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."

Haux?

[HateBreeder]

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

Snake oil

[Blue Ray]

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!

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:April 1st or inexcusable advertising plug ?

[koi88]

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

Hmmm... If enough people belive this, someone will make a living.

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

[citanon]

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:April 1st or inexcusable advertising plug ?

[pe1rxq]

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

Re:why are we ...

[Apatharch]

I'm sure the "anonymous user" who submitted the story is entirely unaffiliated with the which produces these rather implausible items.

holy astroturfing batman!

[circletimessquare]

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

100% Snake Oil

[timholman]

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.

What they said and what they forgot to say...

[hashwolf]

What they said...
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.

What they forgot to say...
THROUGH the battery's plastic case!

Oh come on give me a break... are they saying that the sticker operates on the battery's internal structure/chemistry through IMPERMEABLE PLASTIC?

Maybe if the sticker was coated in nanotech enhanced snake oil that would have worked, but with ceramic it's a tough call.

Re:Why can't I believe this works?

[wertarbyte]

IANAP (I am not a physicist) but this sounds really strange. I mean, it's a sticker.

No, it's just bullshit. It sounds like something they try to sell old people on a "Kaffefahrt" (There is no english term for it), a free afternoon trip where goods are sold to the passengers. Magnetic anti-rheumatism devices etc.

How on earth?

[PhunkySchtuff]

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

will it double my hard disk space?

[rich42]

Slashdotted: Using some neat tricks with Ghost / Fdisk can double your hard disk space.

Slashdotted: Shutting down your mail server for 3 days can stop most spam.

Slashdotted: LCD screens have a latency measured in 100's of milliseconds.

Slashdotted: Putting a sticker on the back of your cell-phone that uses "nano-tech" can extract more life from the batteries.

CowBoyNeal: You are an idiot. [albinoblacksheep.com]

Re:Can advertisers still purchase stories on Slash

[onion2k]

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:Haux?

[DNS-and-BIND]

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.

Snake oil / CowboyNeal

[slavemowgli]

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]

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]

Oh, CowboyNeal approved it?

Can he take a really long vacation?

As a subscriber I find this fucking disgraceful

[Kris_J]

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.

So, a sticker is going to extend battery life, eh?

[MikeLip]

And it does this *without making any electrical contact to the battery*! That's what the instructions say - do not cover battery contacts. Works by osmosis! Wow. The likelihood of this being anything other than yet another internet scam and about the same as Idi Amin impregnating Jessica Simpson.

4:47 Friday 28 January 2005

[droleary]

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.

Perfect capacitor!

[elgatozorbas]

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.

They have made a great capacitor. Actually, if the stone would be very thin, or had micropores (like this one [ieee.org]) they could indeed solve a lot of the current battery problem. Unfortunately they use it in a perfectly wrong way.

Re:Haux?

[harrkev]

The flow of negative ions is good for purifying the air. Just like those purifiers at Sharper Image. But, why keep those good ions trapped inside the battery compartment?

But, IAAEE (I am an electrical engineer). I have a MSEE. Complete BS.

I must admit that /. is slipping by posting nonsense such as this.

Cowby Neal: would you like to buy a bridge?

Their "building"

[pmazer]

The picture of their building [batmax.com] was obviously taken from this [blue-estate.com] site.

Re:I call junk science!

[gl4ss]

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

no, but you'll get maybe enough attention so you'll get those 10 referrees.

Hey mod's

[Angostura]

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

Re:Eric reads between the lines

[Anonymous Coward]

They claim users will notice a battery life improvement after 5 to 10 charging cycles (by then the placebo effect should kick in).
Placebo effect not required. Most rechargeable batteries have a break in period before they reach their maximum capacity anyway. Anyone gullible enough to believe this crap in the first place (CowboyNeal) will have no problem believing BatMax made the battery do something it would have done anyway.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a "for best results, use BatMax with a new battery" suggestion in their manual flyer somewhere.

Re:4:47 Friday 28 January 2005

[avsed]

I agree. I've been a lurker since the earliest days of Slashdot. The increasing frequency of duplicated stories, and shoddy (possibly non-existant) fact checking mark a team resting on their past fame. This "story" really does take the award for blatant stupidity however; CowboyNeal, can you please do some basic fact checking? You work with technology and the claim that a sticker can increase battery life doesn't set alarm bells ringing? Are you insane?

D.

Re:Pseudoscience

[Goaway]

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.

A Scam by any other name...

[Bequita]

Okay, this sounds suspiciously like those holographic stickers (the MPT Smogbuster Fuel Disk) that claims to improve gas mileage (for the low, low price of 299 per sticker!).

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~33~2 67 0224,00.html#121

PT Barnum was right.

Yes, Workable product? Yet to be determined, but f

[nietsch]

It sounds entirely possible to a lot of other nutcases like you. Guess what, they are marketing it to you!
In other times this would be known as quackery. This is what happens if you let merketeers work unguarded by sane people.

Re:4:47 Friday 28 January 2005

[meadowsp]

Happened years ago, it's a bit more of a car-wreck nowadays.

IT'S A JOKE

[SparafucileMan]

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.

Why OSDN should fire Slashdot's editors

[Arkaein]

Seriously, between crap like this and dupes is there any wonder why hardly anyone who reads Slashdot actually subscribers?

I read Slashdot every day. If there was ever any website I should pay for just to read it's probably this one. But I just can't. Other than bandwidth the group that actually runs Slashdot contributes so little to it it's almost laughable.

The code is from the dark ages (HTML 3.2? C'mon!), the search sucks, they willfully blast small websites out of existence (if only temporarily). Unless they've changed the terms they use the idiotic model of selling page views instead of monthly/yearly deals for subscriptions. Most of all, they never listen to any of the numerous suggestions that have been made to improve the site.

I can only wonder how much money Slashdot has lost since they started selling subscriptions because of this total disregard for the people that actually read and contribute to the site. If any editors actaully read this post (doubtful, Jaime is about the only one who actually reads anything here) wake up and take a look around. Decent management should have fired the lot of you a long time ago for keeping Slashdot from ever rising above the level of mediocrity.