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World's cheapest 3D printer

World's cheapest 3D printer

Assorted QU-BD printers on display at Maker Faire Image Gallery (11 images) If you want a home 3D printer for under US$200 tha...

Windows 9 Preview To Come in Q2-Q3 2015

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It might very well be only a rumor, but where there is smoke, there’s fire; and what we’re hearing is that the next version of Windows, Windows 9, is already in the works. That’s only logical, as it does take Microsoft a while to get their things together, in spite of erstwhile Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer saying that rapid deployment of their products is integral to their success.</div>
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So, while the company is still “forcing” people to update to Windows 8.1, even <a href="http://news.filehippo.com/2014/05/microsoft-backtracks-pushes-back-windows-8-1-update-deadline/" style="color: #0092dd;" target="_blank">pushing back the initial deadline it set for updating</a>, rumors about Windows 9 are already starting to make the rounds.</div>
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<img alt="Windows 9" class="lazy alignnone wp-image-15463 size-full data-lazy-ready" data-lazy-src="http://technews.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/windows-9.jpg" data-lazy-type="image" height="472" src="http://technews.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/windows-9.jpg" style="background-color: #ecf0f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; display: inline; float: none; max-width: 708px; padding: 10px;" width="708" /></div>
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This particular piece of info comes from infamous leaker FaiKee, who posted a screenshot in MyDigitalLife’s forum.</div>
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<img alt="Windows 9" class="lazy alignnone wp-image-15462 size-full data-lazy-ready" data-lazy-src="http://technews.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Faikee.jpg" data-lazy-type="image" src="http://technews.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Faikee.jpg" style="background-color: #ecf0f4; display: inline; float: none; max-width: 708px; padding: 10px;" /></div>
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If you’re thinking that image says 02-03 and not Q2-Q3, you can be forgiven. That was my initial reaction as well, but the Windows 9 leaker has <a href="https://twitter.com/FaiKeeF/status/467429503929556994" style="color: #0092dd;" target="_blank">tweeted</a> to clarify, saying:</div>
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<span style="color: #292f33;">Upto now, I could only see Neowin News said the correct thing: It is Q2-Q3, not 02-03, nor Feb. 3, 2015. LOL.</span></blockquote>
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While skepticism surely is understandable, FaiKee has been known to leak such announcements way before Microsoft releases the official word. Perhaps this time, FaiKee is right once again. Although, whether it’s 02-03 or Q2-Q3, there’s still quite a long wait for Windows 9, to be sure. There are many other analysts and speculators who have made their own predictions as to when the next version of the operating system will be released, and they vary. The only common thing: it will be in 2015.</div>
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In the meantime, you’ll have to be content with Windows 8 and make sure that you update before Microsoft puts the hammer down and decides not to extend its deadline anymore.</div>
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Given the long waiting time we have ahead of us, what do you want to see in Windows 9? What do you want to be exterminated from Windows 8? </div>
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Windows 9 Preview To Come in Q2-Q3 2015

It might very well be only a rumor, but where there is smoke, there’s fire; and what we’re hearing is that the next version of Windows, Wi...

Flappy Bird is Coming Back in August!

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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">if you’re like many mobile gamers, you played the phenomenon known as Flappy Bird. Many times. And you probably got so frustrated by it that you wanted to “flap” your phone across the room. The game became so popular it was earning its creator, Dong Nguyen, somewhere around $50,000 a day. And then, at the height of the game’s popularity, Nguyen abruptly removed the game from app stores. Many have differing ideas as to why he decided to take the game off the market, but Nguyen states he thought the game was becoming way too addictive for people, and he didn’t want to be known for such a thing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In what will surely be good news for gamers who didn’t have the game on their phone before it was removed from app stores, Nguyen has announced that he is once more making the game available for mobile gamers. And while we’re not one-hundred percent sure as to when it will be available, signs point to around the month of August.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img alt="Flappy Birds Is Coming Back In August!" class="lazy alignnone wp-image-15477 size-full data-lazy-ready" data-lazy-src="http://technews.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/title.jpg" data-lazy-type="image" height="472" src="http://technews.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/title.jpg" style="background-color: #ecf0f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; display: inline; float: none; max-width: 708px; padding: 10px;" width="708" /></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Get Ready To Be Addicted Once Again!</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Actually, Nguyen hopes that is not the case at all. While it will still offer the same type of gameplay, he has also announced there will be some kind of a multiplayer component which will make it less addictive than the original Flappy Bird. We will have to wait and see what exactly that means. One thing is for sure, though – I have no doubt Flappy Birds will once again race to the top of the charts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Will you be downloading it once it’s (re)released? Let us know in the comments section below!</span></div>
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Flappy Bird is Coming Back in August!

if you’re like many mobile gamers, you played the phenomenon known as Flappy Bird. Many times. And you probably got so frustrated by it th...

