The market for wearable devices is a fast-growing one, especially with the smart watch. However, due to their compact nature, components that can be fitted into smart watch are also limited. Due to this, several aspects of the device, especially the battery life becomes limited. But worry not, advancements are being made.
LG and Samsung, both of which are based in South Korea, have showcased their individual solutions to the short battery life of the crimped devices during a technology exhibition last Oct. 20 that was hosted by South Korea's capital, Seoul.
During the event, LG Chemical, South Korea's largest chemical company and the battery manufacturing arm of the LG Corporation that also owns LG Electronics, showed off a flexible hexagonal battery that can be folded. The innovation, which was branded as the "wire battery," was announced in June 2015 when it first took on the hexagonal shape.
The company began its development of the wristband-type battery in 2013. Moreover, LG Chemical claims that its technology has the ability to equip future smart watches with twice the battery capacity of the current ones that are in use today.
Samsung SDI, the battery-manufacturing subsidiary of Samsung, also presented its own flexible batteries. The company unveiled two types - the stripe and the band.
Of the two, the band-type, which is reported to have withstood 50,000 bendings and improve battery life by as much as 50 percent, is the one that was designed to go with smart watches.
The stripe with its 0.3 mm thickness, is quite slim. However, even with the extreme thinness, the battery is far from fragile. According to reports, Samsung SDI revealed that due to its fiber composition, the stripe battery has more flexibility than any of the existing bendable cells.
Both are designed to go beyond the smart watches. The batteries can be fitted into other wearable gadgetry such as hair bands and necklaces.
The late 2015 debut of the batteries is interpreted as a prelude to 2016 in which they are predicted go mainstream.
