Pixel Qi conjuring up black magic technology for 40-hour laptops

Sure, you can go out and get yourself a laptop right now that'll go 12.5-hours strong, but what if your portable computer could nearly outlast your Aigo A215? While L's mythical quad core lappie came close in theory, Mary Lou Jepsen's (the former CTO at OLPC) startup is hoping to eventually create a machine that can last between 20 and 40-hours between charges. Pixel Qi is being pretty closelipped right now (and understandably so) about what exactly it has going on, but we get the idea the secret sauce is in a highly efficient display that will require far less power than traditional LCDs. The best part? We could see one of these longevous notebooks in the pipeline as early as 2H 2009, so we'd probably start stocking up on Red Bull right about now.

[Mobius_1 @ Nov 29th 2008 3:47PM]

Or they should make a laptop that runs on Red Bull, if this doesn't work out and all that stock was for nothing.

[mj @ Nov 29th 2008 5:45PM]

vodka is better XD

[El Taco @ Nov 30th 2008 12:19AM]

In Soviet Russia, computer runs you!

[silverblackvoid @ Nov 30th 2008 1:09AM]

just wondering...how much does it take to recharge???

[Traveling2 @ Nov 29th 2008 3:56PM]

test

[strider_mt2k @ Nov 29th 2008 5:00PM]

You fail.

Good day sir!

[iEye @ Nov 29th 2008 4:01PM]

My guess it is just a 50Lbs battery...

Shazam 40 hour run time,,,

[Austin R. Range @ Nov 29th 2008 6:29PM]

But the notebook itself will be under 1 lb.!!

[Jonathan-DBOSS @ Nov 29th 2008 4:06PM]

Obama Magic

[JL @ Nov 29th 2008 4:31PM]

Rather have Obama magic than Bush a** raping for the last 8 years.

[Cybergypsy @ Nov 29th 2008 5:00PM]

Obama LOL....ROFL

[steven @ Nov 29th 2008 11:50PM]

Wow, great job bashing Bush without naming why he has a** raped us... Typical dumbass American.

[Shinigami @ Nov 29th 2008 4:08PM]

OLED?
More likely... e-ink?

[Fusion Fuzo 05 - Mr Professional @ Nov 29th 2008 4:25PM]

NICE, this would help as I can only get 6hr's out of my laptop which is useless, which means I have to carry a spear charger everywhere, so this would help


Professional
Fusion Fuzo

[Richard @ Nov 29th 2008 4:31PM]

I get about 45 minutes on my laptops battery..so... yours is like an eternity by comparison :(

[Phoenix @ Nov 29th 2008 4:36PM]

man, I LOVE spear chargers!

Not only can you power your laptop off them, but should you get stuck in the wilderness you can hunt with them too!

And I find them GREAT when people are mugging me for my laptop.

BEST INVENTION EVER.

[Fusion Fuzo 05 - Mr Professional @ Nov 29th 2008 4:45PM]

I see what you did, lol

[Fusion Fuzo 05 - Mr Professional @ Nov 29th 2008 4:47PM]

I need to practice spelling on websites


Professional
Fusion Fuzo

[nerdtalker @ Nov 29th 2008 7:19PM]

@Mr. Professional,

You need to work on a *lot* of different things when you're online. The foremost of which is not being a completely ignorant, annoying asshole.

[Shadyman @ Nov 29th 2008 10:34PM]

@Richard:

Is that with the battery that came with the laptop?
See if you can buy a battery with more cells..

My laptop used to last me 45 minutes with the stock 4-cell battery. With a 6-cell battery, it lasts a good 2.5 hours.

[rita hainsworth @ Nov 29th 2008 4:27PM]

Wow a forty hour laptop.....and I didnt win a fucking thing!

[rita hainsworth @ Nov 29th 2008 10:22PM]

You're so predictable, of course it a Low Rank

[tuaamin13 @ Nov 29th 2008 4:54PM]

When will they realize we don't need to go 40 hours on a single battery charge? It would be nice if they shrunk the battery size.

[Chuckles McGee @ Nov 29th 2008 5:06PM]

Speak for yourself. I'd love a unit that runs for 40 hours without needing a charge.

[page87 and counting @ Nov 29th 2008 10:34PM]

That's what your girlfriend said...

[The_Dude @ Nov 30th 2008 11:49AM]

This P Qi'd my interest

[Thi mam(kris120890) @ Nov 29th 2008 5:05PM]

It's not about needing 40 hour its about wanting 40 hours.
I only get 1 hour and 20 minutes but then I don't take it anywhere.
I'd rather have 40 Hours than 6.