Electric Lightning LS-218 will be the fastest production bike on the planet

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Lightning's LS-218 at the 2014 Quail Motorsport Gathering</div>
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No road vehicle needs a 218 mph (350 km/h) top speed. No motorcycle needs to make 200 horsepower, with as much torque as a Hyundai iMax people mover. These are figures of absolute excess – and that's the point. The Lightning LS-218 will be a truly, horrifyingly fast motorcycle, the fastest on the planet. And it's set for release this summer in America.</div>
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<a href="http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_lrg/lightning-ls218-electric-fastest-production-bike-7.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img alt="Lightning's LS-218 - designed by Glynn Kerr" border="0" height="291" src="http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_lrg/lightning-ls218-electric-fastest-production-bike-7.jpg" style="font-size: 16px;" width="400" /></a><img alt="Lightning's LS-218 electric superbike (Photo: © 2014 Bryan Delohery / Asphalt & Rubber – C..." height="266" src="http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_lrg/lightning-ls218-electric-fastest-production-bike-0.jpg" style="font-size: 16px;" width="400" /></div>
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<img alt="Lightning's LS-218 electric superbike (Photo: © 2014 Bryan Delohery / Asphalt & Rubber – C..." height="266" src="http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_lrg/lightning-ls218-electric-fastest-production-bike-4.jpg" width="400" /><img alt="Lightning's LS-218 - teaser image lightened in Photoshop" height="288" src="http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_lrg/lightning-ls218-electric-fastest-production-bike-6.jpg" style="font-size: 16px;" width="400" /></div>
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You may notice that <a href="http://www.gizmag.com/zero-sr-2014-electric-motorcycle-review-test-ride/32015/" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1e8dd7; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">we're getting a touch excited</a> about <a href="http://www.gizmag.com/tag/electric+motorcycle/" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1e8dd7; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">electric motorcycles</a> right now – and with good reason. The segment is coming of age at the moment, finally beginning to deliver bikes with practical range and genuinely exciting performance to go along with all their many well-known ancillary benefits. Perhaps the one thing still missing is the electric superbike, the performance king of excess that will prove to petrolheads once and for all that the biggest, fastest, meanest bikes on the road won't be burning dinosaur bones in ten years' time.</div>
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And here it is. The Lightning LS-218 is due to launch this summer in the USA, and it promises to be the fastest production bike on the planet.</div>
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<a href="http://www.gizmag.com/lightning-ls218-unveiled-specs/32142/pictures#4" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1e8dd7; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="Lightning's LS-218 electric superbike (Photo: © 2014 Bryan Delohery / Asphalt & Rubber – C..." src="http://images.gizmag.com/inline/lightning-ls218-electric-fastest-production-bike-3.jpg" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" width="530" /></a></div>
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After a runaway 20-second victory at Pike's Peak last year, Lightning gave the world a sneak peek at its production superbike over the weekend at the Quail Motorsport Gathering in Carmel, California.</div>
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While these photos just show a hollow shell of the superbike with no battery fitted, Lightning has also released some truly eye-popping specs to go along with it.</div>
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For starters, the 218 in the model name refers to the bike's tested top speed – a ridiculous 218 miles per hour, or around 350 km/h. Lightning believes it'll go faster. Either way, it already holds the world record for the fastest production motorcycle.</div>
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To get there, it makes a liquid-cooled 200 horsepower (150 kW), which sits right at the pointy end with the latest hypersport machines in the market. But this is a false equivalence, as the Lightning also belts out a truly mammoth 168 lb.ft (228 Nm) of torque, nearly twice what the <a href="http://www.gizmag.com/ducati-1199-panigale-review/20587/" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1e8dd7; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Ducati Panigale</a> manages. The feeling of acceleration on this machine will be absolutely effortless, and it will flip your brain inside out. This is excess in its purest form.</div>
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The LS-218 doesn't use a clutch or transmission, it's a direct drive system. You can think of it as the world's fastest twist-n-go, so presumably in lower power modes it will be ridiculously easy to ride, when you're not out setting land speed records on the weekend.</div>
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Different battery pack options will be available depending on your budget, from 12 kWh up to the big daddy 20 kWh pack that boasts a maximum range of around 180 miles (290km), and lightning is claiming it'll take 30 minutes to top up on a quick charger. Getting from 0-100 percent will doubtless take a long, long time on a standard wall socket.</div>
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Wet weight ready to roll is 495 lbs (224.5 kg), and the running gear is all absolutely top-notch, with Öhlins FGRT forks and TTX shock, magnesium Marchesini wheels and radial Brembo front brakes.</div>
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<a href="http://www.gizmag.com/lightning-ls218-unveiled-specs/32142/pictures#2" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1e8dd7; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="Lightning's LS-218 electric superbike (Photo: © 2014 Bryan Delohery / Asphalt & Rubber – C..." src="http://images.gizmag.com/inline/lightning-ls218-electric-fastest-production-bike-1.jpg" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" width="353" /></a></div>
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Customer bikes can be upgraded with more than just battery pack options. The frame and swingarm can be swapped out for carbon fiber units to save weight and unsprung mass, the dash can be swapped out for a fully programmable Android touch screen, the seat unit can be customized and the bike's <a href="http://www.glynnkerr.com/" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1e8dd7; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Glyn Kerr</a>-designed looks can be totally overhauled using a custom graphics wrap.</div>
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This is an important motorcycle, because it's really going to be the first electric on the market that goes too fast, accelerates too hard, and reduces most riders to trembling lumps of jelly – all the things that make street superbikes so alluring and awe-inspiring. Just look at Motorcycle.com's very quick <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nztLjEs_2Kw" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1e8dd7; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">test ride of the 2012 prototype</a>. The poor guy, a professional bike tester, spends three solid minutes just howling and jabbering in fear and exhilaration.</div>
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Electric bikes are exceptionally practical, we know that already, but this is the kind of machine that will take them to the next level: fearsome and drool-worthy. If I could take any bike in the world out for a test today, this would be the top of the list. Whaddya say, Lightning?</div>
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Electric Lightning LS-218 will be the fastest production bike on the planet

