better battery technology

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
A company named Valence Technology has just announced an <a href="http://www.valence.com/readnews.asp?page=PR_021102a.htm"; target="_blank">improved Litium-Ion battery</a> based on a phosphate cathode (instead of Cobalt). This news reminded me that we haven't discussed the importance of battery technology recently.



Apple advertises a 5 hour battery life for my iBook (dual USB). Even with the brightness lowered to 1 out of 12, I haven't been able to reach that time typing notes in class or writing papers at the library.



I am now able to leave my AC adapter at home three days a week, while I had to bring it along (or leave a second one at school) every day with my PowerBook 2400c. But I would still rather be able to do without an AC adapter at all for an entire day's work.



What do you think or know? Could you use a 10 hour battery in your portable Mac? How much would you be willing to pay for it? Wouldn't it be nice if your PowerBook's battery lasted as long as the one in your Palm PDA?



Escher
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 21
    Laptops within 2 years will be using micro or nano gas trubines runing off of methynol or alcohol. This will be on par with advance battery technology of the day, but will rapidly increase performance to allow 20-30 or 100 hour run times on laptops, with a 3 second "fill-her-up" to recharge.



    other battery technology that will apear is paper batteries <a href="http://www.powerpaper.com/"; target="_blank">http://www.powerpaper.com/</a>; and it will allow eink dispalys on consumer packaging <a href="http://www.e-ink.com"; target="_blank">http://www.e-ink.com</a>;



    enjoy!
  • Reply 2 of 21
    Apple is already using an advanced polymer -lithium battery in the iPod. Rumor has it that the next Apple product to use this higher capacity battery will be the TiBook. It gives about 40% more hours of use than the standard lithium-ion ones used in the iBook.
  • Reply 3 of 21
    escherescher Posts: 1,811member
    It certainly would be a step in the right direction if Apple started using the better performing iPod battery technology in its laptop lines. I would be even happier if I could simply buy a new higer-capacity battery for my existing iBook. After all, the battery on PowerBooks and iBooks is even easier to swap out than RAM.



    As for nano turbines, paper batteries and electronic ink, I fear that we will have to wait a bit more than two years. Note that I appreciate this new technology, as well as JasonPP's optimism, nonetheless. I would think that Hydrogen fuel cells will beat nano turbines to market, but both technologies still seem pretty far from reaching any kind of (electronics) market.



    Escher
  • Reply 4 of 21
    E-Ink, eh? So that could put an end to getting caught passing notes, eh? Just wipe the screen with a remote.



    Then again, you'll have advertizements in books ;-;



    Such is the price we pay for technology \
  • Reply 5 of 21
    outsideroutsider Posts: 6,008member
    Fuel cells in laptops will be all the rage in a few short years. It's just a matter of removing the 'battery' and refilling it with ethane/methane and off you go for days at a time before refilling. It's not hard to imagine 24+ hours on one tank of fuel. Main problem is that fuel cells produce a lot of heat.
  • Reply 6 of 21
    Hi:



    Sorry about my almost naive optimism. I'm really into futurist readings right now...



    Ray Kurzwell and Ian Pearson/Ian Neild of BT.



    micro turbines are on the lab bench working right now. Within 2 years we'll see tech demos of units runing at then industry performance levels, and a few yers later you'll be filling up your Ti PB (or carbon nanotube PB) with Zippo fluid.



    I agree with you about the fuel cell's beating M/NT's to market ...



    <a href="http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/01/29/086253&mode=thread"; target="_blank">http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/01/29/086253&mode=thread</a>;



    apparently they're here already.





    e-ink has demonstrated a full colour demo unit at a tradeshow recently, and are working to bring newsprint resolution development kits by years end.
  • Reply 7 of 21
    one problem with e-ink: if it supposed to be put on "anything" (paper esp.) where do you store the chip? Those micro capsules dont do much good without somehting to tell them when to go on and off.
  • Reply 8 of 21
    escherescher Posts: 1,811member
    [quote]Originally posted by JasonPP:

    <strong>Sorry about my almost naive optimism.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    No need to apologize. Without optimism we would still be stuck in the Stone Age.



    [quote]<strong>a few yers later you'll be filling up your Ti PB (or carbon nanotube PB) with Zippo fluid. </strong><hr></blockquote>



    Wouldn't that be nice?



