More Power, More Demand, More Consequences
by Ewan Spence
It’s all about power, and needing too much. And I don’t just mean the recent recall of a batch of batteries by Nokia in their mobile phones, although that is going to feature highly. But the demands for more power from our mobile devices, including the stand-by and call time sort of power, alongside more CPU cycles, better graphics and more complex applications.
It wasn’t long ago that the boast of 30 plus hours on two AA battery cells was one of the driving features behind PDA organisers, but the addition of mobile phone circuitry, demands for better applications such as full email, web browsers and java (to name three) have driven up the processor speeds, putting more load on the batteries.
At the same time, the acceptable physical size of a mobile phone has dropped considerably, and the bar is now at sub 100g for a regular phone. With memory cards, keyboards, more ram, USB sockets, headphone sockets, charging ports all fighting for the same space, the volume available for the battery has dropped. But the demands for longer battery life have grown stronger in some quarters, and the manufacturers are pushing the limits not just in mobiles, but in laptop batteries as well.
This is a ticking time bomb (no pun intended); while computer technology has improved at a high rate, battery technology has not. It’s no longer the done thing to use disposable batteries in our PDA’s and mobile computers, so complicated rechargeable batteries are being used, and
Where will it all end? That’s a good question. Either the technology of chips needs to come up with a better low power solution, or electrical storage techniques need to be used. I think the former is more likely, but the industry would prefer the later. Not because they could build monster standby times, but they could reduce the size of the battery compartment for smaller and sleeker phones.
The smartphone wielding population seems to have accepted that they can get one full day of work, and a bit of reserve, from a single charge on a smartphone (ipod / psp / other small consumer device). So that’s exactly what we’ll get. There’s a balance between the power needed to run a powerful phone, and I don’t see it changing in the next six months to a year.
