Berkeley Lab researchers announce a "major step" towards energy dense and safe solid-state magnesium-ion rechargeable batteries through the discovery of the fastest magnesium-ion solid-state conductor yet.

Magnesium promises higher energy density than the currently used lithium. However it lacks good options for liquid electrolyte, with most being actually corrosive against other parts of the battery. As a result, the researchers bypassed the liquid option in favour of creating a solid-state alternative, the impressively named magnesium scandium selenide spinel.

Customers demanding a solution for any overheating issues faced by the iPad? X-naut offers a solution with the Active Cooling Mount, an accessory designed to allow iPad use in extreme situations.

Available in versions fitting the iPad Air, 9.7-inch iPad Pro and iPad Mini, the Active Cooling Mount fights overheating through an array of four cooling fans. It attaches on the back of the tablet via spring-loaded fans, is powered through either micro USB port or x8 AA batteries and promises relatively low noise levels at 26 DBA.

A battery test button indicates power levels, with green meaning high, yellow low and red battery replacement).

Promise Technology launches the TD-300-- a Thunderbolt 3 dock designed for use with the latest MacBook Pro models with both USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 offering a variety of ports.

The dock features x5 USB 3.0 ports (x3 back, x2 front), x2 Thunderbolt 3 ports, ethernet port, audio in/out port and an HDMI 2.0 port. As such, it allows the connection of a pair of 4K displays (or one 5K display), device charging, Thunderbolt 3 HDD daisy-chaining, USB device connection and the transfer of SD card content, all from a single connection.

In addition it has transfer speeds of 40GB/s and delivers up to 60W of power when charging a MacBook Pro.

Recently founded battery maker Romeo Power announces a first product-- the Saber, a rugged battery pack offering 23000mAh (or 86 watt-hours) of power, allowing it to charge a laptop twice.

Formed by former Tesla, SpaceX, Amazon and Faraday Future engineers, Romeo Power says it wanted to create a "personal power pack designed to recharge any digital device at full speed," be it smartphones, laptops or drones. The Saber is around the size of a water bottle, weighs 1kg and offers x1 USB-C, x2 USB-A (one 2.1A/10.5W, the other 1A/5W) and a variable AC outlet with a universal port.

“Saber is like having a wall socket in your pocket,” the company adds. “We created Saber to be the most advanced power pack available that gets you out the door faster than anyone else, and with a lifeproof design so consumers can have power wherever life takes them.”