Samsung develops new technology that doubles the capacity of existing Lithium-ion batteries

As smartphone makers are developing new phones with high resolution displays, powerful processors and other features, long battery life has become all the more important. Users are demanding phones with batteries that last longer. Consequently, many companies are packing high capacity batteries into their smartphones but as phones are getting thinner, the battery size gets restricted. In such a scenario, researchers at Samsung have announced the development of a new technology that will increase the battery capacity in battery of the same size.

With the new technology, high quality graphene can be grown directly over silicon nanoparticles (NPs) surface without the formation of silicon carbide by using the newly developed chemical vapour deposition or the CVD process. The formation of silicon carbide is fatal for the silicon anode operations as it reduces conductivity. According to researchers, “the graphene-coated Si NPs reach a volumetric capacity of 2,500 mAh cm−3 (versus 550 mAh cm−3 of commercial graphite), the highest value among those reported to date for any LIB anodes while exhibiting excellent cycling and rate performance.”

This increases the capacity of the lithium-ion battery by 1.5x to 2x higher than the existing capacity. Thus, Samsung researchers are able to almost double the capacity of existing lithium-ion batteries that are used in smartphones and other gadgets. For instance if we consider the battery of Samsung Galaxy S6 which is of 2550mAh capacity, with the new technology, it could hold a capacity of over 4000mAh within the same size making it last for double the current time.

Samsung expects that this new breakthrough resulting in enhanced battery capacity will come in very useful for the mobile as well as the electric car industries. We will have to wait and see if this technology gets commercialized in time for the Galaxy S7.

Samsung develops new technology that doubles the capacity of existing Lithium-ion batteries

Android M coming with Doze mode for better battery life and USB Type C support

Google has introduced Android M, the successor to Android Lollipop, at its I/O 2015 Keynote.  Android M is a powerful platform and comes with numerous enhancements which includes six key areas – fingerprint support, Android Pay, app permissions, web experience, app links, and power & charging.

Android M brings two very useful improvements in the power and charging department, it makes the smartphone batteries last longer and makes their charging faster.

 

Let us see them one by one:

1. Doze Mode

If your device stays idle for a while, it will go into the Doze mode. The system uses motion sensors and when they don’t sense motion of the handset for some time, it is put into kind of a deep sleep. The background apps will also doze off but the real time, alarms and incoming notifications will still be working.

This will save you a lot of battery life. Google tested the Android M Doze mode in Nexus 9 tablet and its standby battery life increased by 2x in comparison to Nexus 9 having the same apps and settings but running Android L. This is quite impressive but better to remember that this will happen only in case of devices sitting idle. Of course, the smartphones that are frequently in use may also see some improvements.

2. USB Type-C

Android M supports USB Type-C for faster charging. This is a different type of connector which can be used for reversible charging. Actually, such type of connectors are already being used by Google and Apple in the latest Chromebook and MacBook respectively. The connecter can be plugged in from any side as it can transfer power and data in both directions.

Google also promises that the USB Type-C charging will be “Anything from three to four times faster” compared to the current microUSB options available. What’s more, your Android M running smartphone can even be used to charge other devices for example a smartwatch or a tablet, or you can use your Android M tablet to charge your smartphone.

Android M coming with Doze mode for better battery life and USB Type C support

Samsung developing new high energy density batteries and slimmer RWB camera sensors for mobiles

In its recently held special event, Samsung disclosed its detailed plans for offering improved batteries and camera sensors in its upcoming mobile devices. The new mobile batteries and camera sensors would be thinner in size and will pave way for the South Korean tech giant to offer much improved and slimmer smartphones and tablets to its customers. These new technologies would be made available on mobile devices the company would be releasing in 2017.

Batteries

Samsung is developing high energy density batteries. Battery having an energy density of 700Wh/l (Wh/l-Watt-hours per liter) is currently in the works. The company is expecting to increase it to 750Wh/l by 2016 and 780Wh/l by 2017. Since the energy density will increase, the new batteries will be thinner compared to present day batteries for the same capacity. Or to put it in another way, a battery with the same dimensions will pack higher energy compared to the current one.

Samsung is also trying to get a higher voltage from the batteries, expecting to get 4.40V in the next few months and increasing it to 4.5V by 2017 which will contribute towards a better battery life. Besides enhancing the energy density and voltage of batteries, the company disclosed that it is also working to improve its fast charging-technology to allow users to charge 80% of the battery in 30 minutes.

Camera Sensors    

Samsung also announced details about the new camera sensors it is developing for mobile devices.  It is the new RWB camera sensor, RWB standing for Red, White, Blue, which is the color pattern of the sensor. The RWB sensor will provide “better color fidelity” to the photos.

The new camera sensors will have pixel size of only 1 micron compared to the current industry standard of 1.2 microns resulting in a decrease in thickness from 6.5mm to 5mm for a 16MP sensor and from 5.2mm to 4.5mm for a 13MP sensor. So the new camera sensors will be thinner. Smaller pixel size can deteriorate the image quality but Samsung is sure to come up with a solution for that just like Nokia and Sony did.

With the new enhancements Samsung is working on, its future mobile devices are sure to offer users a better image quality and an improved battery life.

Samsung developing new high energy density batteries and slimmer RWB camera sensors for mobiles

A Team in Google X Labs Formed to Work on the Next-Gen Batter for Mobile Devices

Google has formed a group of four people from Google X labs to look into new technologies which can create a new type of battery that the company can use for their own devices such as smartphones, wearables or tablets. It was started in 2013 which before that, they were used to test third party batteries for Google’s own product. The group was led by Dr. Ramesh Bhardwaj, a former Apple employee which has experience in working with battery for Apple products.

The next generation of battery that Google is currently experimenting in will be a flexible solid-state form. As the current is transmitted on a solid-state instead of liquid chemicals, it will be safer and can be smaller size and thinner than the current battery. Therefore, it will be suitable for mobile and wearable devices.

On top of that, the battery that Google is experimenting currently could also be used to power products which in the end could be safely implemented on a human body. For example, Google Glass, it needs battery which is small enough but powerful enough to play a video on the product.  Another example, Google’s blood glucose measuring contact lens, the battery should be safe enough so that it will not be flammable when it is used.

Apparently other technology companies apart from Google are also experimenting in new batteries which should be long lasting, affordable, safer and smaller than the current battery which made of lithium-ion cells. This new batteries will definitely give more advantages to the consumers.

A Team in Google X Labs Formed to Work on the Next-Gen Batter for Mobile Devices