Lithium-Sulfur battery cells, the upcoming replacement for Lithium-Ion

Lithium-ion batteries, the current battery technology used in smartphones, has a high specific energy (energy per weight) but has a few drawbacks. Let's take a closer look and compare both technologies.

The main issue with Li-ion is that is requires lithium dissolved in extremely volatile and flammable organic solvents; e.g. dimethoxyethane which has a low flash point -2 °C (28 °F), the temperature at which a volatile substance can evaporate and form an ignitable mixture in air. This makes them extremely dangerous when the charging circuits malfunction and fail to protect the battery from overcharging, and consequently overheating. We have seen some scary stories in the recent past with people waking up to their phone bursting into flames while they were charging overnight, and the battery fires in the new Boeing 787 Li-ion battery packs. So obviously there is need for development into a safer battery composition with similar or better energy capacities.

Recently I did some research into the developing Lithium-Sulfur battery, with extremely promising specifications at the present time better than Li-ion. Li-S is extremely light weight due to the use of sulfur instead of ionic liquids, additionally sulfur is much cheaper to produce than ionic liquids. Despite frequent headlines about new battery compositions with potentially high capacities, Li-S is actually in the production stages and no longer just a concept.  

The chemistry behind Li-S is essentially the lithium gets plated onto the anode when charging and poly-sulfides are reduced and coat the anode when discharging, compared to the use of intercalated anode and cathode plates in Li-ion. This is the main factor which gives Li-S potential to be a battery composition with an extremely high specific energy. The different chemistry also allows the use of much less volatile solvents such as polyethylene glycols (flash point up to 287 °C/548 °F).

The degradation of Li-S is different to Li-ion but is also susceptible to an increased rate of degradation at high temperatures. There are unwanted side reactions that can take place, but are reversible until they dissolve into the solvent. Luckily sulfide compounds are relatively insoluble in electrolyte solutions but any increase in temperature will increase their solubility, so batteries need to be well regulated to prevent rapid charging and discharging.

Manufacturers are beginning to pour money into research and development for Li-S as there are a lot of factors which can be significantly improved, from something as simple milling smaller sulfur and carbon particles to something more difficult like developing a better solvent to improve battery capacity and reduce degradation. (Carbon nanotubes/nanofibres are used as a conductor due to sulfur’s poor electroconductivity, and they are still quite expensive to produce.)

I've put a graph at the top to compare rechargeable battery technology in the past with Li-S. Now, time to see which OEM will be implementing Li-S first.

TL;DR Lithium-Sulfur batteries are capable of having a higher wattage per weight than Lithium-ion whilst being both safer to the consumer and cheaper to manufacture.

Puncture test comparison

Short circuit test comparison

This article is also to be found on its author's personal blog.

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What’s new in 2014 - a year of technology

What’s new in 2014...

Have we reached the point of diminishing returns?

With 2013 now behind us, I want to look back upon the past year and analyse the technology we saw, as well as speculate upon what we are likely to see this year. I think 2013 was a relatively disappointing year for mobile phones, however 2014 looks more promising.

Displays of 2013

For many, 2013 will be known as ‘the year of 1080p screens’, as almost every flagship model incorporated these high resolution displays at the cost of battery life and overall fluidity. This meant that overall performance seemed stagnated in general operations, with the HTC One X rarely under performing to the HTC One, except in gaming performance. 

However, the benefits of a 1080p screen as compared to a lower resolution are noticeable to most and definitely offer an improved experience, resulting in less eyestrain and the ability to browse the web more elegantly. Of course, not every 1080p screen is equal. We saw improvements in colour reproduction, brightness and touch sensitivity in 2013, as well as advancements in technologies like AMOLED. With Apple retaining it’s sub-720p display on the iPhone 5S, many agreed that this was subpar and that this will need to be improved upon in 2014, else market share will suffer. The Xperia Z was widely criticised for its poor viewing angles, resulting in poor sales despite otherwise quality hardware. This shows the great importance of a quality screen in the current market. Display size in 2013 saw a huge increase from previous years. In 2010 for instance, the display of the iPhone 4 at 3.5 inches was considered large. By 2011, the Galaxy S2 had upped this to a 4.2” screen, and in 2012 the Galaxy S3 was released with an even larger 4.8” screen. 2013 can be known as the ‘phablet year’, with a large number of phones released with a screen size larger than 5 inches. This is a trend on the rise and I believe that in 2014, any screen with a size less than 5” will be regarded as ‘small’.

