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Editorial
(August 29, 2001)
From
Publisher and Managing Editor's
Desk...
Battery Power - Often
Neglected But Serious Problem - Do You Agree ?
We may not realize it but one of the most important factors
holding back widespread use of wireless is very little attention
being paid to research in improving batteries in future devices that
will operate at higher network speeds and will use powerful
processors and accessories. We call upon VCs and industry giants to
divert a part of their preoccupation with wireless silicon and
software towards this not-so-sexy area of product innovation. While
hardware manufacturers are making progress in using power management
techniques and chip manufacturers are doing their bit to solve the
problem, progress as a result of this effort is often overtaken by
the increased demand by faster processors and speeds. The result is
that end users can see only marginal improvements in terms of the
number of hours they can keep on running their wireless or mobile
equipment without hurrying to get another battery or running around
to recharge their batteries.
In this light, we are delighted to see some recent news about
progress in this somewhat neglected area of our technology. We
applaud Motorola to spearhead research in this area. But one company
can not shoulder all the burden and benefits of this research. Also,
only fuel cell is not the answer. We need to address fuel cell,
solar batteries and faster conventional lithium batteries. We must
move forward otherwise the weight of the batteries will be higher
than that of the devices.
Please submit your comments, opinions and news about what is
going on. We intend to pursue this topic further.
For your comments, click
here.
Chander
Dhawan - Your Site's Principal Consultant and Publisher
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