GadgetByte Nepal

Last year, Samsung Galaxy Note 7 made headlines for all the wrong reasons. The device’s battery was on fire – literally. While Samsung hasn’t released its investigation report on why the battery exploded, it is believed to have happened due to the battery’s size and manufacturing issues.

Samsung used lithium-Ion battery for the Galaxy Note 7. And one of the major problems with li-ion battery is that it tends to explode if heated. We have seen many devices catch fire due to this problem.

Read More: Samsung knows why the Galaxy Note 7 exploded

Read More: Samsung Galaxy Note 7 fire fiasco

A Li-Ion battery consists of two types of electrodes, a positive one, and a negative one. The charged particles from one electrode are sent to another electrode via an electrolyte. And issues like short-circuiting or overcharging can create heat that can go up to 150°C. This results in electrolyte catching fire that in turn creates an explosion.

So, to solve this issue, researchers from Stanford University, USA, have designed lithium-ion batteries that feature a built-in fire extinguisher to prevent the battery from catching fire. They simply added a compound called triphenyl phosphate (TPP), a component used as a flame retardant in different electronic devices.

So what exactly can TPP do in a lithium-ion battery? When the electrolyte’s temperature reaches 150°C, a plastic fiber separating the electrolyte and TPP melts, releasing the chemical that in turn puts out the flame that has generated.

Since the chemical has a capacity to affect any device’s performance when it comes in contact with the electrolyte, the researcher used the plastic fiber separator.

Yi Cui, the project’s lead scientist, said, “Using our ‘smart’ separators, battery electrochemical performance will not be affected by the flame retardant under normal conditions. However, once there is a potential thermal runaway, the flame retardant will be activated and nip the fire or explosion in the bud.”

The researchers have claimed that the fire retardant can stop the electrolyte from burning up in just 0.4 seconds.

Since smartphones happened, a lot has changed. After the advancement of technology, the human life has become easier and complex at the same time. We can do a day-long debate on whether the use of smartphones has made our life better or worse. Well, I’ve to admit I use my phone more than I have to. Actually, many of us do the same. We use our phone literally all the time. Many of us, start our day with the phone and end it with the same. Now, Smartphone addiction has become a real thing. At the time everyone’s seeking for a cure, a phone named The Light Phone claims to help us cure our phone addiction. Can a phone cure a phone addiction? Let’s find out.

What is The Light Phone?

It all started as a Kickstarter campaign that managed to get enough of backers and raised $415,127. That’s already more than the amount they pledged for, which happened to be $200,000. This startup was initiated by two guys namely, Joe Hollier and Kai Tang. Joe is an artist and Tang has good work experience on product designing and development.

The light phone is “your phone away from phone”. At least, that’s what their facebook page says. Coming to what this credit-card sized phone offers, it can do two things and two things only. It can make a call and answer a call. That’s it. Sounds minimalistic, right? Well, that’s what this phone is for. The makers say this phone is designed to be used as little as possible. So, this is certainly not a phone for everyone. Looking at its Kickstarter community and facebook page visitors, there are people who are eagerly waiting for this phone to ship.

This credit-sized phone comes in the color of Matte white and might come in black as well. This might be one of the lightest phones as it weighs only 38.5 gms. The phone sports dot-matrix display along with touchable 10 digits of a keypad. There’s an earpiece at the top and below is where the time and Caller ID will be displayed. It is powered by MediaTek 6250. Its battery life will be 20 days in standby. The phone accepts mini SIM Card that has to be from a carrier working on GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz. Users can set up to 10-speed dial numbers. However,  English is the only language available in the interface. Plus, it has a microUSB port at the bottom for charging by the side of the microphone.

Verdict

If you’re making a mindset of getting one, let me tell you a fact that might make you re-think. It is nothing but the price. The Light phone costs you $150 + shipping and customs charges. Well, I would never buy a phone that is so overpriced and has so little to offer. If the best way of curing a phone addiction is by using a phone that delivers the tech of the 1990s, I would rather try using a bar phone. This phone is for those hobbyists who love trying new things regardless of how practical they are.

There are many people, who have the fantasies to see the driving cars in the air. This fantasy will no longer be confined to your to your imagination as Airbus is planning to develop flying car prototype at the end of this year.

Traffic jams making us late to the work is not a new problem. The gridlock because of the myriads of vehicles in the road is also inviting an environmental (sound and air) pollution. Moreover, the investment for making roads and bridges is devouring the budget of the nation and hindering other developments. Keeping all the problems in mind, Airbus is going to develop a flying car as the solution to all those problems.

“One hundred years ago, urban transport went underground, now we have the technological wherewithal to go above ground,” Airbus CEO Tom Enders unveiled his enthusiasm to the DLD digital tech conference in Munich.

For the sake of shaping the self-piloted flying car plan into reality, Airbus formed a division called Urban Air Mobility last year. The division primarily focuses on discovering concepts about the transportation through the air media. The Airbus has conceived the vehicle to be helicopter-styled capable of carrying multiple riders.

Hoping to be the pioneer in the flying vehicle business, Jorg Muller, from Airbus’ corporate development department said, “This market will develop quickly once we are able to deploy the first vehicles in megacities and demonstrate the benefits of quiet, emission-free air transport at competitive prices.”

CEO Enders implied that Airbus, being the world’s largest commercial helicopter maker would always be focused on inviting technology to its traction system. Enders also showed his interests to invite autonomous driving and artificial intelligence in order to usher the humankind to the epoch of flying cars. According to the Enders, the “sky taxi” would be 100 percent electric and he further implied to bring the vehicle until 2021 if the prototype gets ready at the end of this year.