Slashdot Mirror
Next Gen Oxyride Batteries Coming Soon
marksilverman writes "The New York Times is reporting that Panasonic will start selling (Biometric scan required to prove your value as a human being) next generation Oxyride batteries soon. They last twice as long as premium alkaline batteries, they deliver more power, and they're cheaper. They're already popular in Japan. The downside? They have a shorter life in a "rundown test" where you put the batteries in and leave the power on until they're drained. In real-world scenarios (like how many digital pictures you can take) they do really well."
Oxyride Car
Oxyride Test
CC.
TaijiQuan (Huang, 5 loosenings)
Not entirely true. I have it on good authority that they'll accept gold bullion as well -- at least on Tuesdays.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
Will make your whites whiter and your brights brighter.
Just watch how it cuts through this stubborn blood stain.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
Then there's that bit about Oxyrides making MP3 players and CD players produce richer, fuller sound. Panasonic cited a test in Japan in which 80 percent of the players in an orchestra said they preferred the sound from an Oxyride-powered music player. (Panasonic doesn't include sound-quality claims in its official marketing, but it does say it's investigating.)
This one's a tougher call. In blind tests, most people couldn't tell any difference between a CD player with Oxyrides and one with regular alkalines. A few identified the Oxyrides as maybe being a bit richer-sounding, but said that the difference was awfully subtle. All participants confessed, though, that they were not members of a Japanese orchestra.
Yeah, I know that battery makers have been struggling to solve the problems of ripple. Puh-leez. What's the next claim? Women who use Oxyrides in their vibrators experience 15% increased intensity in their orgasms?
Hey Panasonic! QUick, better shorten that name to O-Rides.
"I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey
Because the writer of the article doesn't understand some basic electricity princples, like the power equation and Ohm's law.
"Karma can only be portioned out by the cosmos." -Homer Simpson
A good set of NiMH cells does everything I ask of them for a couple years. The exepense of Alkaline cells would be far greater.
Other thought is, now we have in place processes for recycling consumer batteries. What's going to be required for these?
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
If you do a bunch of power on, power offs to drain the batteries, the new ones are much better.
Don't know the fine sciency details myself, but I do know that when batteries die, they're sometimes not quite dead - I've played my GBA into the ground, left it for a day, and then still got another half hour off of the "dead" batteries.
Essentially it means you want to use these in your digital camera, not your cell phone :P
Smaller cycles of being in-use could just extend that for measurement - I'd be interested in seeing how well they perform in a single full cycling, then re-use a few days later.
Why do you say that two factorial equals one half?
who | grep -i blond | date cd ~; unzip; touch; strip; finger; mount; gasp; yes; uptime; umount; sleep
oxyride
According to the press release, they will be packaged in "user-friendly" packaging. Will it open itself for you
Free MacMini
as the premium, and the best cost-effective solution is NiMH rechargable. See the article in New Your Times - rather thorough review. (no, I don't provide the URL, but it's in tech section).
This is one of the dumbest paragraphs I've seen recently in the (so-called) scientific press.
Is there more current, more voltage, or both? Any of the above is possible from what they say above, and none of these will give you richer sound on your portable music player.
Why not say:
Your battery-operated tooth brush will over-stress its plastic gears.
Flashlights burn out quicker.
Camera flashes let you take more bad family photos quicker than before.
And because you're now using the latest technology, you will even imagine that your portable music player sounds richer than ever.
Then again, who really still expects truth to be found in the NYT?
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
clicky
Done with the help of the NYT Link generator.
There is another kind of evil which we must fear most, and that is the indifference of good men. -- Boondock Saints
In the exact same article
As it turns out, the power-boosting effect is no marketing concoction; it's real. In identical flashlights, Oxyrides produce an obviously wider, whiter circle of light than Duracell Ultras. You can immediately tell the difference in portable fans, too, because the Oxyride fan hums at a higher pitch, a musical step higher than the Duracell one. The Oxyrides even make power screwdrivers spin faster: 364 r.p.m., compared with 316 r.p.m. for the Duracell Ultras.
I would venture to guess that if the vibrator doesn't have a power regulator, it'll vibrate faster. If that'll increase the intensity of a woman's orgasm is left as an exercise for the class.
Courtesy of Cnet
A new crop of one-use batteries full of heavy metals unleashed on a world that's generally too irresponsible to have any systematic method of dealing with them -- just what we need! (Yes, I know that there are some places, notably Japan, that do a good job of handling batteries... but that isn't the Good Ol' US of A.)
Oxyride huh? People still use disposable batteries? I'm a NiMH guy myself. The initial investment in NiMH is greater, but your cost in the long run is far cheaper. Plus, it keeps a lot of batteries from being thrown away.
