Nanotech Brings Battery Life Extender for Mobiles

An anonymous user writes "Using latest nanotechnology research, BatMax developed the first cellphone battery life booster that extends the mobile phone battery life and reduces charging time. BatMax is based on the IonXR, a new exclusively developed nanoceramic material, resulting from years of laboratory research. BatMax foil slows down the loss of capacity of Ni-CD, Ni-MH, Li-Ion and Li-Polymer batteries and thus provides improved battery performance. BatMax is a small (1.14 x 1.92 in) rectangular sticker which is installed on the mobile phone battery. Users just need to attach BatMax to the battery or the cellphone. They claim users will notice a battery life improvement after 5 to 10 charging cycles."

Cool!

[JiffyJeff (693994)]

Hopefully this will work with my antenna extender sticker!

Eric reads between the lines

[Eric Giguere (42863)]

It sure sounds like those "parabolic" TV antennas guaranteed to boost your reception after just a few viewings, doesn't it? Not to be cynical, but:

Using latest nanotechnology research, (we read an issue of Wired)
BatMax developed the first cellphone battery life booster that extends the mobile phone battery life (which is why we call it a "battery life booster")
and reduces charging time. BatMax is based on the IonXR, a new exclusively developed nanoceramic material, (we grind ceramic tiles into a fine dust)
resulting from years of laboratory research (it was hard to grind them small enough).
BatMax foil slows down the loss of capacity of Ni-CD, Ni-MH, Li-Ion and Li-Polymer batteries (we guarantee it works the same on all of these)
and thus provides improved battery performance (not to be redundant again).
BatMax is a small (1.14 x 1.92 in) rectangular sticker (we sandwich the dust between some sticky aluminum foil)
which is installed on the mobile phone battery (the hard part was keeping it really thin).
Users just need to attach BatMax to the battery or the cellphone (where they'll quickly forget about it once the cover's back on).
They claim users will notice a battery life improvement after 5 to 10 charging cycles (by then the placebo effect should kick in).

Eric
The Vioxx recall and spam reduction [ericgiguere.com]

Fraud Alert!

[quarkscat (697644)]

Short of re-designing the battery internally,
this faus device isn't worth $00.02. Apparently,
the "inventor" ran out of "perpetual motion
machine" and "cold fusion" marks, hence the new
"invention".

The poster used far too many buzz words and far
too little science to make any valid case --

"Nothing to see here. Move on ..."

Re:Started the company in 2004

[Odin's Raven (145278)]

Does this make sense as well, that they've spent years researching this but their company only started in 2004?

Yes, it makes sense, but they were hoping nobody would notice the apparent incongruity. See, they also invented a time machine, and have been using it extensively to reduce perceived development time for IonXR. If it weren't for that, we'd have to wait another 10 years before IonXR was available to the public. But they don't want to announce the time machine's existence until they work out the problem with periodic instabilities in the quantum flux ion regeneration matrix that are induced by harmonic interference arising from pico-mesons in the nano-photonic resonance substructure.

Re:Cool!

[Doc Ruby (173196)]

My antenna extender sticker worked. Verizon's crappy signal would often fluctuate right around the minimum threshold of reception in my house, often dropping calls every minute or so. After applying the sticker, the signal meter was unchanged, but calls were dropped much more rarely - only once a week or so. The sticker seemed to improve the reception just enough to keep it above the threshold to maintain carrier.

This battery sticker, though, seems less likely. The sticker was working on the signal in the space around the phone, where the sticker actually had an electromagnetic interaction. How this passive component affects activity in a circuit in which it is not connected, sounds more like a scam.

Re:Cool!

[billh (85947)]

I just want to second Doc Ruby before he gets called an idiot. My sticker also worked, at least for one thing. I had a Sprint phone that would drop calls when I was walking up an internal stairway in my house. Every time. With the sticker added, the calls did not drop.

It had no other effect that I noticed.

Re:Cool!

[Doc Ruby (173196)]

Thanks for the backup. On Slashdot, just being right, and specifying firsthand evidence, doesn't quell the calls of "idiot" - nerd a priori logic is more powerful than truth. Neither does backup, but it feels better :).

BTW, to keep it all scientific: I stuck the booster onto a battery. When I used my spare battery, without the sticker, the calls would drop again in my house, so it wasn't just a coincidental Verizon signal boost from their cells at the same time as my sticker installation.

right thats it!

[by Anonymous Coward]

I'm putting speed holes in my car.

Haux?

