Wait for it: A smartphone charge in five minutes

battery
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Charging time endured is just a fact of life when you are depending on your mobile gadget. Now there is news of a phone that charges fully in just five minutes—and it could be on the scene next year.

Sit tight, as reports said the technology could translate into production phase in 2018. The spotlight is on StoreDot, an Israeli startup, which has the technology.

CEO Doron Myersdorf discussed the technology with the BBC. According to its report, StoreDot has produced mock-ups of a smartphone charging in a special dock. According to Chris Baraniuk, BBC, Myersdorf said the technology "was in pilot production at two Asian battery makers" and that "mass production" was expected to commence in the first quarter of 2018.

Tyler Lee in Ubergizmo said, "come next year, we could start seeing smartphone makers potentially adopt StoreDot's technology."

If it seems like you have heard about StoreDot and its fast-charging technology you probably have. StoreDot presented a demo of its at CES 2015.

The company said this was not just about smartphones charging faster but could serve any mobile device.

"In 2015, he told the BBC his firm's battery contained materials that allowed for 'non-traditional' reactions and the unusually fast transfer of ions from an anode to a cathode - the electrical process that charges a battery. The design involves nanomaterials, which feature extremely small structures, and - unnamed - ."

For now, tech waters are waiting and seeing—no, really really waiting and seeing. Some prefer to be skeptical until proven otherwise.

Ben Wood, a technology analyst at CCS Insight. "Taking risks with battery technology can bite you," he told the BBC. "I would say that experience has taught me to always remain sceptical. Let's see if it happens would be my view." However, Wood added that anyone who did manage to crack the "battery problem" could have a transformational effect on consumer electronics.

CNBC Technology Product Editor Todd Haselton remarked that "it's easy to imagine that the company would have a hard time finding takers, since much of the industry is already working on proprietary fast-charging technologies, and people are now well aware of what happens when batteries fail."

But what makes their battery technology stand out? Rafael Fariñas, The USB Port, delivered an especially clear summation of what is known about this company's technology.

"Back in 2015 when StoreDot presented FastBattery to worldwide audiences for the first time, founder and CEO Doron Myersdorf disclosed that the secret to its technology lied at the nanomaterial level.

FastBattery uses organic nanocomponents that allow for a faster ion transference between the anode and the cathode or the battery, best known as the positive and negative ends.

The "non-traditional" nanomaterials used by StoreDot make these reactions happen way faster, and they make batteries charge devices way faster too as a result. What these materials are, however, remains a mystery."

The company described their technology as integrating nanotechnology with "novel organic compounds."

With FlashBattery, the company believes it has redesigned internal battery architecture.

TNW, meanwhile, turned the spotlight over to their appearance at a fair in Berlin. "The company is launching its new FlashBattery technology, which promises to allow you to charge an electric car in just five minutes."

CUBE Tech Fair in Berlin was the recent venue where StoreDot talked about its Flash Battery vis a vis what it can do for cars. While current managers discuss better mileage, FlashBattery's makers are focusing on speed of charge.

Dr. Myersdorf: "Fast Charging is the critical missing link needed to make electric vehicles ubiquitous."

The company release said "While competitors seek to solve the problem of increasing the mileage per charge, StoreDot is focusing on fast-charging electric vehicles in just minutes, a solution all drivers can relate to."

According to StoreDot, the batteries "can be expected to be integrated into that will hit markets in the next three years."

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