[Ian @ Nov 29th 2008 6:22PM]

damn id take an hour and a half right now.. i get about 50 min. damn i need a new battery

[DB @ Nov 29th 2008 5:33PM]

my VAIO's battery will go about 2.5 Hours...

: (

[MarbleMind @ Nov 29th 2008 5:51PM]

"Pixel Qi"... what's next? Voxel tantra?

[Mobius_1 @ Nov 29th 2008 6:03PM]

Qi... The Chinese interpretation of The Force.

[ijyt @ Nov 29th 2008 6:26PM]

Also a witty gameshow hosted by Stephen Fry.

[Erv @ Nov 29th 2008 6:11PM]

nuclear power sources

[Oli D @ Nov 30th 2008 7:44AM]

make sure you dont use it on your lap....

[LonnieDvD @ Nov 29th 2008 6:41PM]

Count me in for one of these, I would love a laptop that can last 40-hours.

[Sam Stone @ Nov 29th 2008 6:51PM]

Really?!

[djko3000 @ Nov 29th 2008 7:03PM]

figures, they announce this kind of thing right after i put in an order for an eee1000HA.

[TJ @ Nov 29th 2008 7:39PM]

Is 2H a new trade show I haven't heard of?
/sacrasm

[Skyride @ Nov 29th 2008 8:23PM]

My Vostro gets 2-3 hours from full charge. Depends what im doing really. On ubuntu just typing in class i get 3 easily but if im on windows doing photoshop, im lucky to get 2. Im highly interested to see how this is achieved. Also, this should theoretically take about 30 hours to charge if it uses current generation battery technology and it will degrade VERY quickly.

[loosely_coupled @ Nov 29th 2008 11:01PM]

Within 3-5 years, this should be much closer to being a possibility... A laptop by then will have:
- Intel's 22nm highly-integrated Sandy Bridge/Ivy Bridge architecture. I imagine the mobile ultra-low-voltage version will be incredibly efficient with a built-in GPU and single-chip chipset.
- maturing OLED technology should allow small-size ultra-low power high resolution displays
- ~22nm low power DDR4 SDRAM
- ~22nm NAND flash SSD drives with advanced power management
- next-generation Lithium Ion battery technology

This should easily make for 10-12+ hour laptops for normal people and perhaps even 40-hour laptops in extreme cases...

[mcwiggin @ Nov 30th 2008 9:53PM]

Unfortunately fail to take into account that fact that 3 to 5 years from now your laptop may have the option of comming with Microsoft Windows WhoKnows Ultimate Edition and as such it will require all of that just eek out a full 3 hours.

[cb88 @ Dec 1st 2008 11:40AM]

.... and by then you *might* get 40 hours out of an x86 probably not

ARM is the future already integrated already running circles around x86 power to watt ratio soon to be multicore and already outselling all the other processors meaning that it has a stable code infrastructure to support quick porting of applications

of course you won't be able to get this awesome hardware if you are so closed minded that you *have* to use Windows when real linux like debian (not the dumbed down hard to use kind like on the netbooks atm) is all anybody could want in most every case

[allgoodnameideastakenup @ Nov 29th 2008 11:08PM]

A company is conjuring black magic technology and the first thing they wanna do with this is make longer battery life for laptops? Why not world domination or at least teleporting, but...batteries?

[Samboini @ Nov 30th 2008 2:45AM]

They need to secure the funds for world domination first, hence this beauty.

[DD @ Dec 3rd 2008 3:35AM]

There's also the issue of not having the power to run all sorts of spiffy high tech devices we all love and want. Nothing pisses me off more than a really neat device that I can only run for an hour. The iPhone is a fantastic example. I'm thrilled someone is researching better battery technology!

[Nitori @ Dec 1st 2008 6:23AM]

No they're just using an Arm processor which is used in phones,PDAs,and hand held game systems.

[Joseph @ Nov 29th 2008 11:15PM]

Nobody has mentioned Dell's Presision line that can go 17hrs with the thin battery attached to the bottom. 21 cells of power!

[hotbob55 @ Nov 30th 2008 1:58PM]

HP, which crushes Dell on all levels, happens to have a 24 hour laptop... haha beat that!
By the way I dont work for HP.
Dell is crap, EVERY Dell owner I know has had at least one break, if not more. In contrast, I have recommended several HP desktops and laptops and they all loved them.

[Lazlo @ Nov 30th 2008 9:37AM]

I will harness the power to rule the world.

[Blah @ Nov 30th 2008 5:53PM]

Has anyone seen this?

"Battery Life Breakthrough Could Increase Capacity by 800%"
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/battery-life-breakthrough.php