If these new batteries last longer than alkaline, maybe fewer will be sent to the landfill. I wonder how toxic they are compared to alkaline?
"False hope is why we'll never run out of natural resources!" - Lewis Black
Use this when you link to a NY Times article. It'll provide you with a link in which you don't need to register or log-in to view the article.
Reg-free link to article
Where do I sign up for this class?
Kind of like the difference between a deep cycle marine battery and a regular automobile battery. The automobile battery is designed to provide short bursts of power (and spends more of it's life being recharged as you drive) while the later is used constantly to run say an electric trolling motor. If you try to swap the applications the "other" battery won't last as long.
Dont forget the NYT Bookmarklet
(remove newlines)
Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
No self-discharge.
For most devices that you use infrequently, rechargeable batteries are useless because they drain dead in a couple of months even when not in use.
Good long-lasting Lithiums are good as a backup to keep with you if your rechargables all die on you. They are also good if you go somewhere where you just can't find a place to plug in and recharge.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
As it turns out, the power-boosting effect is no marketing concoction; it's real. In identical flashlights, Oxyrides produce an obviously wider, whiter circle of light than Duracell Ultras. You can immediately tell the difference in portable fans, too, because the Oxyride fan hums at a higher pitch, a musical step higher than the Duracell one. The Oxyrides even make power screwdrivers spin faster: 364 r.p.m., compared with 316 r.p.m. for the Duracell Ultras.
So... these batteries produce out-of-spec voltage (more than 1.5V), and this is supposed to be a GOOD thing? It's too bad the writers of the article weren't smart enought to hook the battery up to a simple multimeter to let us know what's really going on
first i dont really care of NMHD because they have have a charge memory.
-1 Wrong
Nickel-metal hydride does suffer from a memory effect; nickel-cadmium, however, does.
http://science.howstuffworks.com/battery7.htm
this is my sig
NiMH batteries don't have a charge memory; you're thinking of NiCads. Plus, the best NiMH batteries store almost as much energy as alkalines, and in AA format they're not too expensive due to volume and competition.
Li-ion, on the other hand, is a very expensive format due to the need for internal circuitry to protect the battery, and as a result it doesn't come in the standard sizes, which can guarantee a high cost as each manufacturer can rip you off for their own format...
For many many applications, NiMH is by far the best way to go.
Disclaimer: IANAL. This post is, however, legal advice, and creates an attorney-client relationship.
Another real-world scenario is using AAs in your Belkin Backup Battery Pack for iPod w/Dock Connector (who comes up with these names?), which is pretty much the "leave the power on until they're drained" scenario if your on an all-day hike or an intercontinental flight.
Don't underestimate the power of The Source
Note the image of the batteries says "50% longer lasting" but the journalist says "twice as long". His digital camera test actually confirms the 50% longer, for 844/566 = 1.49.
The Cost of Energy
Isn't that the same as Dihydrogen Monoxide?
The difference between spam and poop is that you don't have to dig through septic tanks looking for real food. -- Me
I guess there's always the problem of where to get that damn methanol from though...
NiMH batteries don't store as much power per volume as alkalines - almost none of the rechargeable chemistries do (although some lithium cells come close). The important thing to remember is that primary alkaline cells are around 1.5V/Cell, whereas NiMH batteries are 1.2V/Cell, so equivalent mAH != same amount of available power. Also, NiMH batteries usually have less mAH per cell than similarly sized Alkalines (around 1100 mAH vs. 1500 mAH IIRC). I believe they also have a slightly higher internal resistance, so you can't discharge them as hard as you can an alkaline, but it's been a long time since I did battery stuff at work. The great thing about NiMH batteries is that they're reasonably cheap, rechargeable and have slightly better discharge characteristics. Alkalines are pretty amazing in terms of energy density, and that's why they're so useful. NiMH is a good substitute when you can get away with it, but that's not always possible.
I ain't evil, I'm just good looking.
Ok, so let's take a look at those claims:
(A) quicker shooting for your digital photos
--> Well, no. Your digital camera's CCD and processor don't run any quicker on a high battery charge than on a low one.
(B) faster flash recovery
--> Actually, yes, this will; the more current the battery can deliver, the quicker the capacitors will charge up.
(C) faster battery powered toys
--> Depends on how the toy works. If it's an unregulated device that just pulls current directly, sure - but you could get the same results just hot-wiring an extra AA into the circuit.
True story: I used to have an old R/C car that ran on 8 AA batteries. I "fixed" that by hacking into the wiring and adding batteries to the circuit with a separate, modular battery bay from an electronics kit my parents gave me a few years earlier. I took it all the way up to 16 batteries total; at that point, it worked for about 1/2 hour and gave me great speed until something in the control board decided it had had enough.
If on the other hand it uses any sort of a voltage or current regulation system, no, it won't move any faster.
