driving the ultra-mobile enterprise

In my previous discussion on increasing the battery life of mobile computers, I touched on such areas of improvement as the choice of processor, advanced LED-backlit displays, and power-sipping solid state drives (SSDs). While all of these advances in mobile technology are key areas that are helping in improving battery life, we still need to look at one key area:  improving the actual battery.

When it comes to next generation batteries, there are two promising advances that mobile users should look forward to in the coming years.

Silver-Zinc Batteries

A company called ZPower is promising to leapfrog existing lithium-ion battery technology used in today’s laptop with its silver-zinc batteries. According to ZPower, its silver-zinc composition holds 40 percent higher energy density than comparable lithium-ion cells.

The batteries are water-based which makes them as safe to use as alkaline batteries. There are also no risks of unexpected flare-ups which turned the notebook lithium-ion battery world upside down in 2006. Also, according to company officials, the batteries are also 95% recyclable which makes them a great pick for companies that want to maintain a “green” profile.

ZPower’s silver-zinc battery has been in development for a number of years, and ZPower CEO Ross Dueber expects that a major OEM will use its batteries during 2009. Read More »

In 2002, ultrawideband (UWB) seemed like the next big thing for home and office networking: a short-range, very low-power, very high-speed technology that wouldn’t interfere with existing networks. UWB was poised to replace wired USB 2.0, become Bluetooth’s next-generation radio standard, offer mobile device and gadgets PAN (Personal Area Network) connectivity—all while not draining batteries.

In the words of Fred Willard’s agent character in “A Mighty Wind”: “Wha’ happened?” Squabbles over the right approach, delays in maturing the technology, and the rise of 802.11n seem to have combined to put the short-term kabosh on UWB appearing everywhere for everything. Some firms that make UWB chips have turned off the lights or sold their technology; Intel opted recently to stop in-house work on UWB silicon. Read More »