Displays of 2014

In 2014, many smartphones are rumoured to be incorporating WQHD screens, with a resolution of 2560 x 1440. This is a resolution higher than most laptops on the market and seems to be overkill for a screen so small. The benefits of 1080p were visible, but with another resolution jump, the impacts on performance and battery life don't seem justified. A 1080p screen seems pin sharp and any higher may truly be more pixels than the eye can distinguish. This year in the television industry, there will be a major focus on OLED displays, due to their superior black levels, brighter whites and fast refresh rates. However, in the mobile industry I believe that LCD will still dominate, due to a cheaper cost and advancing technologies allowing for higher resolutions on a thinner screen. Only Samsung and Nokia are currently utilising OLED screens and while they are praised for their colour saturation and black levels, many argue that the colour is not reproduced accurately and that the Pentile matrix of Samsung’s latest screens means that they are not at true 1080p. OLED displays also commonly have a tint, resulting in darker, less pure whites. The S4 for instance has a clear blue/green tint when compared to the HTC One which uses an LCD. To conclude, I believe that in 2014, 1080p will be the standard resolution for most phones, with a few rising to 2560 x 1440. The benefits of this are yet to be determined. Screen sizes in 2014 will be 5” or above for flagship devices, with the Galaxy Note series increasing to around 5.9”.

Batteries of 2013

In any portable device, battery life is a major concern and in mobile phones, this has an even greater importance. Over the past few years, battery life hasn't really improved. This isn't due to the non advancement of battery technology, but more due to the increased power usage of components in phones, with the latest screens and SoCs using more power than they did a couple of years ago. This creates the illusion that the batteries used are exactly the same as those used in 2011, while really they are advancing at a steady pace. For example, the HTC Desire (was one of the highest rated phones of 2010) utilised a 1400 MaH battery, while the HTC One uses a 2300 MaH battery. With 900 MaH extra capacity, the HTC One should have greatly improved battery life, while in reality it is not much different. This is because of the more power hungry components. One anomaly in 2013 was the iPhone 5S, which uses a 1570 MaH battery. This is far lower than other flagship phones on the market yet still manages to provide a days usage. This is due to the less demanding processor, as well as software optimisation in the closed Apple ecosystem. The drawback of current batteries is that they are still too large. To include a large 3,200 MaH battery such as the one found in the Galaxy Note 3 requires… you guessed it, a phone the size of a Galaxy Note 3. This means that phones cannot continue to get much thinner with the current generation of batteries, else battery life will suffer. 

Batteries of 2014

Phones released in 2014 will have a healthy bump in MaH as compared to 2013, however we shouldn't expect to see a noticeable difference in usage times, due to the impending release of WQHD displays and even beefier processors. I believe MaH will hover around the 3000 MaH range for flagships this year, with phablets potentially pushing towards the 4000 MaH mark. A day of solid usage can be expected. One thing that split opinions in 2013 was the issue of the removable battery. It was argued that it was required in order to switch batteries when the original had lost charge through age and that non-inclusion was a type of planned obsolescence. Others argued that many don’t keep a phone for longer than 2 years and that in this time, a battery would still maintain at least 75% of the original charge. Personally, I find a removable battery useless for my needs and think that the design changes required to incorporate one are detrimental to the looks of the phone. I would take a well built solid unibody phone over one with a removable flimsy back cover any-day. In fact, a removable battery just seems so old school, Nokia 3310 anyone? In 2014, unibody phones will be standard.

Cameras of 2013

In 2013, DSLR sales suffered. This was mainly due to the increasingly good picture quality on mobile phones. While professional photographers can’t sell their professional equipment yet, for many users a mobile phone camera is more than sufficient. Cameras in 2013 saw resolutions as high as 13 megapixels, while some manufacturers decided to go in the other direction: reducing the number pixels in return for better low light photos and less noise. There is split opinion on the effectiveness of this strategy. Personally I prefer the photos taken from the standard 8 megapixel HTC One X camera than those taken from a 4 megapixel HTC One, with 2um pixels (‘Ultrapixels’). The 13 megapixel camera of the Galaxy S4 can take some great shots, however colours are too processed and noise is an issue with such a small sensor. Overall, I think that the greatest camera of 2013 was that on the iPhone 5S, which features an 8 megapixel shooter with larger pixels like seen on the HTC One. This allows for good sharpness while also reducing noise. Mobile phone cameras now have a number of quality features that even DSLRs can’t match, such as high quality slow motion video, 4K video recording and options to remove unwanted objects from an image with a simple tap. Shooting speeds also dramatically increased from 2012, with speeds of up to 10 photos per second. 

