A new battery technology is revealed by Apple today, which Apple claims would improve 17″ MacBook Pro’s battery life by 60%. The new battery can last up to 8 hours on a charge. Apple uses a chip inside the battery that communicates with each cell to make adjustments to the current for each cell. The battery last three times longer than the industry standard. Apple also makes the recycling of the batteries easier by the take-back program.
Up to 24 hours of continuous laptop operation on a single battery charge is possible now with an HP EliteBook 6930p notebook. “With the HP EliteBook 6930p, customers no longer have to worry about their notebook battery running out before their work day is over.” said Ted Clark, senior vice president Notebook, Global Business Unit, HP. The longer battery life is made possible by some of the energy efficient laptop components such as Intel® solid-state hard drives (SSD) and mercury-free LED displays. The highly efficient HP Illumi-Lite LED display boosts battery run time by up to 4 hours compared to traditional LCD displays and Intel SSD provides up to a 7 percent increase in battery life

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in Japan warned consumers of Apple’s iPod Nano fire hazard. The ministry said it had received three reports of minor fires caused by overheating devices. The Ministry had begun an investigation into the incidents. The iPod Nano uses a rechargeable lithium ion battery. Lithium ion battery has been known to overheat on rare occasions in personal computers and mobile phones. A particular care is needed when charging iPods according to the statement by the ministry.
Dell Inc said the personal-computer industry was experiencing a shortage of laptop batteries caused partly by the March 3 fire at LG Chem’s Ochang plant. LG Chem is the second biggest South Korean battery maker. The fire contributed to a worldwide battery shortage. Dell is the world’s second-largest PC maker after Hewlett-Packard Co.