(D) brighter flashlights
Well, sure. See the above on devices that pull what essentially is unregulated current, relying only on the natural resistance of the device to keep it at a reasonable pace. I=V/R; Put in more Volts, even marginally, get more Amps and thus a brighter bulb. Whether it's enough to be really noticeable... well, you can tell the difference between a new and used battery, so sure, I'll assume that you can.
Of course, you'll also cause the bulb to burn out quicker.
The automobile battery is designed to provide short bursts of power (and spends more of it's life being recharged as you drive) while the later is used constantly to run say an electric trolling motor
My power source is optimized for trolling.
"Nickel-metal hydride does suffer from a memory effect; nickel-cadmium, however, does."
they both do?
I'm the energiser bunny, you insensitive clod!
Parent has obviously never looked at a discharge curve for either NiMH or Alkaline batteries, otherwise he'd know that the 1.5V vs 1.2V is absolute bullshit; neither stays above 1.2V for more than about 5% of its life under any real load. See for the specs on an Energizer e91 (2850 mAh, Alkaline) vs here for specifications on a 2300 mAh Energizer NiMH rechargable. Furthermore, NiMH capacities are up to Alkaline capacities these days, without the obnoxious strain alkalines have under high drain (like say running a digital camera, Alkalines typically die after a tenth of what a high capacity NiMH will do, simply due to how Alkalines react to a high current). That is plainly visible in the above, at 0.1C, the NiMH outperforms the Alkaline by 90 minutes of discharge, and the difference only gets bigger from there on out. Please note that the NiMH is 550 mAh smaller than the Alkaline, yet is outperforming it by 15%.
The only good use for Alkalines is in very, very low discharge devices like remote controls. NiMH batteries have a steady self-discharge, which means that in a remote, NiMHs might only last 1/3rd the time as an alkaline, due to the NiMH discharging itself.
"But NiMHs aren't widely available in stores", claims Mr. Pogue.
I call BS. I can go to the local wal=mart or other store and find literally walls of NiMH batteries and chargers.
Battery technologies have been arriving at a faster and faster rate.
Lead acid - centuries.
NiCd - couple of hundred years
NiMH - Decades
Li-ion - Just about a decade now.
Next generation - Probably Li-S in a year or two.
Technologies inevitably arrive slower than demand. Fact of life. Demand says "Hey I need X" and someone goes away and makes X.
"Really the next power supply for small electronics will probably be micro fuel cells that are fueled with methanol."
Bet they won't. When you run out of methanol you can't just plug it into the mains and make more, you have to lug a bottle of the stuff around with you.
"any advancement in battery technology any (like the Li-Ion electrode materials advancement) will also be available to fuel cells".
Except that's fairly unlikely. You're talking about applying engineering solutions from one technology to another. Sure, they have a way of depositing Li to provide a very high surface area in a li-ion battery. Does that same technique apply to platinum in a fuel cell?
Government of the people, by corporate executives, for corporate profits.
About 20-25 years ago I remember seeing a demonstration of a full size car moving slowly around a circle. The man giving the demonstration said the power source was about the size of a 9V battery. He also claimed it would run forever and that the technology could be scaled up to move full size cars at highway speeds. I never saw any follow up on it but have always wondered what happened to him and his invention.
/.er out there that saw the same thing, I know I didn't dream it.
There must be some
If you could reason with religious people, there would be no religious people
Uhm, no, the time to pour money into battery research was about two centuries years ago. Do you know who invented the battery? This guy. Look at how old he is. Were he alive today, our batteries would be instantly recognizable to him. For all their new oxides and ions, the simple truth is that batteries are the same expensive, bulky, heavy, short-lived, inefficient and environmentally unfriendly means energy portability they always were. Spend your research money on fuel cells, an affordable hydrogen distribution network, whatever--just please stop beating the dead horse that is battery power.
I think there is a world market for maybe five personal web logs.
Yes, but in terms of lifetime cost, I charge my batteries hundreds of times. All I need is for my batteries to last a full day in whatever device, then I can put them back in the charger. Any more is useless.
It's sickening how many batteries wind up landfilled every year. NiMH rechargables work really well and are very cheap in quantity. Go check out batteryspace.com - AA's are about $30 per 24 cells. Still more than alkalines, but they outperform alkalines in high draw stuff (what many people use them for; digital cameras and flashes) by a lot.
The article said that the battery produces 1.7 volts instead of the typical 1.5 volts. Flashlights were noticeably brighter, but they didn't measure the change in bulb life. Bulb Life is inversely proportional to V^16 -- that's a huge exponent, so bulbs are very sensitive to voltage! This means bulbs in flashlights with the new batteries will last only 1/7th the time or regular batteries.
HIV Crosses Species Barrier... into Muppets