Battery

Orange County prosecutors won't file criminal charges against former porn star Jenna Jameson following her arrest in Newport Beach over the weekend. Jameson was arrested Saturday on the Balboa Peninsula on suspicion of battery after someone complained to police that they had been attacked by the former porn star. The onetime "queen of porn" was later released on her own recognizance and given a preliminary court date for a hearing on the misdemeanor battery charge, said Lt. Evan Sailor of the Newport Beach Police Department.

It's not an Apple product launch without a swirl of some breathless controversy , and the new iPad hasn't disappointed, including criticism that it either overheats or undercharges . On the latter, Apple recently responded to criticism that the iPad's battery indicator is misleading . Apple agreed that the battery indicator does, in fact, show 100% before it's actually crossed that threshold. In an interview with AllThingsD's Ina Fried, Apple Vice President Michael Tchao said, “That circuitry is designed so you can keep your device plugged in as long as you would like.” The battery icon on iPads -- and iPhones and the iPod Touch -- appears fully charged, but continues a little dance between discharging and charging until the device is unplugged; having the icon display "100%" is to avoid confusing owners, Fried explained in her post.

BMW will recall 1.3 million luxury cars, including 367,000 in the U.S., because of a potential problem with a battery cable connector. It is BMW's largest recall ever, company officials said, and it is big by industry standards, rivaling some of the large recalls issued by Toyota Motor Co. as it dealt with quality issues over the last two years. The recall includes all BMW 5 Series sedans and sport wagons produced from June 1, 2003, to March 31, 2010, and 6 Series coupes and convertibles produced from Sept.

A city employee filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Finance Director Brian Mayhew, charging him with assault and battery and "negligent infliction of mental distress." Eddie Beals, director of emergency services for the city, said that during a budget discussion on Aug. 12, 1992, Mayhew screamed obscenities at him, slammed him into a wall, kneed him in the hip and dislocated his arm. He is suing for unspecified damages. Mayhew said he could not comment on the case because it is pending litigation.

For a brief moment Tuesday afternoon, the cheering of family members of Marines returning from Afghanistan drowned out the echoing sound of artillery blasts from the training exercises of other troops preparing to deploy soon. The 129 Marines and sailors of Tango battery of the 5th battalion, 11th Marine regiment were home after a seven-month deployment in Helmand province, arguably the most dangerous place in an increasingly dangerous country. For Tango battery, it was considered a successful deployment: providing missile and rocket-fire to support infantry Marines fighting entrenched insurgents, including during the February battle for the Taliban stronghold of Marjah.

A couple of weeks ago you printed a letter taking Lafitt Pincay and his lawyer to task for threatening to sue people they deemed "responsible" for Lafitt's accident. Being against specious lawsuits, I agreed completely in that case -- but if I were Jose Santos and his lawyer I would sue the Miami Herald and everyone involved with the ridiculous "battery" story for every penny they can beg, borrow or steal -- and that includes the Churchill Downs steward who fanned the flames by labeling the picture "very suspicious."

Justin Bieber turned 18 on Thursday and to celebrate, his manager surprised him with a Fisker Karma -- a $100,000 electric car whose sporty physique belies its eco-friendliness. Bieber's manager, Scott Braun, presented the Canadian pop star with the car on the "Ellen DeGeneres Show ," of all places. "We wanted to make sure, since you love cars, that when you're on the road you are always looking environmentally friendly," Braun said as DeGeneres beamed in the background.

Yet-Ming Chiang relishes his 20-mile drive to work. His hybrid car gets more than 100 miles per gallon, recharges by plugging into a regular wall outlet and purrs so quietly that it's his favorite place for making important phone calls. But what makes Chiang's ordinary-looking beige Toyota Prius even more special is that it's powered by a breakthrough battery that he invented and is working to turn into the kind of high-tech, green, "Made in America" product that many see as the key to the nation's economic future.

American soldiers slogging though Afghanistan use constant radio communication, satellite navigation and night vision goggles. Today, a single grunt has capabilities and powers a battalion couldn't call on just a couple of decades ago. But the gizmos that give a commando godlike abilities devour power. There was a time not so long ago when all an infantryman had to carry were a weapon and ammo. Now he's got to drag around a couple of pounds of batteries for stuff like his range finder.

General Motors Co. said it would make modifications to the Chevrolet Volt after a series of fires ignited after test crashes of the plug-in hybrid vehicle. GM said the fires were caused by a coolant leak that occurred when the battery pack in the vehicle was punctured during severe side test crashes by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The fires occurred hours to weeks after the tests as the coolant leaked and eventually created a short circuit. The automaker will add structural reinforcement that better protects the battery pack from punctures or a coolant leak in a severe side crash, said Mary Barra, GM's senior vice president of global product development.