. If you need a way to quickly top off your phone on your desk, or a new place to keep it safe on your nightstand, this may be the choice for you. You can pick one up for just under $30 at Amazon.

See at Amazon

Samsung Fast Charging Stand

Samsung has also introduced a new wireless charging stand with the Galaxy S7: the Samsung Fast Charging Stand. This allows you to both charge your phone rapidly while tilting it up from the horizontal so you can more easily view notifications and even use the phone. Right now this charger is only available as a pre-order, but should you find yourself interested you can grab one for $70.

See at Samsung

Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge

• Galaxy S7 review
• Galaxy S7 edge review
• Galaxy S7 edge with Exynos: A Canadian perspective
• Here are all four Galaxy S7 colors
• Details on the Galaxy S7’s camera
• The SD card is back on the GS7
• Join our Galaxy S7 forums

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Which Fitbit is right for me?

Fitbit is no stranger to the activity tracking market. It’s been kicking around for a good few years now, sitting at the top of its class smugly watching as its competitors hope to raise the same brand awareness.

Chances are if you are reading this feature, you too have heard of it. The problem you have probably since found however, is deciding which of the eight Fitbit activity tracking devices is the right one for you.

We have broken each of the Fitbit trackers down into how much each costs, what features each offers and why you might considering buying each one. This feature is all about helping you work out which Fitbit will suit you and your lifestyle best.

Fitbit

Fitbit Zip

The Fitbit Zip is the cheapest activity tracker available within the company’s portfolio. It measures steps taken, distance travelled, calories burned and active minutes. There is also a clock feature and it will sync wirelessly to the smartphone app or your computer.

The Zip is a clip-based device that can be worn on a belt, pocket or a bra. It has an LCD display and its replaceable coin battery should last between four and six months. The Zip is also sweat, rain and splashproof.

Through the Fitbit app, Zip users will be able to see their progress, complete challenges with friends, log food, record workouts and earn badges. The Fitbit Zip comes in charcoal, lime, midnight blue and magenta colour options.

WHY BUY?

The Fitbit Zip is cheap and allows you to monitor basic activity discreetly.

PRICE: £49.99

READ MORE Fitbit Zip review

Fitbit

Fitbit One

The Fitbit One is similar to the Zip, only it adds sleep tracking to its list of attributes, as well as a more slender design. Like the Zip, it will sync wirelessly to the app or your computer and it is also a clip-based device so you can wear it on a belt, pocket or bra.

Rather than an LCD display, the One opts for an OLED screen and its battery type changes to a lithium polymer rechargeable number rather than a replaceable one like in the Zip. The One is said to offer between 10 and 14 days on a full charge.

The same app features apply as the Fitbit Zip, but users with the One will also get access to sleep trend graphs, sleep goals and sleep quality data. The Fitbit One comes in black or burgundy colour options.

WHY BUY?

The Fitbit One is a little more expensive than the Zip but it adds sleep tracking to the mix so this device is good for someone who wants basic sleep and activity tracking without having to wear anything on their wrist.

PRICE: £79.99

READ MORE Fitbit One news

Fitbit

Fitbit Flex

The Fitbit Flex sits within the “Everyday” category of the Fitbit products, like the Zip and the One. It offers exactly the same as the Fitbit One in terms of tracking features so that means steps, distance, calories, active minutes and sleep tracking.

The OLED display is replaced by four LED lights, meaning more visits to the app for progress details, while the design moves from a clip-on device to a wrist-worn band. As there is no display, there is no clock feature like there is with the Zip and One, and battery life drops to five days.

The Flex’s tracker is removable so while you can stick with the standard rubber band comes with, you can also buy a special Tory Burch bracelet or necklace if you want to increase your fashion status with your step count. For those happy with the rubber band, it comes in 10 colours including black, orange, pink, teal, red and navy.

WHY BUY?

The Fitbit Flex is a simple, stylish activity tracker that will do the activity basics, plus sleep tracking. It is easy and comfortable to wear and a little more on trend than clip-on devices currently are, which might be a reason to select it over the One.

PRICE: £79.99

READ MORE Fitbit Flex review

Fitbit

Fitbit Charge

The Fitbit Charge is £20 more expensive than the Flex but it adds floors climbed and caller ID to its features, as well as reintroduces a display. The OLED display will not only show you the time and who is ringing, but it will also provide you with your stats for that day without you needing to pick up your smartphone and open the app.

Battery life increases back up again from the Flex, with Fitbit claiming the Charge will give you between 7 and 10 days. It is sweat, rain and splash proof again, but like the other Fitbit devices mentioned above, it is not swim proof.

The app functions are the same as the Fitbit Flex and Fitbit One, apart from the addition of floors climbed. The Fitbit Charge comes in black, slate, blue and burgundy colour options.

WHY BUY?

The Fitbit Charge gives you all your basic activity tracking information on its display so there is no need to look at the app to see your progress. Caller ID is also a useful additional function and one the cheaper alternatives don’t offer, as well as the elevation measuring.