Cameras of 2014

I think that this larger pixel technology will be seen more often in 2014, with HTC and Apple likely to continue the trend. However, I wouldn’t expect to see Samsung attempt this. In fact, a 16 megapixel camera on the Galaxy S5 wouldn't surprise me. HTC will likely release an 8 megapixel ultrapixel camera, while Apple could either remain at 8 megapixel or jump to 13. Expect to see an improvement in editing options this year, as well as the rise of 4K video. Optical image stabilisation will also be included in most of the flagship devices, as this removes camera shake from photos, meaning that photos taken with a non steady hand or on the move won’t be blurred.

An 8MP camera with 2um pixels will require a phone to be 18mm thick at the camera site; not sure if any manufacturer will go there. Check out this article for more details - Cameras in Phones - what do we really need?

Processors of 2013

Qualcomm dominated 2013 with their Snapdragon range. In fact, every Android flagship of 2013 used a variant of a Snapdragon processor, with the exception of the 8-Core Exynos processor used in certain non-European models of the Galaxy S4. The first 64 bit mobile processor came in 2013 with the launch of the Apple A7. This offers certain improvements, such as a 25% performance increase just for apps that are compiled in 64bit, as well as being able to handle more RAM for the future. Processors have reached the stage where most activities on a device are fluid and apps launch very quickly. The GPU on a SoC matters more, as this determines gaming quality and can affect the FPS of general device navigation and scrolling. The Snapdragon 800 and Apple A7 are very fast CPUs. An interesting point is that while all Android flagships used a quad core CPU in 2013, Apple only used a dual core. The dual core A7 even outperforms the quad core Snapdragon 800. This is due to the ARMv8 internals of the chip. Every processor currently used in Android devices is ARMv7 or less. ARMv8 offers a number of improvements including 64 bit support, faster handling of encryption and an increased number of registers.

Processors of 2014

Currently, the Snapdragon 805 is expected to be released in the first quarter of 2014. This is known to have a maximum clock speed of 2.5GHz and an Adreno 420 GPU. However, it is still based on ARMv7, meaning it is 32 bit. This means that Qualcomm is actively slowing down the development of ARMv8, even with ARMv7 currently at the end of its cycle. I expect to see an ARMv8 processor from Qualcomm towards the end of 2014. Processors will remain at quad-core for the most part and I expect Apple to keep its dual core set up which has proven itself as a great performer.

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HTC

Sony Xperia L (taoshan) ROM List

*Flash your device at your own risk* 100813

 

ROOT: by ishanbhatnagr96 | by dj2tusk | Framaroot

TUTORIAL: Bootloader Unlocking/Relocking

TOOL: ROM Cleaner

ROM:

'(01/04/2013) MagicXL Custom ROM (4.2.2)(1.12)(U) +

'(01/03/2013) Pureview Honami (4.2.2)(1.12)(A) +

'(12/14/2013) SONY’s AOSP 4.4.1 (.img)(U) +

'(12/13/2013) OI Gaming OS v1.8.305 (4.2.2)(.26)(U) +

'(12/09/2013) iOS7 Extreme Edition+CrystalView© (4.2.2)(.26) +

'(12/03/2013) K.A.P 1.4.5 (4.2.2)(.26) +

'(11/30/2013) Hyouka 9.2.8 (4.2.2)(.26)(U) +

'(11/23/2013) Project Aosp (4.2.2)(.26)(U) +

'(11/19/2013) Xperia L Clean 'n' Tweaked v4.1 (4.2.2)(0.26)

__________________________________________________

'(07/26/2013) PAC-man PRE-ALPHA (4.2)(04) +

'(07/26/2013) Trinity Vengeance RaptorXL™X V2.7 (4.1.2)

'(07/24/2013) Stock Firmware 15.0.A.1.36 (4.1.2)(C2105)

_{ROMS THAT WERE RELEASED BEFORE JULY WON’T BE LISTED}

*All source links are from xda-developers forum*

+ – new addition

05 – C2105 (900 band) | 04 – C2104 (850 band)

