Elon Musk is no longer the only far-sighted innovator betting on the fact that a lot more gadgetry will soon be battery-reliant. Silicon Valley sage and co-founder of Sun Microsystems Bill Joy also predicts this dependence, and thinks that alkaline is a better option than lithium-ion.
The Unveiling of a Solid-State Alkaline Battery
Thursday saw Joy and Ionic Materials unveil a solid-state alkaline battery at the Basalt, Colorado Rocky Mountain Institute’s summit on energy innovation. Joy has stated that this battery is not only a safer option, but a cheaper one than lithium-ion too. The most basic appeal of alkaline is that it could well cost a minute fraction of existing battery tech, and would be safer to use in the delicate setting aeroplanes are made up, for example, of as well.
Joy stated that people had not really understood that alkaline batteries could be made rechargeable, and that they had thus given up.
Three Ultimate Applications are Envisioned
Joy is focussing on three ultimate applications for the polymer tech:
- Consumer electronics
- Automotive electronics
- Power grid electronics
But he has acknowledged that the tech is not yet ready for prime-time, and still requires commercialisation as well as the factories needed to manufacture it. He has stated that a five-year goal is reasonable.
Maintaining Your smartphone Battery Life Now
As it stands, the lithium-ion battery technology that smartphone users are dependent on currently does not always meet our needs. You may run out of battery power midway through playing your favorite CAD casino games, while sending important emails, or even mid call. Incorporating these tips can help you extend your device’s functioning so that it meets your requirements on a day-to-day basis:
- Power down
This is obviously not always an available option, but if you are unable to get reception or are turning in for the night, then switching your smartphone off is the best way to save battery life.
- Turn off Bluetooth and Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are very power-hungry smartphone features, and disabling them when you don’t need to use them is an excellent way to keep your smartphone lasting longer.
- Turn off vibrations and keytones
The small weight that vibration alerts on your smartphone adds is a huge drain on its power. Switch it off, and do the same for your keytones if you can.
- No flash photography
Don’t use the flash with your phone camera, since this feature is also very powerful and consumes a lot of energy.
- Lower your display brightness
Smartphones these days are able to save power in the same way that laptops can, and although you probably will not be able to decrease your display’s brightness by more than 50%, your eyes will quickly adjust to the reduction and your battery will thank you for it.
- Stick to phone calls
Playing games frequently, watching YouTube videos, browsing photos, and surfing the net will all suck your phone’s battery life, and the best way to save what you’ve got is to stick to phone calls. Do these the traditional way too, and avoid FaceTime and Skype.