PRICE: £99.99

READ MORE Fitbit Charge news

Fitbit

Fitbit Alta

The Fitbit Alta is the most recent addition to the company’s line up and the final device in the “Everyday” range. It sits at the same price as the Charge and offers many of the same features. Floors climbed isn’t present on the Alta, but in its place is automatic exercise recognition, something which is present on the more expensive devices further down this list.

The Alta is slimmer than the Charge, sitting more in line with the Flex in terms of size. It comes with a larger OLED display than the Charge however, allowing you to see your progress and alerts, including text notifications which is not something the Charge offers. The same app functions apply as the Flex, along with the same battery life, which stands at five days.

The Fitbit Alta comes in four standard colours comprising black, blue, teal and plum, but there are also two leather band options for an extra £50 each or a metal bracelet for £80 extra. It is sweat, rain and splash proof like the others.

WHY BUY?

The Fitbit Alta is the tracker for those that are after basic activity tracking information at a glance, in a slim and stylish design.

PRICE: From £99.99

READ MORE Fitbit Alta news

Fitbit

Fitbit Charge HR

The Fitbit Charge HR is the first of two devices within the “Active” portfolio. As you might expect, all the features present on the Charge come in the Charge HR, but the HR device also adds continuous heart rate monitoring and Alta’s automatic exercise recognition.

The Charge HR looks identical to the Charge in design, offering a small OLED display to present daily stats, the time and the ID of anyone calling you. Battery life is sits at up to five days, so around the same as the Flex and it is sweat, rain and splash proof like the rest.

App functions are the same as the other devices but you’ll get the added bonus of being able to monitor your heart rate data, as well as see more detailed analysis of workouts. The Fitbit Charge HR comes in black, plum, blue, orange and teal.

WHY BUY?

The Fitbit Charge HR offers more advanced activity tracking thanks to the continuous heart rate monitoring. It is a little more expensive than the models above it on this list, but it brings a lot to the table. Great for gym geeks.

PRICE: £119.99

READ MORE Fitbit Charge HR review

Fitbit

Fitbit Blaze

The Fitbit Blaze is the second in the “Active” range and one of the newest devices on this list, succeeded only by the Alta. It offers everything the Charge HR offers, along with a couple of extra features, as you are probably starting to expect.

A feature called Multi-Sport is introduced on this model, allowing you to choose various sport modes and see real-time stats. The Blaze also offers text notifications like the Alta and introduces music control and GPS tracking. It is worth mentioning that it is connected GPS tracking though so you will still need your phone with you. There is a five-day battery life and it is sweat, rain and splash proof.

The Blaze is more like a smartwatch than the other activity trackers we have already mentioned, offering a coloured touchscreen and the option of various straps and frames. The classic band comes in three colours comprising black, blue and plum, but there are three leather options and a metal links model too.

WHY BUY?

The Fitbit Blaze is for for those that want an activity tracker that is a little smarter looking, as well as one that offers a couple of extra functions such as music control. It is the Fitbit for those after an activity tracker that could potentially replace their watch.

PRICE: From £159.99

READ MORE Fitbit Blaze first impressions

Fitbit

Fitbit Surge

The Fitbit Surge is the most expensive and most feature-rich Fitbit device, categorised by the company on its own under “Performance”. It is more of a watch than a band, like the Blaze, but the Surge comes with a monochrome display (rather than coloured) and proper GPS tracking, meaning you can track a run without your phone.

The Surge offers everything the Blaze does in terms of other features, which means a few more on top of the Charge HR including music control, text message notifications, and the multi-sport feature. It is tested up to 5 ATM but it remains just sweat, rain and splash proof so you still shouldn’t take it in the shower and certainly not for a swim.

In terms of battery life, the Surge is said to last up to seven days and it offers the same app functionality as the Blaze and other Fitbit devices, with the added advantage of maps of where you have gone for a run or walk with the GPS on. The Fitbit Surge comes in black, blue and orange.

WHY BUY?

The Fitbit Surge has all the features available within a Fitbit device so it will track basic activity, as well as more specialised activities like free running. It’s not cheap but if you want all the features Fitbit has to offer, this is the one for you.

PRICE: £199.99

READ MORE Fitbit Surge review

Best Samsung Gear VR Oculus apps 2016

Samsung and Oculus have released their combined effort to bring virtual reality to your face in the Gear VR. The result is an affordable virtual reality headset combined with the accessibility of the Android platform for apps.

Google has already been blazing a VR trail thanks to its Cardboard headset that turns most phones into VR headsets. This has been combined with YouTube 360 to offer plenty of content to experience already.

Gear VR goes beyond this and offers bespoke apps that take advantage of that Oculus sensor hardware. From using head movements for games to watching Netflix in a virtual mansion, there’s plenty to experience.

We’ve been spending time in the virtual world to find the best experiences the Gear VR has to offer. These are the best apps on the Samsung Gear VR right now.

UsTwo

Samsung Gear VR apps: Land’s End

This game, built by Ustwo which also made Monument Valley, is an accolade to what VR could bring us. Its simplicity translates to minimalism appeal and beauty. The game is totally immersive and original.