[HateBreeder (656491)]

A battery Sticker? You need to wait 5 to 10 charge cycles to notice anything? somehow this sounds like snake oil to me...

Re:Haux?

[DNS-and-BIND (461968)]

This had the stink of bullshit on it from the moment I read the first sentence.

Slashdot has sunk to a new low. And I really mean that...though the effect of saying that around here seems slight as people overuse the phrase.

Re:Haux?

[Lonewolf666 (259450)]

IAAEE, and the claims look more than suspicious. let's look at them point for point:

Absorb the electromagnetic waves generated from the battery.
A battery does not generate waves. It might create a small magnetic field when current is drawn from the battery (like any cable does when it carries an electrical current).
Anyway, why is that field harmful and needs to be absorbed? Pure FUD, apart from the point that I sincerely doubt some "ceramic nanomaterial" is suitable for absorbing magnetic fields.

Generate a flow of negative ions.
Even if we ignore for a moment that generation ions takes energy (where is the power supply?), what is this good for?

Interact with the battery's internal electrolyte and ions.
Unlikely, batteries have air-and watertight cases. How would the thingy act through that barrier? No explanation is given.

Bottom line:
This is most likely a case of fraud. And Cowboy Neal INAEE (Is not an electrical engineer) either, otherwise he would not have posted this story in the first place.

Re:Haux?

[harrkev (623093)]

Master of Science, Electrical Engineering -- one step up from a bachelors degree.

Do you believe in sea monkeys?

[Oscaro (153645)]

I don't.

Hmmm...

[richard-parker (260076)]

I note the following:

1. A technical description that sounds like dialog on Star Trek Voyager.
2. No phone number anywhere on the batmax.com site.
3. The terms & conditions [batmax.com] instruct you to send returns to an incomplete address:
4. 
   
   BatMax Corporation
   Miami FL
   USA
   
   
5. They used an anonymous domain proxy service to register their domain:

6. <whois://batmax.com>
   Registrant:
   Domains by Proxy, Inc.
   15111 N Hayden Rd., Suite 160
   PMB353
   Scottsdale, Arizona 85260
   United States
   ...

Come to your own conclusions.

Re:Can advertisers still purchase stories on Slash

[onion2k (203094)]

They always have. Its just now Slashdot is so desperate for cash they're actually accepting the stories.

I don't think Slashdot is going to last much longer if this sort of thing continues.

Re:Cynical Cynic

[shawb (16347)]

Does it just insulate the battery?

No... it just pads the manufacturer's waller.

Snake oil

[Blue Ray (853860)]

How on earth will applying a sticker to the plastic battery packaging do anything to the properties of the cell's discharge, recharge, memory effect and emotional intelligence? (I *might* have made that last one up)

I reckon it uses that little known electrochemical property, the "placebo effect"

Hockus-pockus, goggle-de-gook and mumbo-jumbo.

Apparently it'll do the dishes too!

Re:Snake oil

[archeopterix (594938)]

How on earth will applying a sticker to the plastic battery packaging do anything to the properties of the cell's discharge, recharge, memory effect and emotional intelligence? (I *might* have made that last one up)

Simple -

BatMax contains permeable material, which is able to directly affect the molecule level inside the battery and BatMax reintegrates the uncharged particles into the electrical circuit.

BatMax reduces electrical loss by optimizing the ions transfers between the battery cells and maintai

Re:Snake oil

[Walt Dismal (534799)]

In a 2002 clinical test, I applied BatMax IonXR stickers to all surfaces (dorsal, ventral, anterior, posterior) of my grandmother. Laboratory results were the following: 1) her life was extended by 25 years 2) she bakes pies 36% faster 3) the room generally smells much better, though that might be because she has stopped eating dog food, 4) Grandpa says sex with her is a totally new experience.

Works for Cars Too!

[DingerX (847589)]

Just check the streets of any major city: applying stickers to cars has been shown to improve perceived performance. Why not the same for mobile phones?

April 1st or inexcusable advertising plug ?

[gorim (700913)]

You be the judge. This sounds like something in the realm of the fake cell-phone antenna extenders.

Stick a sticker on a battery to extend its life ? Someone needs to get a life.

Re:April 1st or inexcusable advertising plug ?

[pe1rxq (141710)]

Actually cell-phone antenna extenders are more credible than this. This is nonsense.
Improving an antenna could actually work by placing elements at the right place. Although using a random sticker on a random place which is in no way matched to the actuall antenna won't work.

Jeroen

Same bullshit, different buzzwords.

[jcr (53032)]

I see the snake-oil purveyors are updating their vocabulary.

