The ban on batteries flying solo on aircrafts has been stressing out consumers. There is the fear that the ban would escalate to all Li-ion batteries even if accompanying a gadget, making it a hassle (if not an impossibility) to purchase electronics online. It was imposed because of the increasing frequency of grounded flights due to battery fires.
Luckily, University of Michigan Engineering has decided to save the day.
It is hard to argue with the saying that two heads are better than one. Smartphone manufacturers know this: We see all these phones with dual cameras, dual flashes, and more recently, two glass layers encasing the devices. But what about two screens?
Windows 8 was a dark path for Microsoft but the company has been busy getting ready for their attempt at a comeback, and are quite enthused by the opportunity.
MediaTek is a company that embodies the concept of technological evolution. Not too long ago, their idea of a smartphone chipset utilizing eight processor cores was deemed unnecessary and was subject to ridicule.
Project Ara is getting ready to see the light of day, and it will be an incredibly short wait for Android enthusiasts.
Click here for the Google Build Your Own Phone Project Ara article. We apologize for the incorrect link in the newsletter.
CES 2015 will be bright and colorful with the release of many new gadgets, including the introduction of Quantum Dot TVs.
Malware dubbed “DeathRing” has recently been found pre-installed in several China brands. At a thread on Chinaphonearena, some users are discussing this situation. (more…)
After flashing ROMs or installing updates, it is possible that the phone will get an invalid IMEI or unknown baseband. Invalid IMEI would mean no mobile network connections. (more…)
About two months back I wrote an article on the up-coming Panasonic CM1. The CM1 has a 1″ Sony sensor, which is actually the same sensor they use in the Panasonic Lumix FZ1000 and is 7x larger than your typical well regarded smartphone sensor. (more…)
One of the questions that often comes up at www.chinaphonearena.com is ‘how to make TWRP?’. TWRP is a custom touch recovery similar to CWM, but with more functions than CWM. (more…)
Starting just a few years back, as the number of consumer electronics with high energy density lithium batteries began to skyrocket, a serious and growing concern regarding spontaneous combustion causing fires on airplanes became a priority in regards to making new regulations.
The question of whether it’s actually dangerous or not, is a moot point, as we have no control what the IATA/ICAO committees decide.
The noose has slowly tightened and it will be tightening even further as of January 1st, 2015, when IATO/ICAO regulations mandate that lithium metal batteries will be prohibited from being shipped loosely (eg, not in the product they power).
From the official DHL website:
Following an IATA/ICAO decision to ban loose Lithium Metal batteries on passenger aircraft as from January 2015, DHL Express is likewise unable to accept these batteries on its network. The IATA /ICAO regulation applies to loosely packed Lithium Metal batteries adhering to Section II, PI-968 while Lithium Metal batteries packed with equipment (PI-969) or contained in equipment (PI-970) are acceptable for transport as before. There is no change to the regulations for Lithium Ion batteries.
The keywords for those of us interested in receiving extra batteries for our China mobiles is “metal” and “ion”. Currently, the batteries in our China mobiles are lithium-ion, which means that this new mandate should not effect our receiving extra batteries.
Note, I said “should not”. Already in many parts of Thailand, they are refusing to ship lithium-ion electronics with the battery inside the unit, let alone the lithium-ion battery loose. 
This is likely due to their misinterpretation of current mandates, or an executive decision by EMS fueled by the need for a cut-and-dry standard for employees to follow. In other words, “if it’s got a battery in it, it can’t be shipped” is a much easier to follow standard, than making sure employees are trained to check battery type and to make sure shippable lithium battery electronics are packaged and labeled correctly.
Recently I was prohibited from sending a phone back to China at Thai post, but when going up the street to FedEx, it was no problem.
It seems for 2015 we will still be able to receive our mobiles and extra batteries (at least by courier, EMS/standard post may be another problem all together), but things are getting tougher year by year and there may come a time when buying locally is our only option.
I don’t see a complete ban happening, as the mail-order electronics business is just too huge to shut down entirely, but I wouldn’t put a complete ban out of the realm of possibility. Let’s hope this doesn’t come to pass.
In 2012, the Guinness World Record for the fastest circuit was awarded to the 850 GHz Vacuum Amplifier. Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems have taken things a step further and have replaced the world record with a 1.012 THz solid-state amplifier IC.