Battery

Motorola's Droid Razr Maxx is a smartphone breakthrough for one single reason -- battery life. In about a week and a half of testing the Razr Maxx -- making calls, surfing the Web, checking email and using apps throughout the day -- I found myself only needing to charge the phone about once every two days. What makes this so amazing is the Razr Maxx, like its predecessor, is a 4G smartphone with a 4.3-inch touchscreen. In fact, aside from the battery, the Razr Maxx is essentially the same phone as the original Droid Razr -- they each have the same 960 x 540 screen resolution, 1.2-gigahertz dual-core processor, 1 gigabyte of RAM, 8-megapixel/1080p rear camera and 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera.

An attorney for former Blue Lake Police Chief David Gundersen is asking a judge to throw out his client's battery and weapons convictions. A jury acquitted Gundersen earlier this year on two dozen counts of spousal rape. Instead, it found him guilty of lesser battery charges for taking nude photos of his wife without permission. He also was convicted of illegally possessing weapons. On Wednesday, his attorney argued in a motion that the verdicts were "contrary to both law and evidence."

Kid Rock has been sentenced to a year's probation and fined $1,000 for his role in a fight at a suburban Atlanta Waffle House last fall. The DeKalb County solicitor's office said the 37-year-old rock singer was also sentenced Monday to six hours of anger management counseling and 80 hours of community service. The entertainer, whose real name is Robert J. Ritchie, pleaded no contest to one count of simple battery. Four counts of battery were dropped. From the Associated Press cutline> ##et-quick23#k4f8vync#0N2668TB### Bailey Hanks is "Legally Blonde."

2010 Club Car Villager 2+2 Base price: $8,510 Price as tested: $8,783 Powertrain: 48-volt DC motor, 350-amp DC controller, 48-volt lead-acid battery pack, direct drive Horsepower: 5 Range per charge: 20 to 30 miles Maximum speed: 25 mph Dry weight: 1,129 lbs. $7,659 after 10% federal tax credit through Dec. 31, 2011 Final thoughts: Low-cost commute for light traffic

The SpareOne mobile phone is not for everyday chatting, and there's no email or Web-browsing. So what good is it? Well, this phone is meant for emergencies - now, or up to 15 years hence. That's how long the phone's included single AA battery (an Energizer Ultimate Lithium L91) is estimated to stay charged if stored unused. Once turned on, the phone gives you about 10 hours of talk time. The battery is replaceable. The phone looks like a basic cellphone (though a bit longer, at 5 1/2 by 2 inches, but is slim and featherweight)

There's a Stage 2 power alert and I could be taken offline any minute if the California Independent System Operator orders rolling blackouts. But I'm not worried. I have a backup system that will keep my PC running at least two hours--long enough to get through a typical blackout. To test my backup system, I staged my own blackout by switching off the circuit breaker that provides power to my office. I'm still working. I'm writing this column from my desktop PC, which is plugged into an xPower 600 backup power system that delivers 600 watts of AC electrical current.

Michael Schrage's "Marketers Own the Electric Vehicle's Future, Not Engineers" (Jan. 19) is typical of the political approaches to battery-driven cars, which will not help with what is a problem in basic chemistry. When gasoline and air burn in a cylinder, the transfer of electrons and energy is quick and remarkably complete. Putting a few gallons of gasoline in a tank is fast and easy, while the air supplies itself. Not so with a battery. The same electrons must go through an "oxidizing" reaction, but the oxygen and the fuel must both be within the battery, and the oxidation goes slowly through some "electrolyte."