U – Unlocked | L – Locked | A – All type, locked or unlocked bootloader

Permalink: http://goo.gl/kykGSy | http://sh.st/0uhK

codename: taoshan model number: C210x views: 2,913

Sony Xperia P (nypon) ROM List

*Flash your device at your own risk* 070713

RECOVERY: CWM ICS

ROOT: How-to (ICS) | .54 & .75 root | DooMLoRD Toolkit

ROM:

'(01/04/2013) Honami MW HD V8 (4.1.2)(A)

'(12/25/2013) Enigma v6.3 FINAL (JB)(AROMA)

'(12/24/2013) FreeXperia Project CM10 (4.1.2)(U)

'(12/23/2013) Terminator ROM v2 BETA (4.1.2) +

'(12/21/2013) THE DARK ROM V3.0 (4.2.2)(1.100)(AROMA)

'(12/21/2013) .custoMIUI v1.5beta (CM10)(AROMA)(XPOSED) +

'(12/12/2013) Unofficial CyanogenMod 11.0 nightly (4.4.2)(U) +

'(12/03/2013) Unofficial CM10.2 RC-2 (4.3)

'(11/07/2013) Unofficial Carbon (4.3.1)(PIE)(HALO2)(U) +

_______________________________________________________________

'(10/20/2013) TeamCanjica Unofficial CM10.1.3 RC1 (4.2.2)(U)

'(09/25/2013) Unofficial AOSPA 3.69 (U)

'(09/20/2013) SlimCM™ (4.0.4)(LINARO)

'(08/06/2013) *Revolution* ROM 33.4 (4.2.2)(CM10.1) +

'(07/04/2013) Unofficial PAC man 23.0.0 (4.2.2)

_{ROMS THAT WERE RELEASED BEFORE JULY WON’T BE LISTED}

*All source links are from xda-developers forum*

+ – new additions

4.1.2 - 1.100

4.0.4 – .75

U – Unlocked | L – Locked | A – All bootloader supported

Permalink: http://goo.gl/M5hBK | http://sh.st/0qcM

codename: nypon model number: LT22i views: 9,072

More details about the HTC M8

In a few months we'll most likely see new high-end device from HTC. Some of the current rumours were true, but here comes much more details you've never heard before!

Device will be named HTC One+ (codename: HTC M8) and it won't have any capacitive buttons. No more "home" or "back" buttons we get used to with the HTC One (HTC M7). Camera is probably a 6MP or 8MP module, of course with the UltraPixel™ technology and probably the new HTC ImageChip™ 3. Current rumours about double lens (for low and high lighting) might be true as well. Battery capacity is much bigger now - 2900 mAh instead of 2300 mAh in the HTC One. With just a slightly bigger screen in the HTC One+ (5") versus HTC One (4,7") we can expect much better battery life.

Chipset (SoC) is very likely to be Snapdragon 805 (instead of 800). This is a very good news because Snapdragon 800 is already quite an "old" chipset. The only problem is the drivers development by Qualcomm. Let's hope that won't stop HTC from replacing S800 with the S805.

In contrast to the HTC One, the One+ will have removable micoSD card. The non-removable microSD card in the HTC One was a source of a lot of critics from Android fans. Hopefully the design of the HTC M8 won't suffer from that.

HTC One+ will be equipped with the newest HTC Sense™ 6.0 and Android KitKat.

So what do you think? I'm already very excited and really can't wait for the HTC One successor. The HTC One won almost every award in the 2013 knocking out the competition. Let's hope the HTC One+ will repeat this great success!

To summarize:

1. Name: HTC One+ (HTC M8)
2. Screen: 5" FullHD 1080p covered by Gorilla Glass 3
3. Battery: 2900mAh
4. Camera: 6MP or 8MP with UltraPixel™ technology and double lens
5. SoC: Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 805
6. RAM: 2GB LPDDR3
7. Buttons: no capacitive buttons
8. OS: Android KitKat with HTC Sense™ 6.0
9. SIM: micro-SIM
10. Front camera: 2.1MP
11. NFC: yes

Have any questions or comments? Feel free to share! Also, if you like this article, please use media sharing buttons (Twitter, G+, Facebook) below this post!