For the record: there is nothing you can stick on the outside of a battery to improve its performance.

-jcr

Re:Same bullshit, different buzzwords.

[monkey_jam (557265)]

what about another battery?

I call junk science!

[ZiZ (564727)]

This smacks of junk science and hoop-la to me. According to what I'm picking up from the webpage, it's a sticker which magically permeates your battery, removes the bad ions, and generates new, good ions for the battery instead. Oh, and it does windows, too. (Seriously! Well, ok, battery separators, but it claims to scrub them clean.)

I wonder...If I stick one on my fuel line, will it work like the double-your-gas-mileage gasoline ion chargers?

What a load of pseudo-scientific bullshit

[BobTheLawyer (692026)]

"nanoceramic material extracted from a natural stone"? How stupid do you have to be to believe this kind of thing?

Their claim that the material "has been tested and documented by several prestigious institutions, laboratories and universities" is as laughable as it is vague.

Re:What a load of pseudo-scientific bullshit

[foxtrot (14140)]

"nanoceramic material extracted from a natural stone"? How stupid do you have to be to believe this kind of thing?

Sounds to me like the answer to this poll actually is CowboyNeal.

-JDF

Right, and I have a bridge I'd like to sell you.

[citanon (579906)]

When did slashdot become free advertisement for quakery and fraud? I am a material scientist and I have never heard of anything you could stick on to a battery that would extend its life. Legitimate companies would never spend research dollars commercializing a product whose effects are so small that they show up "after 5 to 10 charging cycles." At any rate, the term "nanoceramic" should tip off the savy reader. How would a piece of any material improve the internal operation of a battery? Are they claiming that this magical sticker will change the material characteristics of the battery components themselves? Give me a break!

Re:Right, and I have a bridge I'd like to sell you

[citanon (579906)]

Further reading of the BatMax website reveals that this magical technology works by releasing electrons with a wavelength of 5 to 10 microns. Which is total bullshit. Five to 10 microns is the length of fifty-thousand atoms. You will NEVER get an electron with wavelength that big emitted from anything, ever. At any rate, no electron could cross the electrically INSULATING battery case. Otherwise, you've got more problems than just a useless sticker on your battery. What we have here is just that, a useless sticker.

But it's all explained on their site!

[KontinMonet (737319)]

BatMax unblocks and regulates the flow of ions by generating an electro-magnetic cavity and oscillation frequency with negative ions emission. The ionization generated by BatMax has been mesured [sic] as a level reaching 30 times the value (7 - 8.000 Ions/cm3) of the ambiant [sic] air ionization (2 - 300 Ions/cm3). By the ions production, BatMax improves the electrodes oxidization.

I'll take two bridges please...

In related news...

[slavemowgli (585321)]

In related news, BatMax just announced that they hired CowboyNeal as the new head of their PR department.

Nicotine patch for batteries?

[Masa (74401)]

Oh come on! This is just stupid. Fuck, if this really works then I'm going to stick on of these to my forehead. Should boost my brain and result better performance with my projects.

holy astroturfing batman!

[circletimessquare (444983)]

it's just like getting spam, but on slashdot's frontpage instead

April April, as the Germans say

[Zog The Undeniable (632031)]

Sorry, CowboyNeal, you're at least 2 months early with this one.

100% Snake Oil

[timholman (71886)]

BatMax is designed to separate gullible people from their money, plain and simple. Consider the so-called "technical description" at http://www.batmax.com/technology-features.php:

"(1) The nanoceramic material is extracted from a natural stone and depending on the version, layered between 2 protective silicon foils or on 1 or 2 sides of a conductive sheet.

The magical stuff it's made of is "extracted" from "natural stone". Hey, if it's natural, it must be good, right? These guys are selling pieces of rock with adhesive.

The wavelength of the electron released from BatMax is around 3-40 microns, and is considered to be within almost the same range with the oscillation frequency of molecules inside the battery. These molecules are able to raise their oscillation energy and electricity generation by receiving electron wavelength from BatMax.

This is absolutely meaningless technobabble. "Receiving electron wavelength"? A previous poster is right, these guys have been watching too much Star Trek.

BatMax unblocks and regulates the flow of ions by generating an electro-magnetic cavity and oscillation frequency with negative ions emission. The ionization generated by BatMax has been mesured as a level reaching 30 times the value (7 - 8.000 Ions/cm3) of the ambiant air ionization (2 - 300 Ions/cm3). By the ions production, BatMax improves the electrodes oxidization.