We sat down to try this game and ended up playing the whole way through. Granted at five hours it’s not a long game, but it’s mentally challenging, visually breathtaking and consistently atmospherically moving.

This is everything VR should aspire to be and is almost worth the price of the headset alone.

READ: Land’s End review: Glimpsing the future of VR gaming

PRICE: Free

Netflix

Samsung Gear VR apps: Netflix

Watching Netflix on your TV, tablet or smartphone is all good and well, but watching it in VR is on another level. The Netflix app takes you into a virtual mansion with floor to ceiling windows, stone walls and a view of the mountains outside that you’re sat atop.

While the virtual room, which dims when a show starts, is cool it is also a bit gimmicky. Once underway you’re only focused on the virtual screen, which is like watching a 100-inch TV. The only issue is that TV is very slightly granular on wider shots since you’re limited by the resolution of the Samsung Galaxy smartphone held right up to your eyes. Even a 2K screen can’t quite so it justice unfortunately. But for a soap opera or drama, where it’s mainly face focused it works well.

But it’s bearable and a fun way to enjoy Netflix for a change. Presuming you don’t mind wired headphones as Bluetooth wont work with the app, and you can handle the headset sitting our your face for a long time.

PRICE: Free

Samsung

Samsung Internet

Now even when locked into the virtual world you can still access the 2D web. Samsung has added a browser capable of taking you anywhere you need to go, as if a window were virtually hovering in front of you.

You can open site using voice controls or type using your Gaze mode, aka moving your head, thanks to an onscreen keyboard. Not bad considering it’s gratis.

PRICE: Free

Altspace vr

Altspace VR

This is very exciting indeed. It left us feeling the same as the first time we went into an online chat room and made contact with other people. That feeling of the potential of connectedness is taken to another level in this virtual world where you can meet other Gear VR users.

We popped into one room and chatted to another user while watching a giant Nyan Cat, then moved into another room to play air hockey where head movements controlled the mallets. At any time you can bring up a browser to surf the web, making it feel even more like an alternate reality. You can share that browser or a video window with others to enjoy experiences together from afar.

This has huge potential for social virtual reality and is already a lot of fun.

PRICE: Free

Gunjack

While you will have to pay for this game, it’s a cracker. Set in the Eve Universe everything looks amazing with detail that’ll really immerse you.

Of course, being on a VR headset the game is fairly simple. Look to aim and shoot everything that moves. But power ups like homing missiles help to mix up the gameplay and with long range graphical abilities it’ll keep you busy for your £8 worth.

The latency is so good that you feel comfortable throughout. Just don’t expect the battery to last as long as you.

PRICE: £8

Esper

Esper 2

If you want a mentally challenging game akin to Portal this is the one to go for.

The guide character is witty while the game play is self-explanatory and graded to become more complex as you progress. Very addictive stuff. There’s a free demo and the full game is only £8.

PRICE: £8

Google

Vrse

This is a really artistic platform that puts virtual reality to good use. This is a place to watch VR videos that were created to help place you in the heart of real life events. Spike Jonze’s NYC protest broadcast is on here along with Vice News and the Chris Milk short film that features at Sundance.

This is free and will no doubt become a regularly used app, it even has potential to become the next Vimeo of the virtual world.

PRICE: Free

Google

StreetView VR

One of the great thing about Google Street View is that it’s already shot for a 360-degree view of the world. This app uses that to its advantage.

Explore the world in virtual reality through the eyes of Google’s Street View cameras. It’s a good bit of fun and a nice way to check out an area, say if you’re going there and want to see parking options. Or you can explore sites of significance and even pull up information on them to view floating virtually in front of you. Just don’t get too addicted or you may start to forget about the real world.

PRICE: Free

READ: Best VR headsets to buy in 2016, whatever your budget

ViviSat has a plan to breathe new life into aging satellites

The wealth of space junk idling around Earth is becoming such a serious problem we’ve taken to dreaming up supervillain schemes to address it. No one solution has been settled on quite yet, but in the meantime ViviSat — a joint venture between aerospace firms US Space and Orbital ATK (formerly Orbital Sciences) — has an idea that should cut down the amount we’re adding to the dumpster in the sky. Satellites have a lifespan defined by how much fuel they carry into orbit, but with the help of ViviSat’s Mission Extender Vehicle (MEV), they could survive up to 15 years longer than they were originally destined to.

As the concept goes, an MEV (twiddling its thumbs in orbit at this point) would dock with a satellite on its last legs and take over altitude and orbital control using its own propulsion mechanisms. This would allow the satellite to continue doing its job for the lifespan of the MEV (roughly 15 years), though it can always detach and move on to new friends if required. ViviSat has been working on the idea for several years already, but its now looking like there could be a market for satellite servicing.

As the Wall Street Journal reports, ViviSat is on the cusp of signing up Intelsat as its first customer, with the current plan to test an MEV in space by the end of 2018 before launching a commercial service a few months later. Should other companies come to the conclusion its cheaper to fix up satellites than launch new ones, future MEVs could be built to refuel, repair, recover and even upgrade satellites with new parts and features.

