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Batteriser
DeveloperBatteroo, Inc.
TypeHome Appliance
Release dateTBA
Websitewww.batteriser.com

Batteriser ([bætəɹɑɪzəɹ] BATTER-eye-zer) is a line of products designed by Batteroo, Inc. that ostensibly extend battery life by using a miniature boost voltage regulator.[1] It was designed and patented by Frankie Roohparvar between 2010 and 2012.[2] It successfully completed a crowd-funding campaign on Indiegogo between July 2015 and September 2015, surpassing their funding goal of $30,000 by 1,315%, achieving $394, 459 in funding. [3] The Batteriser has received both positive and negative reviews, although the product has yet to ship. An official shipping date has not been announced, but photos from the manufacturing process have been made available.[4]

Details and Claims[edit]

Because Batteriser has yet to become publicly available, details about it are largely drawn from advertising released by Batteroo. During their Indiegogo campaign, Batteroo announced they would be producing Batterisers that will accommodate AA, AAA, C, and D batteries.[1] The Batteriser is claimed to be usable on both new and used batteries, with the result of the battery within the sleeve will last longer. Batteroo has said that Batterisers are non-toxic, reusable, and coated with a non-conductive coating to prevent any risk of shorts. Similarly, they have claimed there is no danger presented by inserting a battery into the Batteriser the wrong way because of the presence of a built-in reverse polarity protection mechanism. [5] The Batteriser AA model was judged FCC compliant on September 16, 2015. [6]

Product Tests[edit]

Third-party tests of the Batteriser's efficacy have been conducted by both UL (safety organization) and San Jose State University. In the test by UL (safety organization), a Garmin Golf GPS using Batteriser was shown to have a lifespan of 10 hours and 12 minutes, in contrast to the 1 hour and 43 minutes of operating time without a Batteriser. [7] San Jose State University's Kiumars Parvin said, "We tested the Batteriser sleeve in our lab and we confirmed that the Batteriser taps into 80 percent of energy that is usually thrown away." [8] [9]

Delays[edit]

The product, initially expected to ship in November 2015, has been delayed multiple times. By December 2015, an integrated circuit capable of delivering 500 milliamps had been developed, but due to the demands of many devices, the IC was modified in order to give it higher driving capability. Around this same time, it was announced that although Batteroo had expected a finalized product in November 2015, a shift in the parameters of the project had caused the IC to continue being developed by the engineering team. [10] The IC was redesigned to accomodate 1300 milliamps of steady state current, but a shipping date in December 2015 was missed due to technical fabrication issues.[11] A landslide in Shenzhen, China, the location of Batteroo's factory, would cause further delays. [12] Additional delays were attributed to the contract manufacturer's prioritization of larger, more established companies over the Batteroo startup.[13] As of April 2016, no shipping date has been set in stone.

Media Reactions and Controversy[edit]

The Batteriser's initial announcement in 2015 brought with it a flurry of media activity, sparking debates about the Batteriser's effectiveness, potential dangers, marketing, and the circumstances surrounding the discrediting of parties on all sides.

Effectiveness[edit]

The Batteriser's efficacy in consumer applications has been challenged by a number of sources. PC World's Jon Phillips demoed the Batteriser operating on 'dead' batteries in an Apple Inc. keyboard. The 'power meter' on the computer's screen showed the batteries as being dead without the Batteriser, and as having 100% power remaining with the Batteriser. [14] Brian Dipert at EDN called into question the strain on the keyboard being caused by the 'power meter,' and suggested that this test might not be representative of the Batteriser's effectiveness in other applications. [15]

Another source of contention surrounds the brownout voltages for battery-operated devices. David Jones of EEV Blog used a programmable power supply to determine that nearly all devices function in some respect until around 1.1V, or roughly 80% of a battery's life due to the non-linear discharge cycles of batteries. This stands in contrast to Batteriser's claim that using a Batteriser will unlock the remaining 80% of power (from 1.3V downwards). [16] Batteriser has counter-argued that the bench power supply test is flawed, because of the definitions used by Jones to define device functionality, the inherent differences between power supplies and batteries on the basis of Equivalent Series Resistance (ESR), and different measures of voltage (confusion between open circuit voltage and closed circuit voltage). [17] [18]

A final source of controversy is whether or not the Batteriser may shorten battery life in devices that undergo only intermittent use, because the Batteriser is always drawing power to boost the voltage, even when the device is idle. [19] Batteriser has yet to address whether this claim is substantiated.

CEO Bob Roohparvar has publicly noted that many detractors of the product have drawn conclusions without actually having tried the product. [20]

Potential Dangers[edit]

Dave Jones of EEV Blog raised the concern that because the Batteriser acts as a ground for the boost converter circuit, any nick in the insulation might result in a direct short, and potentially a fire. [21] Batteriser has not reported any instances of fire or shorts in their testing, and maintains that the product is safe. [5]

Marketing[edit]

Many bloggers have criticized the way Batteriser has been advertised. In particular, they acknowledge that while the voltage-boosting technology Batteriser uses likely works in some cases, such as devices with high voltage requirements like old cameras, the tests done by Dave Jones on EEV Blog show that there are many more cases where the Batteriser will not create a noticeable difference in battery life. [16] Batteriser maintains that the claims made by Jones are incorrect, and that their advertising is accurate. [5]

Foul Play[edit]