Lightning's LS-218 at the 2014 Quail Motorsport Gathering Image Gallery (8 images) No road vehicle needs a 218 mph (350 k...

Build Your Own Wolverine Claws

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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Any DIY project you have ever done is going to pale into insignificance once you’ve finished reading this article. There have been a number of attempts to recreate Wolverine’s signature claws but none have reached the same level of ingenuity as the ones created by garage inventor Colin Furze.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As well as extending, they also fully retract! To accomplish this amazing invention, Furze used a compressed air system, all of which is housed in a normal backpack. The blades can be extended and retracted on command too.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img alt="Wolverine Claws" class="lazy alignnone size-full wp-image-15454 data-lazy-ready" data-lazy-src="http://technews.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/output_rBEN4P.gif" data-lazy-type="image" height="326" src="http://technews.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/output_rBEN4P.gif" style="background-color: #ecf0f4; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; display: inline; float: none; max-width: 708px; padding: 10px;" width="708" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This bonkers DIY inventor is promising more X-Men themed projects for the near future, so stay tuned for more wacky and extreme creations.</span></div>
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Build Your Own Wolverine Claws

Any DIY project you have ever done is going to pale into insignificance once you’ve finished reading this article. There have been a numbe...

New "dual carbon" battery charges 20 times faster than Li-ion

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<a href="http://www.gizmag.com/dual-carbon-fast-charging-battery/32121/pictures" id="hero_link" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #036eb5; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="A Japanese company has announced the development and planned mass-production of a disrupti..." height="298" src="http://images.gizmag.com/hero/dual-carbon-fast-charging-battery-8.jpg" style="border: none; clear: both; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" title="A Japanese company has announced the development and planned mass-production of a disrupti..." width="530" /></a><div class="pic_caption" style="background-color: #444444; border-top-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; color: #eeeeee; height: auto !important; margin: 0px; min-height: 30px; padding: 5px 5px 10px; text-align: center;">
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A Japanese company has announced the development and planned mass-production of a disruptive dual carbon battery that can be charged twenty times faster than an ordinary lithium-ion cell (Image: Power Japan Plus)</div>
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Japanese company Power Japan Plus has announced the development and planned mass-production of "Ryden," a disruptive carbon battery that can be charged 20 times faster than an ordinary lithium-ion cell. The battery, which is cheap to manufacture, safe, and environmentally friendly, could be ideal to improve the range and charging times of electric cars.</div>
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We've seen <a href="http://www.gizmag.com/test-drive-tesla-model-s/29922/" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1e8dd7; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">electric cars</a> and <a href="http://www.gizmag.com/zero-sr-2014-electric-motorcycle-review-test-ride/32015/" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1e8dd7; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">motorbikes</a> make huge strides forward in recent years. Up to a few years ago, electric vehicles were a synonym of peculiar designs, poor performance, and very low range; but now, more and more people associate them with instant torque and high performance. Further improving range, charging time, and cost would make electric vehicles an even more compelling product.</div>
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A new battery developed by Power Japan and Kyushu University promises that – and more. The researchers describe their battery as "dual carbon" since both electrodes are made out of carbon. They claim that their design not only has high energy density, but is also economical, very safe, reliable, and environmentally sustainable. Most importantly, it can charge 20x faster than its Li-ion counterpart.</div>
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<a href="http://www.gizmag.com/dual-carbon-fast-charging-battery/32121/pictures#1" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1e8dd7; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="The battery employs carbon for both electrodes (Image: Power Japan Plus)" src="http://images.gizmag.com/inline/dual-carbon-fast-charging-battery.jpg" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" width="530" /></a></div>