Source: Orbital ATK, Wall Street Journal

Peeple is boring

When Peeple entered the online limelight in October, it was instantly pilloried as an app that went too far for no good reason. It was hastily described as “Yelp for people,” a tagline that’s about as appealing as “dog food for people.” Denizens of the internet expressed concern over the app’s potential unintended consequences — surely it would be used to harass and defame some humans, regardless of whether they signed up for the service.

After months of defending, beta testing and tweaking Peeple, creators Julia Cordray and Nicole McCullough released the app unto the wild this week. It’s slightly different than the service they first described; it appears the founders have taken the early criticism to heart and stripped out some of the most concerning features. Unfortunately, what remains is largely useless.

Originally, Peeple was designed to allow any adult with a Facebook account and a cellphone to rate their fellow humans on a scale of one to five across three categories: personal, professional and romantic. Even if you didn’t sign up for Peeple, anyone with your phone number would be able to rate your behavior in those fields. To dispute negative reviews, you’d have to catch the unfavorable rating within two days.

That’s not the case anymore. The final version of Peeple won’t allow any ratings to go live without the rated person’s consent. No more two-day time bomb. This means, if you sign up for the app, you get to choose which recommendations actually make it to your profile page. On the one hand, this is an effective way to prevent public shaming. On the other, it makes the app incredibly sterile. The online ecosystem provides plenty of ways to collect and share favorable quotes about ourselves: about.me, LinkedIn, Google Plus, Facebook or any resume site can get the job done. By solving the bullying issue this way, the creators have neutered the app’s core concept.

The rating system also receives a spit shine in the launch version, and people are no longer judged on a five-star system. The Dating category (formerly called “romantic”) isn’t live yet, but there are three rating options in the Professional and Personal sections: positive, neutral and negative. Users are able to rate someone and then write a recommendation for (or against) that person. Submitting the recommendation shoots it to the rated person’s inbox, where they can then publish it to their own profile, delete it, report it or block the user who sent it.

If you rate someone who doesn’t have Peeple, the app handily creates a text nudging them to read your review and register. If they never sign up, your review will never see the light of day, however glowing it may be.

Publishing other people’s recommendations is how you level up your overall score — there’s a small orange circle with a number in it next to every user’s profile picture, and it ticks up as you publish the recommendations other people have sent your way. The more reviews you allow on your profile page, the higher your number. Since you can cherry-pick the recommendations that hit your profile, that little orange circle essentially shows how many flattering reviews you’ve received, which is almost an intriguing concept. Almost.

The app itself is attractive enough, but it’s infected with a few bugs. You need two things to use Peeple: a Facebook profile that’s been active for at least six months and a cell number. Peeple is supposed to import your Facebook friends so you can rate them all and prompt them to download the app, but that function appears to be busted at the moment. Otherwise, it pulls from your phone’s address book, so when you search for a name it displays results from your contacts. You need to have the phone number of every person you review, after all.

That’s all fine and dandy, but without the imported Facebook contacts, Peeple is fairly barren. It has a “Nearby” search function, and after one day on the market, there are just five people with the app installed near me in Phoenix, Arizona — and one of them is my boyfriend (and app-testing partner).

Here’s the crux of Peeple’s problem: If users can’t freely publish positive and negative reviews of the people they know, it’s not an honest “rating” app. Now, it’s a bragging service or perhaps a narcissist’s dream, but it doesn’t offer legitimate reviews of the people around us. That was the app’s initial pitch, and as unsettling as it was, at least it was novel. In its current iteration, Peeple might as well be called Humblebrag, The App.

Founders Cordray and McCullough are aware of the shift in their branding. On the app’s official site, they’re adamant that Peeple is “a positivity app for positive people.” It’s all about building your personal brand in a safe, controlled space and sharing happy reviews of your character with the world (wide web). That’s a fine goal, but there isn’t exactly a hole in the market for this kind of thing. We have plenty of places to talk ourselves up online, and most of them are infinitely easier to use.

Peeple doesn’t feel malicious anymore — but it doesn’t feel like anything else, either. Essentially, Peeple is a more boring, less accessible version of a LinkedIn profile page. And, sure, the tagline “More boring than LinkedIn” may be better than “Yelp for people,” but that doesn’t mean it’s good.

Then again, Peeple may revive its malicious vibe soon enough. Cordray and McCullough are considering implementing a feature called “The Truth License” that lets anyone pay to see everything written about you, regardless of whether you publish it (or whether you register for the service). To use one of Peeple’s favorite words, that sounds positively gross. But, at least it’s not boring.

NOAA records the biggest annual increase in CO2 levels

The Mauna Loa Observatory, which has been monitoring carbon dioxide levels since the 1950s under NOAA, has recorded the steepest rise ever within a year-long period. Apparently, the average CO2 level for February 2016 is 404.02 parts per million, 3.76ppm higher than February 2015’s and 50ppm higher than what scientists consider a safe level. It broke the previous record set in September 1998, when the observatory detected a 3.70ppm growth over the span of 12 months.

