Huawei has developed two new removable fast-charging batteries that use lithium-ion cells and can recharge in a matter of a few minutes.
The first battery can charge from 0 percent to 68 percent in two minutes, but it does have a smaller capacity and is unable to power a smartphone for too long. The second battery, however, charges to 48 percent in five minutes, and can offer as much as 10 hours of talk time.
Battery life is an issue that most gadget-manufacturers have to address at some point, especially when it comes to devices like smartphones and smartwatches. There are a number of tech firms working on developing batteries to offer more juice more quickly than they currently can. For example, Samsung unveiled that the batteries on the Samsung Galaxy S6 were able to run for four hours after only 10 minutes of charging.
Researchers are also looking at alternative battery materials to the lithium-ion batteries that are found in most smartphones today.
According to Huawei, the new technology uses heteroatoms, which are atoms that are not carbon or hydrogen, allowing for faster charging speeds without compromising the battery's overall lifespan.
"At the moment everyone is getting interesting incremental benefits from changes in lithium-ion batteries, but fundamentally there hasn't been a Moore's Law-type curve for battery improvements and I think that would be something everyone would benefit [from]," said Motorola president Rick Osterloh in an interview with the BBC. Moore's Law refers to a rule of thumb in the computer processor industry, by which computer processors roughly double in speed every two years. This observation has held true since it was first described in 1965.
Of course, it might be a while before we see Huawei's new technology in the real world. Currently, Huawei needs to use a special charger to make the tech work, and the company doesn't mention when it might implement it.
Via: BBC