In the wake of Dave Jones' video about Batteriser, his video was disliked by a torrent of IP addresses located in Vietnam. [22] Other bloggers with Batteriser-related videos experienced similar activity from addresses in Vietnam. The bloggers involved suspect that either a click farm in Vietnam was engaged to disrepute those attacking Batteriser, or a single computer with many fake or stolen Youtube accounts utilized proxied IP addresses to cover its tracks. [23] Due to the anonymous nature of the attacks, it is currently unknown who was responsible. Batteroo has received a lot of criticism due to circumstantial evidence, but suspicion is present that Batteroo's competitors attempted to generate bad publicity for the product. [24]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Roohparvar, Bob (2015). "Batteriser.com". Retrieved April 26, 2016. Tap into 80% more energy with Batteriser.
  2. ^ Roohparvar, Fariborz Frankie (September 20, 2010). "Patent US 20120121943 - Structure and Method for Extending Battery Life". Retrieved October 23, 2015. Claim 3 ...comprising a voltage regulator circuit...
  3. ^ "Batteriser: Extend Battery Life By Up to 8x". Indiegogo. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  4. ^ Roohparvar, Bob (April 7, 2016). "Batteriser Indiegogo Updates". Indiegogo. Retrieved April 26, 2016. We're happy to also provide you with some photos from our manufacturing line of Batterisers in China...
  5. ^ a b c Roohparvar, Bob (2015). "Batteriser FAQ". Batteriser. Retrieved April 26, 2016. No, the sleeve is covered with a non-conductive coating, which prevents shorting.
  6. ^ "Batteroo EMC Test Report" (PDF). CKC Laboratories. September 2, 2015. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  7. ^ "UL Garmin Report" (PDF). UL. 2015. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  8. ^ "No Joke: New $2.50 Gadget Makes Batteries Last 8 Times Longer". Yahoo. June 2, 2015. Retrieved April 26, 2016. We tested the Batteriser sleeve in our lab and we confirmed that the Batteriser taps into 80 percent ...
  9. ^ Gray, Richard (June 3, 2015). "Will this make batteries last EIGHT times longer?". Daily Mail (UK) Online. Retrieved October 23, 2015. Dr Kiumars Parvin, a materials scientist who specialises in magnetism at San Jose State University, explained:
  10. ^ Roohparvar, Bob (April 7, 2016). "Batteriser Indiegogo Updates 2". Indiegogo. Retrieved April 26, 2016. However, due to a drift in process parameters, the IC is still being worked on by our engineering team...
  11. ^ Roohparvar, Bob (April 7, 2016). "Batteriser Indiegogo Updates 3". Indiegogo. Retrieved April 26, 2016. ... we encountered unexpected technical fabrication process related issues...
  12. ^ "Amateur Video of Shenzhen Landslide". NY Times. December 21, 2015. Retrieved April 26, 2016. Cellphone cameras captured the moment a sea of earth struck an industrial district in the city of Shenzhen... {{cite web}}: |first= missing |last= (help)
  13. ^ Roohparvar, Bob (April 7, 2016). "Batteriser Indiegogo Updates 4". Indiegogo. Retrieved April 26, 2016. ... as a small startup competing with larger established corporations for the contract manufacturer's time...
  14. ^ Phillips, Jon (June 1, 2015). "Batteriser is a $2.50 gadget that extends disposable battery life by 800 percent". PCWorld. Retrieved October 23, 2015. Roohparvar gave me a demonstration of Batteriser's effectiveness.
  15. ^ Dipert, Brian (August 13, 2015). "The Batteriser: scam or savior?". EDN. Retrieved October 23, 2015. ...Batteriser ... represents an impressive ... case study ... of today's DC voltage boost and regulation capabilities.
  16. ^ a b Mills, Chris (September 22, 2015). "Don't Buy The Bullshit This Indiegogo Campaign Is Selling". Gizmodo. Retrieved October 23, 2015. For some particular high-power devices (really, the only example are old-skool cameras that run on AAs)...
  17. ^ Roohparvar, Bob (2015). "Batteriser FAQ". Batteriser. Retrieved April 26, 2016. Batteroo has a link to a video below demonstrating the fallacy of using a power supply...
  18. ^ Dipert, Brian (September 16, 2015). "The Batteriser: Defenders and Detractors". EDN Network. Retrieved April 26, 2016. In the same video, he mentions that "most electronic devices have boost circuitry" making Batteriser useless. One cannot have it both ways.
  19. ^ Francis, Hannah (September 17, 2015). "Batteriser battery life extender: scam or saviour?". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved October 22, 2015. In some cases using Batteriser could even shorten a battery's life, Jones said, because the product is effectively drawing power to boost voltage all the time, even when a device is idle.
  20. ^ Libaw, Oliver (July 27, 2015). "Exclusive: 'Breakthrough' $2.50 Battery Booster -- Batteriser's Big Promise, Lots of Questions". Yahoo! Makers. Retrieved October 24, 2015. Roohparvar notes that all his online detractors are speculating about a device they haven't actually tried out yet.
  21. ^ Benchoff, Brian (June 6, 2015). "Crowdfunding Follies: Debunking The Batteriser". Hackaday. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
  22. ^ Russon, Mary-Ann (September 7, 2015). "Hackers spamming YouTube videos with dislikes using hijacked Vietnamese IP addresses". International Business Times UK. Retrieved October 22, 2015. ...received hundreds of dislikes on his 30 August video debunking a product called Batteriser, which claims to greatly extend the life of alkaline batteries.
  23. ^ Stewart, Joe (September 3, 2015). "Negative Feedback - Attack on a YouTube Channel". Dell SecureWorks Security and Compliance Blog. Retrieved October 22, 2015. Dave Jones' EEVblog, came under attack after having published a series of videos debunking a product claiming to vastly extend the life of alkaline batteries.
  24. ^ Anderson, Martin (September 4, 2015). "Youtube Dislikes for Sale, DDoS Style". The Stack. Retrieved April 26, 2016. Neither can one blame Batteriser, whatever one thinks of the circumstantial evidence...

[[Category:Electric power conversion]] [[Category:Consumer electronics]] [[Category:Indiegogo projects]]

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