As New Scientist noted, CO2 levels grew this past year partly due to wildfires/deforestation caused by El Niño’s warming effects. Thing is, the more carbon dioxide there is in the atmosphere, the hotter it is — it becomes a cycle. That’s why people are urging companies to conjure up ways to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from their factories or to capture the gas and put it to good use.

Want to know what a year’s worth of carbon dioxide looks like? NASA released a video showing the gas swirling like ominous clouds over the planet back in 2014. Carbon dioxide levels were lower then, though, so you’ll have to visualize even heavier clouds blanketing our home.

Via: Gizmodo

Source: NOAA, New Scientist

NASA’s asteroid explorer faces tests that simulate space

Before NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft can visit an asteroid to collect samples, it’ll have to run a tough gauntlet. The probe is undergoing a 22-day thermal vacuum test that will see whether or not it can function in the unforgiving conditions of space. On top of working in an atmosphere-free environment, it’ll face temperatures as cold as -274F and the periodic heat of a simulated Sun. So long as OSIRIS-REx makes the grade, it’ll largely be ready for its September launch and the epic 7-year journey toward the asteroid Bennu.

Source: NASA

Nissan Europe and Foster + Partners predict a fuel station-free future

Nissan believes that your car in the future will be able to not only drive you around, through piloted drive technology, but also refuel itself without you having to visit a fuel station.

In a new visionary concept realized by the manufacturer and renowned architects Foster + Partners, the two companies predict that electric cars in the future will be able to not only wireless charge themselves on streets, but be able to move once charged so other cars can use the charging spot.

Incorporating a range of Nissan technologies, the vision hints at how vehicle-to-grid, battery storage, wireless charging, autonomous drive technology and over-the-air connectivity could combine to revolutionise energy usage and distribution of power across Europe.

Nissan’s fully connected vision of the future of mobility concludes that the Fuel Station of the Future could actually be your home, your street, your city, your car.

Places once occupied by fuel stations and car parks could be replaced by green spaces. Building a cleaner, kinder, urban environment for our children and our children’s children.

“Technology holds many of the answers for the challenges we face in our cities today. However, the true power comes when those technologies are integrated with each other and the world around us,” says Paul Willcox, Chairman, Nissan Europe.

“We’ve been at the forefront of zero emission technology since 2010, but our vision does not stop there – we believe that the future of transportation is reliant on both infrastructure and the environment. We’re looking for real, workable solutions that go beyond the product.”

Nissan is currently trialing an innovative vehicle-to-grid system in Europe which, when coupled with advances in its second-life batteries, will allow drivers to operate as individual ‘energy hubs’ able to store, use or return clean energy to the grid.

For more information, visit Nissan

Future batteries, coming soon: charge in seconds, last months and power over the air

While smartphones, smarthomes and even smart wearables are growing ever more advanced, they’re still limited by power. The battery hasn’t advanced in decades. But we’re on the verge of a power revolution.

Big technology companies, and now car companies that are making electric vehicles, are all too aware of the limitations of current lithium-ion batteries. While chips and operating systems are becoming more efficient to save power we’re still only look at a day or two of use on a smartphone before having to recharge. That’s why universities are getting involved.

We’ve seen a plethora of battery discoveries coming out of universities all over the world. Tech companies and car manufacturers are pumping money into battery development. And with races like Formula E adding pressure to improve, that technology is only going to get greater.

But while we’ve been writing about these developments for years there’s still nothing in our phones. This is because everyone is waiting for the perfect replacement before making the jump. That and commitments to current batteries thanks to manufacturing technique that cost a lot to change and existing deals for minerals being hard to break.

Next year is starting to shape up as the year batteries change. We’ve collected all the best battery discoveries that could be with us soon. From over the air charging to super-fast 30-second re-charging, you could be seeing this tech in your gadgets sooner than you think.

Graphene car batteries

Graphene batteries are the future. One company has developed a new battery, called Grabat, that could offer electric cars a driving range of up to 500 miles on a charge. 

Graphenano says the batteries can be charged to full in just a few minutes. It can charge and discharge 33 times faster than lithium ion. Discharge is also crucial for things like cars that want vast amounts of power to pull away quickly.

The capacity of the 2.3V Grabat is huge with around 1000 Wh/kg which compares to lithium ions current 180 Wh/kg. The best part of all this is that these batteries should be ready to go by mid way through 2016.

Laser-made microsupercapacitors

Rice Univeristy

Scientists at Rice University have made a breakthrough in microsupercapacitors. Currently they are expensive to make but using lasers that could soon change.

By using lasers to burn electrode patterns into sheets of plastic manufacturing costs and effort drop massively. The result is a battery that can charge 50 times faster than current batteries and discharge even slower than current supercapacitors. They’re even tough, able to work after being bent over 10,000 times in testing.