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The battery employs carbon for both electrodes (Image: Power Japan Plus)</div>
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According to the company, their technology would allow you to charge the battery of a Nissan Leaf in 12 minutes instead of four hours. Because that battery has a capacity of 24 kWh, a back-of-the-envelope extrapolation would give us a charging time of 42 minutes for the 85 kWh battery of a top of the line <a href="http://www.gizmag.com/test-drive-tesla-model-s/29922/" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1e8dd7; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Tesla Model S</a>.</div>
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Power Japan also claims that their battery has energy density comparable to state of the art lithium-ion, with manufacturing costs that are equal or lower. This is because carbon, which is widely available in nature, is the only active ingredient, and the batteries can fit into a standard 18650 cell (the one used in laptops and electric cars), requiring no significant change to existing manufacturing lines.</div>
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Further characteristics that make it particularly suitable for electric cars are a long lifetime of 3,000 charge/discharge cycles (Li-ion's life is closer to 1,000 cycles) and the ability to discharge fully without the risk of short-circuiting and damaging the battery. Moreover, the battery doesn't heat up, so it wouldn't require the extensive cooling systems that appear in current electric cars. Thermal stability also makes the battery much safer, because it eliminates the risk of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_runaway#Batteries" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1e8dd7; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">thermal runaway</a>, which can cause explosions. And it would be more powerful than other batteries, operating at over four volts.</div>
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<a href="http://www.gizmag.com/dual-carbon-fast-charging-battery/32121/pictures#3" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1e8dd7; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="The company is developing its own organic carbon material for the batteries (Image: Power ..." src="http://images.gizmag.com/inline/dual-carbon-fast-charging-battery-3.jpg" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: bottom;" width="529" /></a></div>
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The company is developing its own organic carbon material for the batteries (Image: Power Japan Plus)</div>
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The battery would also be highly sustainable, as it is fully recyclable. Power Japan is planning to produce the battery using an organic carbon complex, developed in-house from organic cotton, to obtain a greater control over the size of the carbon crystals in its electrodes.</div>
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<img alt="The battery is safer and cheaper to manufacture than li-ion cells (Image: Power Japan Plus..." height="112" src="http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_lrg/dual-carbon-fast-charging-battery-6.jpg" width="200" /><img alt="The cell uses carbon as the only active material (Image: Power Japan Plus)" height="112" src="http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_lrg/dual-carbon-fast-charging-battery-7.jpg" style="font-size: 16px;" width="200" /><img alt="The company is developing the battery in collaboration with Kyushu University (Image: Powe..." height="133" src="http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_lrg/dual-carbon-fast-charging-battery-2.jpg" style="font-size: 16px;" width="200" /></div>
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Power Japan is planning to start production of 18650 dual carbon cells later this year for specialty applications such as medical devices and satellites, and they plan to license the technology to other companies for use in electric vehicles.</div>
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The video below illustrates the advantages of the battery.</div>
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Source: <a href="http://powerjapanplus.com/about/news.html" style="background-color: transparent; color: #1e8dd7; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Power Japan Plus</a></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="298" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/OJwZ9uEpJOo" width="530"></iframe></div>
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New "dual carbon" battery charges 20 times faster than Li-ion

A Japanese company has announced the development and planned mass-production of a disruptive dual carbon battery that can be charged twe...