Google X Labs: Battery life on mobile devices has always been a big problem for manufacturers. To date, the battery life of most smartphones is around 24 hours on a single charge. And while device manufacturers are trying to find the perfect battery, Google has so far not seemed to be participating in this challenge.
According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, a small team within Google X Labs has been researching new technologies to be used in the batteries of mobile devices such as smartphones, wearables, tablets, etc. since 2013.
The team, led by former Apple battery expert Dr. Ramesh Bhardway, was originally formed in 2012 and appears to have some results to show for it.
Today's WSJ report reveals that a Google X Labs project is currently trying to develop a flexible solid-state battery that could replace chemical liquids with solids through which current would be transmitted.
Such a technology could lead to batteries that are produced in layers. It would also mean smaller and safer mobile batteries. So we won't hear about battery explosions while charging anymore.
These batteries could be used to power flexible products (perhaps a flexible Samsung wearable smartphone?) and could even, in a more extreme scenario, be inserted into the human body, although we're not exactly sure what that would be for.
In 2013, Google CEO Larry Page said that battery life for mobile devices was a “huge issue,” but the company was trying to come up with new and better ideas.
Two years after the statement, the WSJ gave us a glimpse of Google's plans.
However, scientists at the company's Google X Labs don't seem to be the only ones trying to develop the batteries of the future. For example, a few days ago, we reported that researchers at Stanford University had created an aluminum-ion battery that allows for very fast charging times.
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Stanford: Aluminum battery charges smartphones in one minute
