I agree, its time some of these companies address the power issues. I would think it should be a bigger issue.
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Silver-Zinc Batteries Coming in 2009
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I agree, its time some of these companies address the power issues. I would think it should be a bigger issue.
Gemme a SuperCap
Apple just might be waiting for the nano-tech supercap, a capacitor that never wears out, charges in under 5 minutes, and has the same or better run-time as a Li-Ion. Oh yeah, and cheaper. They're getting close with this technology, but it's still a year or more away, best I recall.
Apple just might be waiting for the nano-tech supercap, a capacitor that never wears out, charges in under 5 minutes, and has the same or better run-time as a Li-Ion. Oh yeah, and cheaper. They're getting close with this technology, but it's still a year or more away, best I recall.
Exsqueeze me? Baking powder? We're still using metals in new batteries? What about the stunning breakthroughs on sugar-based reactions? Is that following up behind to replace the same level of power we can get from Alkaline cells?
I wonder where is the so expected Li-ion battery with silicon nanowires, I heard about that technology some time ago, but it is still under devlopment... They promissed it can hold 10 times more charge than the current Li-ion technology... really impressive, huh?
Look here: http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2008/january9/nanowire-010908.html
Look here: http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2008/january9/nanowire-010908.html
*sells Lithium stocks*
*sells Ion stocks*
*buys Zinc stocks*
*buys Silver stocks*
Kidding aside, I am surprised the battery technology hasn't leapt forward more in the past 5 years. It's excellent news, if it pans out. If they can improve 5% a year we would have some amazing devices within 10 years. Ultimately I would guess the technology would be well useful if it could go 12 hours full tilt without needing a charge, the downtime of the user at night being charge time for a device as well.
*sells Ion stocks*
*buys Zinc stocks*
*buys Silver stocks*
Kidding aside, I am surprised the battery technology hasn't leapt forward more in the past 5 years. It's excellent news, if it pans out. If they can improve 5% a year we would have some amazing devices within 10 years. Ultimately I would guess the technology would be well useful if it could go 12 hours full tilt without needing a charge, the downtime of the user at night being charge time for a device as well.
It makes their product look better. Marketing.
EDIT: I forgot to mention that there is a saying among us electrical engineers that a datasheet author can get twice the performance out of something than an engineer.
Did they ever decide on a fuel? Last thing I heard was butane, just what I want in my lap or phone...
In other news, Kontron still hasn't shipped us the Intel Atom nanoETXExpress demo board we ordered back in May. Seems they're having a hard time getting these Intel Atom processors. As of last week, they're saying maybe October. And then there's this Via Nano that's supposed to come out any time now...
... It's a bigger issue, the companies involved are just really bad at predicting the market.
The main problems with capacitors are their charge leakage (i.e. self-discharge) and lower energy density and/or higher expense compared to batteries. I'm not betting that Apple will hold their breath for this right now.
Sugar-based cells... how are those not supposed to rot? Seriously, I'd like to know.
Back on topic, I'm not sure how silver-zinc is supposed to be better for disposal. (Face it, no matter what laws you pass, people still throw dead batteries in the trash.) Silver is a good poison. NASA uses it as an antibacterial clothing thread additive for astronaut uniforms since they can't do laundry in orbit.
Oh goody, now I can be worried about someone stealing my battery (along with my copper wires and pipes). The cost is going to be the deal breaker in this.
Just when we thought things were getting cheaper. Now $1000+ solid state hard drives, multi-thousand-dollar LED-backlit displays, and $500 batteries. I can't wait for "gold-plated organic SDXRAM" 
This should be a nice improvement until the Lithium-Sulfur packs hit the market...at first 200% more energy and eventually 500% better than Lipo.
OMG, you can actually have your computer "print" out a cake. Count me in!
Buying stocks that revolve around silver and zinc wouldn't be too bad of an idea. If this tech proves out, then that would be on pretty penny.
On a side note, check out this article and video.
I really do wonder what prices will be like. Maybe higher, maybe lower. Silver would be expensive though... I wonder if it would go higher than gold if we end up using it in our batteries.
USS Albacore
And experimental submarine from Way Back was using silver zinc batteries. They reportedly worked very well indeed, but were "not cheap".
Recycle value is going to be very good. People will steal the battery and leave the laptop.
By the way, submarines (at least in my day) used 250 V DC power systems. The capacity for the lead acid batteries was 6500 amp hours. I don't know if the Navy was after more capacity in the same space, or the same capacity in less space. If silver zinc batteries could handle submarine service three decades ago, they should be able to handle a laptop.
And experimental submarine from Way Back was using silver zinc batteries. They reportedly worked very well indeed, but were "not cheap".
Recycle value is going to be very good. People will steal the battery and leave the laptop.
By the way, submarines (at least in my day) used 250 V DC power systems. The capacity for the lead acid batteries was 6500 amp hours. I don't know if the Navy was after more capacity in the same space, or the same capacity in less space. If silver zinc batteries could handle submarine service three decades ago, they should be able to handle a laptop.
So is it possible Apple will stop being so anal about not putting a hard drive in the touch and actually do it with such a battery to power it?
? Like a fuel cell running on glucose? Just like a hydrogen, methanol, or kerosene fuel cell, you would have to constantly replace the fuel either through a "Refill" from a large container or some type of trade-in container program. I don't think fuel cells will ever be competitive in the electronics "battery" market.
And experimental submarine from Way Back was using silver zinc batteries. They reportedly worked very well indeed, but were "not cheap". Recycle value is going to be very good. People will steal the battery and leave the laptop.
Yeah, the fundamental technology is certainly not new. I believe the reason why you didn't see them in electronics was that they just couldn't compete with other technologies (fit for consumer electronics, not naval applications) until some recent engineering breakthroughs.
Let me know where I can trade "Ions" on the commodity markets will you?
That's a waste of time, especially considering all the downsides. With the crazy market of NAND flash, They'll have a 128GB Touch in no time.
Meh, I get easily 6 hours of life out of my iBook, 5 with wireless on. I'm happy enough with that...
Sure. On the NYSE. You can pick those babies up cheap.
Ok, I'm done with the useless, but funny post.
For some reason, I sold all the stock that I had 3 years ago and put everything into silver. The investment has worked out great so far though there are some disadvantages (I had to pay VAT on the silver and physically store it in a bank) but since the value of silver has more than doubled in that time I'm not complaining.
So let's hope this new battery technology works out!
So let's hope this new battery technology works out!