Can't Get Longer Battery Life, So How About Faster Charges?
from the next-best-thing dept
One of the biggest issues holding back portable technologies is the battery life question. While computing power seems to increase rapidly, battery power has been unable to keep up. While there are many efforts underway to improve battery life, most don't measure up (unless you want to increase the risk that your battery might explode). Fuel cells don't appear to be the answer either. However, just because you can't increase battery life, it doesn't mean other improvements can't be made. Decreasing power consumption is one area that is getting plenty of attention, but the rechargeable nature of batteries is another interesting space. Toshiba has announced a new technology which they claim can charge batteries much faster. They claim this technology only requires a one minute charge to get a battery up to 80% power -- which could go a long way to solving certain battery life problems. If you can just do a quick "power up," then many other issues are less noticeable. Still, there aren't many details about this new technology, and lots of stuff in labs (and press releases) don't seem to act quite the same way in the real world (assuming they actually reach the real world).
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Batteries get hot when charged quickly
Example comparison of existing chargers
"Probably the fastest charger in its class, bar none. Batteries suffer for it too, as charge temps skyrocket to above 150°F. (Has been known to melt jackets off of cells.)"
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