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IEEE begins work on new cellphone battery standard, we circle 2029 for ratification

You'll excuse us for poking a bit of fun at the IEEE, but after it took seven years to finalize a wireless standard that didn't change for most of that time, we have to wonder how long a new batteryrulebook is going to take. IEEE Std 1725 is the current set of commonly agreed rules, in effect since 2006, but apparently "the cellular industry has grown tremendously since then" and our needs as consumers have changed. No kidding, 1GHz processors and 1080p video recording can kind of do that. The Cell Phone Battery Working Group (a real entity!) will hold its first meeting on the topic in February, and the final outcome will lay out up-to-date rules on the requisite quality, reliability, construction, and discharge characteristics of modern cellphone batteries. Let's hope "smartphones that last more than a day" figures somewhere on that list.