Batteroo Boost
Developer | Batteroo, Inc. |
---|---|
Type | Consumer electronics |
Release date | TBA |
Website | https://www.batteroo.com/ |
The Batteroo Boost (formerly known as the Batteriser (/ˈbætəraɪzər/ BAT-ər-eyez-ər)) is a line of products designed by Batteroo, Inc. that is claimed to significantly extend battery life by using a miniature boost voltage regulator. It was crowd-funded on Indiegogo.[1] The company is based in Sunnyvale, California and founded by Bob Roohparvar,[2] the previous VP of design in Broadcom and Frankie Roohparvar,[3] the previous CTO of Sandisk in 2012.
Product details
Claims
A patent was filed by Fariborz Frankie Roohparvar with the priority date of September 20, 2010.[4] The Batteroo Boost is claimed to extend the life of both new and used batteries. Batteroo has said that Batterisers are non-toxic, reusable, and coated with a non-conductive coating to prevent any risk of shorts.They also claim that a built-in reverse polarity protection mechanism eliminates dangers of inserting a battery into the Batteriser the wrong way.[5]
Initial funding
Crowdfunding completed between July 2015 produced $394,459, while the initial goal was $30,000.[6] During the crowdfunding Batteroo announced they would be producing Batteroo Boost for AA, AAA, C, and D batteries.[1] Batteroo also received VC funding of at least $5,000,000 from SK Telecom and Forte Ventures, in July 2014.[7] In August 2017, Batteroo launched a second crowd-funding campaign for a line of products for rechargeable batteries called Batteroo Reboost. In this crowd-funding campaign, they raised an additional $42,311.[8]
Production
The shipping date for the product has been delayed for various reasons, but photos from the manufacturing process have been made available.[9] As of early May 2016, the company was months overdue to ship to its Indiegogo backers, with some backers accusing Batteroo of running a scam.[10]
Product tests
San Jose State University's Kiumars Parvin claimed, "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." [11]
In the test by UL (safety organization), a Garmin Golf GPS using Batteroo Boost 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 Batteroo Boost.[12] However, later the test was independently duplicated by TechnologyCatalyst to demonstrate that Garmin runs OK for over 17 hours on ordinary AA batteries, and the report by UL was based on the sloppy test design.[13]
PC World's Jon Phillips demoed the Batteroo Boost 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 Batteroo Boost, 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 Batteroo Boost's effectiveness in other applications.[15]
Controversies
Effectiveness
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2c/AA_Alkaline_battery_energy_usage_-_discharge_current_100mA.svg/220px-AA_Alkaline_battery_energy_usage_-_discharge_current_100mA.svg.png)
The Batteriser's efficacy in consumer applications has been challenged by a number of sources.
A source of contention surrounds the brownout voltages for battery-operated devices. David L. Jones in his EEVBlog 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 curve of batteries. This stands in contrast to Batteroo's claim that using a Batteroo Boost will unlock the remaining 80% of power (from 1.3V downwards).[13] Batteroo 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).[16][17]
A further source of controversy is whether or not the Batteroo Boost 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.[18]
Roohparvar noted that many critics have drawn conclusions without actually having tried the product.[19]
The first devices were delivered at the end of 2016. Frank Buss, and later on, Dave Jones, concluded in a first test that the device is not efficient when used in an electronically-unregulated toy train.[20][21][better source needed]
Potential dangers
David Jones on EEV Blog raised the concern that because the Batteroo Boost acts as a ground for the boost converter circuit, any nick in the insulation might result in a direct short, and potentially a fire.[22]
Internet controversy
In the wake of Dave Jones' video about Batteriser, his video was disliked by a torrent of IP addresses located in Vietnam.[23] Other bloggers with Batteroo Boost-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 Batteroo Boost, or a single computer with many fake or stolen YouTube accounts utilized proxied IP addresses to cover its tracks.[24] Due to the anonymous nature of the attacks, it is currently unknown who was responsible.[25]
Lawsuit regarding name
On July 25, 2016, Energizer Brands LLC filed a federal lawsuit, saying that the name Batteriser violates a variety of its trademarks on the word "energizer". The lawsuit said that "... despite advertisements, solicitation, and pre-orders, Batteroo has not delivered a single Batteriser product to a consumer in the ordinary course of business." According to the lawsuit, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ruled June 27 in favor of Energizer and refused registration of the Batteriser and Batterise marks. According to Energizer, Batteroo also tried to falsely implicate Energizer in the product delays of Batteriser.[26]
References
- ^ a b Roohparvar, Bob (2015). "Batteriser.com". Retrieved April 26, 2016.
Tap into 80% more energy with Batteriser.
- ^ "Farzan Roohparvar Ph.D.: Executive Profile & Biography - Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com.
- ^ "Coming soon: The solid state server and TVs with auto-rewind". CNET.
- ^ 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...
- ^ Roohparvar, Bob (2015). "Batteriser FAQ". Batteriser. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
No, the sleeve is covered with a non-conductive coating, which prevents shorting.
- ^ "Batteriser: Extend Battery Life By Up to 8x". Indiegogo. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
- ^ "Batteroo | crunchbase". www.crunchbase.com.
- ^ "Batteroo ReBoost: Make rechargeables work anywhere". Indiegogo.
- ^ 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...
- ^ Francis, Hannah (May 3, 2016). "The perks and pitfalls of crowdfunding". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved June 2, 2016.
- ^ 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:
- ^ "UL Garmin Report" (PDF). UL. 2015. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
- ^ 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)...
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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...
- ^ 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.
- ^ Francis, Hannah (September 17, 2015). "Batteriser battery life extender: scam or saviour?". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on November 10, 2015. 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.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|deadurl=
ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help) - ^ 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.
- ^ "Batteroo sleeve testing". December 22, 2016 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Batteriser / Batteroo Passive Toy Test". December 30, 2016 – via YouTube.
- ^ Benchoff, Brian (June 6, 2015). "Crowdfunding Follies: Debunking The Batteriser". Hackaday. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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...
- ^ Kirn, Jacob (July 29, 2016). "Energizer sues California startup for calling its product 'Batteriser'". St. Louis Business Journal. Retrieved August 1, 2016.