Sodium-ion batteries

RS2E

Sodium-ion batteries, that use salt, have been used in laptops following the creation of a prototype by the French network of researchers and industrial firms called RS2E.

This battery uses a standard that means it can be placed in laptops and even work in electric cars like the Tesla Model S.

The exact method on build and how it works are being kept secret but the 6.5cm battery can manage 90 watt-hours per kilogram, making it comparable to lithium-ion but with a 2000 cycle lifespan, which should be improved.

Foam batteries

The future of batteries is 3D. Prieto is the first company to crack this with its battery that uses a copper foam substrate.

This means these batteries will not only be safer, thanks to no flammable electrolyte, but they will also offer longer life, faster charging, five times higher density, be cheaper to make and be smaller then current offerings.

Prieto aims to place its batteries into small items first, like wearables. But it says the batteries can be upscaled so we could see them in phones and maybe even cars in the future. 

Solid-state batteries

MIT

Scientists at MIT, working with Samsung, have discovered solid-state batteries that are better than current lithium-ion efforts. These batteries should be safer, last longer and offer more power.

Current lithium-ion batteries rely on an electrolyte liquid to transport charged particles between the two electrodes. It’s this liquid that can be flammable and which degrades the battery, limiting life.

According to the MIT report these new batteries could be charged for hundreds of thousands of cycles before degrading. They could also provide a 20 to 30 per cent improvement in power density meaning that much more charge for whatever they are powering. And they aren’t flammable so they’re ideal for electric cars.

Nano ‘yolk’ triple capacity and charge in six minutes

MIT

Scientists at MIT have created a battery that triples the capacity of current offerings and can charge to full in just 6-minutes. It also does not degrade rapidly over time meaning it should last a long time.

The icing on the cake here is that production in inexpensive and easy to scale, so we could see the batteries appear soon.

READ: Nano ‘yolk’ batteries triple current capacity and charge full in six minutes

Aluminium graphite charges to full in one minute

Sky News

Scientists at Stanford University have developed an aluminium graphite battery that could replenish to full in a smartphone in just a minute.

Their aluminium graphite batteries are flexible, long lasting and charge ridiculously fast.

The only issue is they hold about half the power of a current lithium battery, but with charging to full in just a minute that’s not too much of a problem.

Alfa battery lasts 14 days and runs on water

A breakthrough in aluminium-air batteries means that in 2015 we will see the release of the Alfa battery that has 40 times the capacity of lithium-ion.

This battery will be able to recharge by simply being topped up with water, be it salty or normal. It should last a hefty 14 days, according to its creators Fuji Pigment and will be out later this year.

We’d expect to see these batteries appear in cars first – imagine a fuelling station being anywhere with a water tap. Hopefully mobiles will be next in line. 

While the aluminium-air battery has a whopping 8,100W/kg capacity and lithium-ion has 120-200Wh/kg it’s still lithium-air that comes out on top with 11,400Wh/kg – although when this will be available isn’t clear.

Flexible battery 

A team at Arizona State University have come up with a flexible battery using the ancient Japanese art of Kirigami.

Arizona State University

The result means smartwatches could use a flexible strap battery for longer life and smaller build. Looking a little further forward it’ll be ideal for weaving power into smart clothes that monitor our health.

The initial battery prototype is slightly larger than it could be, meaning it’s less flexible too. Despite this the scientists managed to power a Samsung Gear 2 using a flexible band with the batteries inside. This was stretchy enough to move from the wrist to the bicep, and move with flexing, while still powering the smartwatch.

The key here is that this uses current tech but just changes the way it’s developed. For that reason it could be mass-produced today. Get ready for thinner smartwatches plus clothing with brains and power built in, soon.

Skin power

Using the power of friction a device has been created that can harness electricity from a person’s skin. The result is enough power, from a finger tap on skin, to power 12 LED bulbs. The future could mean there are no need for batteries in wearables or smart clothes.

So how does it work? An electrode is used to harvest the current, so a 50nm-thick gold film is used. The gold film sits below a silicone rubber layer composed of thousands of tiny pillars that help create more surface area for skin contact, which creates more friction. Since the skin is a one of the triboelectric layers it means the device can be small.

Scientists have already shown off a wearable powered by the device. Next gadgets to use it? Hopefully everything.

Lumopack charges an iPhone 6’s worth in 6-minutes

The Lumopack is a portable battery that’s all about fast charging. The battery can fill up n just 6 minutes with enough to charge an iPhone 6 fully. Yes the iPhone will take longer to drain that power from the battery but you’ll have the Lumopack ready in that short time. 

The Lumopack, from Lyte Systems, will be fully charged in just 30-minutes. This is thanks to its charge rate at 140W, making it double the nearest competitor.

Currently on Kickstarter the Lumopack will be available from $79, which is about £50, and ships in October.

Foldable battery is paper-like but tough

The Jenax J.Flex battery has been developed to make bendable gadgets possible. The paper-like battery can fold and is waterproof meaning it can be made in clothing or wearables.

