The zinc-air battery was developed by a firm called SINTEF in Norway and ReVolt was formed to market the battery. In a zinc-air battery, oxygen from room air is used to generate current. The air is used as an electrode and the battery contains an electrolyte and a zinc electrode in a casing that is porous and allows air inside. The zinc-air battery is much safer than lithium-ion batteries because there are no volatile materials inside the battery that could possibly catch fire.

The zinc-air battery produces electricity when the air electrode is discharged with the help of catalysts producing hydroxyl ions in the aqueous electrode. The zinc electrode then gets oxidized and releases electrons to form an electric current. When the battery is recharged, the process happens in reverse and oxygen is released into the air electrode.

The challenge for the researchers was to devise a method where the air electrolyte wasn’t deactivated in the recharging cycle to the point where the oxidation reaction slowed or stopped. The slowing or stopping of the oxidation reaction reduced the number of times that the zinc-air battery could be recharged.

The Latitude XT2 XFR adds to Dell’s Rugged Mobility Solution offering that includes the fully rugged Latitude E6400 XFR and the semi-rugged Latitude E6400 ATG laptops. It also joins purpose-engineered products like the Latitude Z, Latitude 2100 netbook for education and Dell Precision™ M6400 mobile workstation as another step in Dell’s strategy to develop differentiated form factors and solutions that meet specific customer usage needs.

“The Latitude XT2 XFR is more than a laptop, it’s a key part of our mobile command and data-center solutions for field service, defense and first-responder customers,” said Paul Bell, president, Dell Global Public-Sector Business. “These unique solutions, coupled with our service model, make those communities more effective, enabling them to focus on their core missions instead of managing technology.”

“We are listening and delivering purpose-engineered products based on unique usage models within customers’ environment,” said Steve Lalla, vice president and general manager, Business Client Product Group, Dell, Inc. “The Latitude XT2 XFR is a perfect example where feedback told us that customers needed the innovative functionality of the Latitude XT2 with the ability to perform in rugged environments.”

Among the most popular of the new browser’s features is Opera Turbo. The feature uses server-side compression to deliver webpages faster on slow connections. It can compress webpages 3 to 4 times, reducing transfer size by up to 80 percent in some cases. Turbo is located in the lower left-hand corner of Opera 10 and is turned on with a click.

In the first month after Opera 10’s release, Opera reports that almost 3 million users worldwide tried the new feature. They used it to view 668 million compressed Web pages, numbers that indicate that the feature is gaining significant traction.

Users cited a variety of reasons for using the feature. Some users, forced to use slower connections like dialup or slower DSL conections, used the Turbo mode to help make navigating these slow lines less of a headache. Other customers who used mobile internet cards or other metered/pay-as-you-go plans turned on Turbo to reduce their data transfer and lower their monthly bills or prevent overages.

“We obviously would be interested at any point in the future that they would be interested in having uas a partner,” Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg said during a phone briefing with analysts. “This is a decision that is exclusively in Apple’s court.”

Unless the AT&T offering is extremely appealing, it would make sense for Apple to introduce its iPhone for VZW subscribers when its exclusive contract with AT&T ends. Although the iPhone has seen solid sales, complaints regarding AT&T’s 3G coverage and other issues linger.

Until the iPhone makes an appearance on VZW, if it does ever, the wireless providerwill continue to promote the RIM BlackBerry Storm 2, Droid, and other smartphones offered by RIM and companies other than Apple.

The already competent performer will be getting the full (non-LE) ION treatment, max memory of 3GB, an 80GB SSD option or up to 320GB of the old school storage stuff, and a choice of Windows 7 flavors up to the Professional level. This info comes from the machine’s maintenance guide, so we can’t be certain of when the upgrades will be ready for consumption, but HP’s track record would suggest the answer to that is soon.

That was the idea behind GM’s P.U.M.A. concept, a Segway that can reach speeds of 35 mph and gets 200 mpg. The concept was thrown out in the days of GM’s final throws before the government mandated its bankruptcy. Many responded with skepticism that people would want to ride such a vehicle around the city. Since that time, there hasn’t been as much PUMA news.

Then Michael DiTullo came along. The independent designer, not affiliated with the project, has thrown out an outlandish design, which he says could save P.U.M.A. The new design features an aggressive look conjuring up images of sharks and other fierce sea creatures with sharp lines an a back-curving face.

A new prototype from LG stands to add another advantage to that list, and possibly give Amazon’s bestselling Kindle a run for its money in the process. The new reader is powered by a thin film solar cell and with 4-5 hours spent in the sun can provide enough juice to read for a whole day.

A prototype of the new device will be officially revealed at the International Meeting on Information Display (IMID) this week in Seoul. Produced by LG Display, the e-reader has a cover which features the thin film cell on its inside. The panel measures approximately 10 cm. wide and is about as thick as a credit card (0.7mm).

For example, the fastest growing mobile phone market in the world is Africa, where some phone manufacturers are now flocking. Most people, who don’t have access to PCs and the internet, are now using mobile phones to check e-mail, make bank transfers, buy and sell products, and check sports scores. Mobile phone adoption is much higher than internet use, especially in rural locations, though broadband is on the way. Until then, the use of phones will remain a popular tool for communication, especially with many homes in rural African nations lacking electricity to continually power a PC.

Until several undersea cables are successfully connected and installed to offer support to nations in Africa, phone-based communication is expected to remain high throughout the massive continent.

Sony’s primary high-graphics competitor, Microsoft, still uses 65 nm GPUs. Heat has proven to be a major concern for the next generation consoles — Microsoft started on a 90 nm process and suffered from many console failures due to the larger chip’s heat.

Sony is very pleased with their new processor. States President and CEO Jack Tretton, CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America, “We’re extremely pleased that we’ve been able to meet production efficiencies that have allowed us pass those savings on to customers.”

The GPU on the PS3 has not been officially announced, except for that it will be made by NVIDIA. For the sake of compatibility, it will likely be similar or identical to the RSX GPU in the current PS3.

The new console will launch on September 1 in the U.S. and will retail for $299.

As the days roll by and Microsoft’s 60-day compliance windows closes, the company is pleading with courts to lift the injunction. It says that if the injunction is not lifted it will likely be forced to stop selling Microsoft Office for several months.

Writes Microsoft’s defense team, “Microsoft and its distributors face the imminent possibility of a massive disruption in their sales. If left undisturbed, the district court’s injunction will inflict irreparable harm on Microsoft by potentially keeping the centerpiece of its product line out of the market for months. The injunction would block not only the distribution of Word, but also of the entire Office suite, which contains Word and other popular programs.”