Slow release ultra capacitor technology, assuming it successfully makes its way to market, should be a real boon for small devices. Filling an ultra capacitor with power is like filling a glass of water. Happens in seconds, not hours.
But using capacitors to provide a steady flow of energy is something new. Still, like other capacitors, the new ones can be recharged quickly. The remote control can recharge in five minutes and run for many hours, maybe even days, depending on how often it is used to change channels, Mr. Sund said. And unlike the lithium-ion batteries used in phones, laptops and, now cars, capacitors do not lose storage space with age.
Doesn’t seem to be any barriers for remote controls and cameras. Key is, can they make this technology small enough to squeeze into an iPhone, yet still have it carry enough power to be useful.
No, they can’t. Not by a long shot. At least, not yet.
Remotes are extremely low-power devices, like traditional non-smart watches. You would not want an ultracap in your camera, lest you enjoy switching “batteries” as often as you had to switch film.
Ah, that makes sense. Thanks Friedrich.
I had a Seiko watch with capacitor. The capacitor refused to hold a good charge after a year. Had to replace it with a Lithium Ion battery! Yes the capacitor could be charged with a few turns of the wrist, so to speak, and the Lithium Ion needed a couple of hundred swings. But it holding no charge was a common failure among Seiko Kinetic Arctura watches.
That’s more likely a symptom of a bad cap than a fundamental flaw with the technology.
I didn’t say the technology was flawed. I said that all Seiko Kinetic Arctura exhibited failure of capacitor. Seiko’s own solution was replacement of part with Lithium Ion battery; that was the standard service part after even the replacement capacitor failed on people. Maybe capacitor technology in the 90s wasn’t that advanced yet.