Carphone Warehouse

Imagine a battery built into the strap of a smartwatch, finally battery life on wearables won’t be such an issue while allowing the size of the devices to be shrunk down.

Another possible development from this advancement would be foldable tablets that you could fit into your pocket just like a phone. Then when you want a big screen view simply unfold the tablet and you’re all set for viewing.

The battery has already been created and has even been safety tested, including being folded over 200,000 times without losing performance.

uBeam over the air charging

uBeam uses ultrasound to transmit electricity. Power is turned into these sound waves to be transmitted and then converted back to power on reaching the device.

The uBeam concept was stumbled upon by 25-year-old astrobiology graduate Meredith Perry. She started the company that will make it possible to charge gadgets over the air using a 5mm thick plate. These transmitters can be attached to walls, or made into decorative art, to beam power to smartphones and laptops for example. The gadgets just need a thin receiver to be added in order to receive the charge.

Expect to see uBeam as a viable upgrade to your gadgets this year or early next.

Water dew powered batteries

This one is still in the early stages but MIT scientists have found a way to harvest power from water dew.

The device uses interleaved flat metal plates to produce power from the water dew in the air. Initial tests have produced small amounts of power, at 15 picowatts, or trillionths of a watt. But this can be tuned easily, says postdoc Nenad Milijkovic heading the project, to produce at least 1 microwatt.

While this small amount of power isn’t going to replace your charger, or keep it powered all day, it will be useful in more remote locations where no other power source is available and time isn’t too much of an issue. A charger the size of a coolbox lid should be able to fully charge a phone in 12 hours.

StoreDot charges mobiles in 30 seconds

The StoreDot charger, which works with current smartphones, was developed by StoreDot, a start-up born from the nanotechnology department at Tel Aviv University. The demo was made using a Samsung Galaxy S4 with a standard battery.

The superfast charging time was achieved using technology StoreDot has been developing. This includes biological semiconductors made from naturally occurring organic compounds known as peptides – short chains of amino acids – which are the building blocks of proteins. Similar to those used by body builders to grow bigger faster.

StoreDot also plans to release a charger capable of replenishing an electric car to full in just three minutes.

StoreDot will cost about £20 to make and should arrive in 2017.

Transparent solar charger

Alcatel has demoed a mobile phone with a transparent solar panel over the screen that would let users charge their phone by simply placing it in the sun.

Although it’s not likely to be commercially available until 2015, the company hopes that it will go some way to solving the daily issues of never having enough battery power.The phone will work with direct sunlight as well as standard lights, in the same way regular solar panels.

Energous WattUp

Revealed at CES 2015 the Energous WattUp is a router-like device that also uses radio waves to transmit but rather than data it dishes out power. A small adapter chip on the receiver device will allow it to harvest the energy from over the air at up to 20-feet away. 

Engadget

The catch? This won’t be available until 2016. But that could be a good thing as it gives gadget manufacturers time to include the charging chips in phones and the like so you don’t need to add that on.

Shawn West’s 26-second charge batteries 

Normal batteries use chemicals alone to hold charge in a battery, but Shawn West’s battery uses lithium-ion capacitors to store electrical energy. Previously these didn’t work so well as they dissipated too quickly. He’s managed to overcome that issue.

The battery is able to stay charged and continue holding that charge over long periods of time. So if you were to dig it out of a drawer it would be good as new and ready to go. And then to recharge it you only need plug it in for 26-seconds and it’s full again.

The project has broken its Kickstarter goal and should get made meaning you can own these very soon. Finger crossed it makes it to mobiles soon after.

Aluminium-air battery gives 1,100 mile drive on a charge

A car has been tested that managed to drive 1,100 miles on a charge. The secret to this super range is a type of battery technology called aluminium-air. This uses oxygen naturally occurring in the air to fill its cathode. This makes it far lighter than liquid filled lithium-ion batteries to give car a far greater range.

Aluminium-air batteries drain turning the metal into aluminium hydroxide which can then be recycled to make new batteries. That will mean swapping out batteries every few months. But since it’s so much lighter and cheaper than current efforts it should offer huge mileage and be affordable.

With the car industry throwing money at battery developments it might not be long before we see this tech under our bonnets.

Urine powered batteries

The Bill Gates Foundation is funding further research by Bristol Robotic Laboratory who discovered batteries that can be powered by urine. It’s efficient enough to charge a smartphone which the scientists have already shown off. But how does it work?

Using a Microbial Fuel Cell micro-organisms take the urine, break it down and output electricity – to put it simply. On a scale large enough to charge a smartphone there are several cells into which the urine is passed via tubes. The unit creates electricity and also expels a broken down version of the waste making it safer to dispose of.

With Bill Gates working on re-inventing the toilet we’re expecting the porcelain throne to become a source of power in the home soon.

Sound powered

Researchers in the UK have built a phone that is able to charge using ambient sound in the atmosphere around it.

The smartphone was built using a principle called the piezoelectric effect. Nanogenerators were created that harvest ambient noise and turn that into electric current. Effectively the phone can be powered from waste noise found around us all the time.

