Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Great invention. Now, about that acronym...


"who's going to invent the lightweight mini battery?" asked this blog 3 weeks ago. After seeing the CES gadgetfest, featuring flexible screens, low-power processors and instant startup capablity, this was the missing link in the personal gadget evolution.

Well, here it is. It's rechargable, too. This paper-thin energy cell has been developed by NEC in Japan. They've worked six years on it, and the energy source is a type of plastic in gel form currently known as 'organic radical polymers.' Yep, ORPs.

This tells us two things: 1. it's solid state so it can be bolted directly on processor boards and 2. the inventor is not a marketing type. It also needs more inventing: energy density, charging time, and reliability are still issues that need some work. On the plus side, the materials are completely environmental friendly.

Expect it to reappear in a few years' time in the form of a paper-thin computer, and under a completely different name.

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