    [quote]<strong>e-ink has demonstrated a full colour demo unit at a tradeshow recently</strong><hr></blockquote>



    It's just kickass to be living in this day and age. There's so much cool new stuff every day...



    Escher
  • Reply 9 of 21
    A better battery? Beat a bit of butter! I bet a buttery batter makes a better battery. My brother Bert bought a buttery battery for his beater, a Bimmer. Now Bert's beater has brighter Bimmer beams because of his buttery battery. But avoid bitter butter, because it makes bad batter, for badder batteries. Buttery batteries are better.



    My sister Betty Botter is also into butter, but the family doesn't talk about that.
  • Reply 10 of 21
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
  • Reply 11 of 21
    [quote]Originally posted by JasonPP:

    <strong>a few yers later you'll be filling up your Ti PB (or carbon nanotube PB) with Zippo fluid.

    </strong><hr></blockquote>



    Great, a smelly Ti.
  • Reply 12 of 21
    [quote]Originally posted by ramoth4:

    <strong>Then again, you'll have advertizements in books ;-;</strong><hr></blockquote>





    Actually, it used to be quite common to have advertisements in books. Check out old paperbacks from the '60s. A few around here have liquor ads inside the front cover.
  • Reply 13 of 21
    ferroferro Posts: 453member
    Anybody remember hearing about AeroGel batteries...???



    Its the same stuff (simaler) to the shielding the use on the space shuttle... basically its "frozen smoke"...



    <a href="http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/msad30oct98_1.htm"; target="_blank">NASA - AeroGel Link</a>



    Great Link Anyway... having stuff to do with future super computers running at 24GHz... becuase of AeroGel...



    found it!!!... <a href="http://www.csupomona.edu/~winnydong/websites/personal/batt_article.html"; target="_blank">-AeroGel Battery-</a>



    [quote]"these materials can have surface areas of over 1000 square meters per gram"



    "That means the area of five football fields can be rolled up into an aerogel the size of a bar of soap!"<hr></blockquote>



    I hope that apple gets this battery technoligy into their batteries...



    ------------------------------------



    © FERRO 2001-2002



    [ 02-21-2002: Message edited by: FERRO ]</p>
  • Reply 14 of 21
    Well, Apple could always include a crank.
  • Reply 15 of 21
    Aerogell is amazing, simply amazing, both in it's perfomance as a material and how expensive it is to manufacture.



    Try $1000 US for half a kilo....granted that's about 1m3 or so (guess) but man.. that's steep!
  • Reply 16 of 21
    [quote]Originally posted by MacsRGood4U:

    <strong>Well, Apple could always include a crank.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    You mean <a href="http://www.aladdinpower.com/apAladdinPower.shtml"; target="_blank">like this?</a>



    Or maybe <a href="http://www.aladdinpower.com/apStepCharger.shtml"; target="_blank">foot-powered</a> instead?
  • Reply 17 of 21
    ferroferro Posts: 453member
    I'd rather have something from <a href="http://www.freeplay.net"; target="_blank">Replay/Baygen</a>...



    link isnt working right now...???



    but a baygen type flat coil spring crank generator would be cool and I could bring this book anywhere without worry for power...



    ------------------------------------



    © FERRO 2001-2002
  • Reply 18 of 21
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    litium polymer is the next evo of battery tech. It's a nice next step too. Look at iPod's battery performance. From what I understand the improved energy density is only part of li-poly's advantage. The other's are that it is more durable and can be made in any shape. What if the battery were just a stainless steel plate that snapped onto the bottom of your notebook?



    Because it doesn't have to conform to a shape you can lay out the other components in the design closer together, and then fit the battery in a less obtrusive way.



    Perhaps a second battery snaps to the back of the screen?
  • Reply 19 of 21
    Our bodies store energy throughout it's structure (well more in some areas than others eh?) Lithium Polymer provides this option.



    Kind of like pouring pankake batter into a laptop (except LiP batteries arn't liquid, they're thin sheet of flexible material)



    Note* Please do not pour pancake batter into your laptop to try to increase it's battery life, you'll only make it tasty.
  • Reply 20 of 21
    ferroferro Posts: 453member
    [quote]Originally posted by JasonPP:

    <strong>Note* Please do not pour pancake batter into your laptop to try to increase it's battery life, you'll only make it tasty.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    wheeew... thanks, I almost did that...



    lol...



    ------------------------------------



    © FERRO 2001-2002
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