Sony Xperia U (kumquat) ROM List

*Flash your device at your own risk* 070713

ROM:

'(01/01/2014) SS Rom V4.2 (4.1.2)(.100)(OTA)(AROMA) +

'(12/31/2013) ShockGensMOD v06 (4.0.4)(CM9)(A)

'(12/31/2013) MSR-Rom RC1,2 (4.1.2)(CM) +

'(12/29/2013) Sony JB ST25i_6.2.A.1.100 unofficial v14 (4.1.2)

'(12/29/2013) Flashable Fix V02 (4.0.4)(CM9) +

'(12/27/2013) Unofficial CyanogenMod 11.0 Nightly (4.4.2)(U) +

'(12/27/2013) Unofficial CyanogenMod 10 Limited Edition (4.1.2) +

'(12/24/2013) FreeXperia Project CM10  (4.1.2)(U)

'(12/24/2013) JBlicious Rom (4.1.2) +

'(12/23/2013) Firefox OS (U) +

'(12/13/2013) Proformance Rom (4.0.4) +

'(12/01/2013) MIUIv5 3.10.25 (4.1.2)

'(11/27/2013) XNovathor Project V5 (4.1.2)(AOSP)

'(11/09/2013) Enigma v6.3 (AROMA)

'(11/09/2013) Unofficial CyanogenMod 10.2 milestone-1 (4.3)(U)

________________________________________________________________

'(11/02/2013) GingerBeanSS 3.5 (2.3)(.184)(OTA)(A)

'(10/31/2013) Chuki Rom V1 (4.1.2)(AOSP)

'(10/30/2013) Thunder_Strike JB V2 (4.1.2)(1.100)(U)

'(10/28/2013) FlyingThor V2.0 (4.1.2)(1.100)

'(10/24/2013) XU Miui V5 (4.0.4)(CM9)

'(10/12/2013) Stock JellyBean 4.1.2 V6

'(10/09/2013) CM9 ZIII (4.0.4)(U)

'(09/26/2013) Xperia UZ1 r9.17 (B.100)(A)

'(09/22/2013) Slimbean 8.1 v1 (4.2.2)(U)

'(09/18/2013) TeamCanjica Unofficial CM10.1 V3 (4.1.2)

'(09/19/2013) SlimCM™ (4.0.4)(LINARO)(U)

'(08/03/2013) CyanoSpaceMod! 9.1 RC3 (4.0.4)

'(07/31/2013) CyanoAndroICS v1.3 (1.100)

'(07/26/2013) MIUI V5 BETA III (CM10)(4.1.2)

'(07/26/2013) P.A.C MAN ALL IN 1 (4.2.2)(HYBRID)(U)

'(07/16/2013) FireBean ROM 5.2 (4.1.2)

'(07/11/2013) VeXU v1.2 (1.100)

'(07/03/2013) Uphoria v1 (.54/.89)(L)

'(06/23/2013) Official Sony ICS ST25i_6.1.1.B.1.100 (4.1.2)

_{ROMS THAT WERE RELEASED BEFORE JULY WON’T BE LISTED}

*All source links are from xda-developers forum*

+ – new additions

4.1.2 - 6.2.A.1.100

4.0.4 – 0.54

U – Unlocked | L – Locked | A – All bootloader supported

Permalink: http://goo.gl/mwXR1 | http://sh.st/0qc2

codename: kumquat model number: ST25i views: 20,911

Share Secret Things With Most Trust Worthy Friends On Facebook Using Facebook List Feature

How to Do this !!

1. Open this Link
2. Click on create list
3. Setup a list name and add friends
4. Click on create button
5. Now when ever you update your status or upload photo/video/make albums or make random posts click on drop down box below the stats textbox area and choose the list you have made and click on it
6. Write your post and post it
7. It will only be share to those people with whom you want's it to be shared

Download Youtube Videos Without Any Software

Sharing and downloading videos is best part for connected or spreading with people. As we use YouTube and many other videos sharing services where you can only watch video online but not able to download.

Steps To Download Youtube Video

1. Go to the YouTube video page and Copy the URL of the video you wish to save. For example, below is a URL to a video on YouTube, the whole address would be copied.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRPk0TbiIyI

2. Once this address has been copied, Paste that URL into the below URL text field and click the Download Video button.

3. If done properly, a new window will open with available video formats that can be saved. For most users we suggest the MP4 format, other formats may include FLV, 3GP, and WebM.

I test this method and working successfully. You can use any other service if you have to download youtude videos. If you have any doubt must leave your comment.