Battery technology is possibly one of the hottest areas of research today, at least in terms of practical application. The three most influencial sources for demand are electric cars, laptops, and cellphone/media player/gadgets. I group the last together because there is little significant difference between them as far as battery technology goes. The cellphone, media player, and gadget niche is pretty stable and its needs fulfilled. Most devices have plenty of power for normal uses and recharging them is not an inconvenience. Laptop batteries are not to that point yet. Dell and HP are working diligently to combine low drain components with extra batteries to increase the endurance of their laptops, yet extra batteries still add extra weight and charge time. Electric vehicle batteries are even further away from meeting what is required of them.

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