Impressively the nanorods respond to the human voice meaning that those chatty mobile users out there could actually be powering the phone as they talk. Maybe this will cause a resurgence in phone calls over messaging.

Tag Heuer Meridiist Infinite solar charged phone

Tag Heuer has announced a new version of its Meridiist luxury phone that uses solar to power the device.

Wysips Crystal is a transparent photovoltaic component placed between the screen’s and the LCD screen. It is invisible to the naked eye but the thin layer of cells charge automatically when exposed to light from the sun or artificial. They then power the battery.

Tag Heuer is yet to reveal the price of the self-charging device, but considering that the current Meridiist costs 3,900 euros (£3,221) you can expect to pay a fair bit more than that for one.

Twenty times faster charge, Ryden dual carbon battery

Power Japan Plus has already announced this new battery technology called Ryden dual carbon. Not only will it last longer and charge faster than lithium but it can be made using the same factories where lithium batteries are built.

The batteries use carbon materials which mean they are more sustainable and environmentally friendly than current alternatives. It also means the batteries will charge twenty times faster than lithium ion. They will also be hardier with the ability to last 3,000 charge cycles, plus they are safer with lower chance of fire or explosion.

Power Japan Plus has said it will begin producing 18,650 Ryden cells later this year. Hopefully we’ll start seeing these appear in mobile devices soon.

Organic battery, 97 per cent cheaper to make

One possible future of power could be in organic batteries if a recent MIT discovery makes it to production. Scientists have created an organic flow battery that costs only $27 per kilowatt-hour compared to metal batteries at $700 per killowatt-hour – nearly a 97 per cent saving.

Using quinone molecules, that are almost identical to those found in rhubarb, a battery was made that is not only as efficient as metal but that could also be made on a huge scale.

Sand battery gives three times more battery life

This alternative type of lithium-ion battery that uses sand to achieve three times better performance than current efforts.

The battery is still lithium-ion like that found in your smartphone, but it uses sand instead of graphite in the anodes. This means it’s not only three times better performing but it’s also low cost, non toxic and environmentally friendly.

Now for the science part. Scientists, at the University of California Riverside, have been focused on nano silicon for a while but it’s been degrading too quickly and is tough to produce in large quantities. By using sand it can be purified, powdered then ground with salt and magnesium before being heated to remove oxygen resulting in pure silicon. This is porous and three-dimensional which helps in performance and, potentially, the life-span of the batteries.

Sodium-ion batteries

Scientists in Japan are working on new types of batteries that don’t need lithium like your smartphone battery. These new batteries will use sodium, one of the most common materials on the planet rather than rare lithium – and they’ll be up to seven times more efficient than conventional batteries.

Research into sodium-ion batteries has been going on since the eighties in an attempt to find a cheaper alternative to lithium. By using salt, the sixth most common element on the planet, batteries can be made for cheaper and we won’t need to worry about lithium running out. With battery-powered cars on the increase it’s only a matter of time before lithium becomes too rare and expensive.

Commercialising the batteries is expected to begin for smartphones, cars and more in the next five to 10 years.

Upp hydrogen fuel cell charger

The Upp hydrogen fuel cell portable charger will be on sale in the coming months. It uses hydrogen to power your phone keeping you off the gird and remaining environmentally friendly.

One hydrogen cell will provide five full charges of a mobile phone (25Wh capacity per cell). And the only by-product produced is water vapour. A USB type A socket means it will charge most USB devices with a 5V, 5W, 1000mA output.

NTU fast charging battery

Scientists at Nanyang Technology University have created a battery that fast charges to 70 per cent in 2 minutes and has a life 10 times longer than current lithium-ion batteries.

The NTU battery should last for 10,000 charges according to its creators. 

The technology is currently being licenced by an unnamed company for production. While we’d love to see this in our phones soon the lead professor refers to electric cars when talking about the battery. “Electric cars will be able to increase their range dramatically, with just five minutes of charging, which is on par with the time needed to pump petrol for current cars,” said Professsor Chen. The longer battery life makes sense for those buying an electric car.

The 10,000-cycle battery should cut down battery replacement in cars and equate to a 15-minute charge for the entire car.

Nanobatteries

Nanobatteries are 80,000 times smaller than a human hair and can offer three times the capacity of current efforts while charging in just 12 minutes and working for thousands of cycles.

The nanobattery breakthrough was made by creating tiny “nanopores” that act like lots of little batteries which, in a honeycomb structure, make a full battery. 

The research was published by scientists at the university of Maryland who said: “We were blown away by the performance.” They attributed the enhanced performance to the short distances the electricity needs to travel, making the batteries far more efficient.

Google, Apple and Tesla

It’s not just scientists and start-ups working on improving battery life in your gadgets. Google recently hired a former Apple battery expert to work on improving current batteries as well as creating new ones. 

Tesla is constantly innovating in the battery space to help improve the efficiency and performance of its electric sports cars.

Apple is rumoured to be working on batteries, potentially, for a future Apple Car.

READ: Which mobile battery charger is best for you?