So somehow, using the same principle as an air purifier, the BatMax magically provides "negative ions" (without any electrical contact to the battery, of course) and makes any battery work better. 100% complete hogwash.

I salute the BatMax promoters for their audacity at selling rocks as high tech accessories, and I can only pity those who shell out hard-earned money for them.

How on earth?

[PhunkySchtuff (208108)]

How on earth did this blatant advertisment make it to the front page?
How on earth can this thing even work?
From http://www.batmax.com/technology-features.php [batmax.com] The foil and the material are designed to:

• Absorb the electromagnetic waves generated from the battery.
• Generate a flow of negative ions.
• Interact with the battery's internal electrolyte and ions.

OK, so it's outside the battery, insulated by the plastic case of the battery, yet it can still interact with the internal electrolyte and ions? Plus it generates a flow of negative ions... all by itslef?
*COUGH*bullshit*COUGH!*
kai

extend your cellphones by 5 to 10 inches

[enoraM (749327)]

with a herbal nanotech sticker.
Also increases the volume of - oh, that makes sense

Snake oil / CowboyNeal

[slavemowgli (585321)]

CowboyNeal just lost a big amount of my respect after posting that. Sure, it's slashdot, and not only stories that survive close scrutiny are posted here, but this really screams "SNAKE OIL" just as much as your average penis enlargement spam, so... did he even *read* the submission before posting (and frontpaging) it?

You sir, are a moron.

[sjanes71 (2217)]

Fire the person who approved this story. There's a clear reason why the submitter was anonymous: this product is complete bullsh*t.

Re:You sir, are a moron.

[sjanes71 (2217)]

Oh, CowboyNeal approved it?

Can he take a really long vacation?

As a subscriber I find this fucking disgraceful

[Kris_J (10111)]

I literally paid money to see this crap on the front page. Time for the Cowboy to go back on the "don't show me these editor's stories on the front page" list. What a bloody joke.

4:47 Friday 28 January 2005

[droleary (47999)]

I declare this the moment Slashdot officially jumped the shark. Honestly, if this story doesn't get updated, pulled, or at least shuffled off to the humor section, I'm canning CowboyNeal stories in my preferences. Pulling any more crap report/editing like this (including the increasingly annoying Engadget related blog linking shit) only means I'll eventually ditch this site completely.

Re:4:47 Friday 28 January 2005

[Tim C (15259)]

shoddy (possibly non-existant) fact checking

I refer you to the FAQ [slashdot.org] - there is *no* editorial fact-checking performed here.

Hey mod's

[Angostura (703910)]

How about adding Update: This is clearly a snake-oil scam, sorry for posting it.

More bullshit from slashdot

[g0at (135364)]

but what's more astonishing, Roland Piquepaille didn't submit this one! Remarkable.

-b

Who's behind BatMax

[Animats (122034)]

Anonymous businesses are illegal in many states, but they're usually not as anonymous as they'd like to be.

Whois is "Domains by Proxy", so that's not immediately helpful.

BatMax, Inc. is a valid Florida corporation, but their mail drop is "WORLD CORPORATE SERVICES, INC., 2665 S. BAYSHORE DRIVE, SUITE 703, MIAMI FL 33133". Again, not too helpful.

The USPTO shows a trademark for BatMax: "BatMax Corporation, Suite # 3A, 9250 West Bay Harbor Drive, Bay Harbor Islands, FLORIDA 33154". That's a condo in Colony Bay Harbor Condos. It's a small residential building, and doesn't look anything like the "picture of BatMax skyscraper headquarters" [batmax.com] on their web site. The building pictured on the web site is Espirito Santo Plaza [espiritosantoplaza.com] in Miami, which is still under construction although partially occupied.

From a BatMax press release [prweb.com], we get a name: Alain Aisenberg, and a phone number, [phone].

We find Alain Aisenberg talking about BatMax on an MIT mailing list. [mit.edu]. There, he gives his cell phone number.

A public records search [privateeye.com] finds that name in Miami, and gives us enough information to run a background check.

But I'll stop there.

IT'S A JOKE

[SparafucileMan (544171)]

Fellows--there's no place to actually purchase the things off of the main page. For all anyone knows this is just a joke rather than fraud.

Re:help?

[eclectro (227083)]

can anyone think of something commonplace, that at the time seemed like total utter snake-oil lubed bullshit?

"They will welcome us."

Perhaps..

[The Creator (4611)]

"Please push."

Re:Pseudoscience

[Goaway (82658)]

So, when are we going to get an apology from the editors for posting an ad for an obvious scam?

No, I kid, I kid.