October 13, 2016
Smartphones have become an integral part of our life-style. Right from the time we wake-up, to check notifications and news, till the time we fall asleep while chatting with friends, they have undeniably become an important part of our lives. Now imagine that these phones double up as small explosive devices, which can burst at any instant.
October 13, 2016
Smartphones have become an integral part of our life-style. Right from the time we wake-up, to check notifications and news, till the time we fall asleep while chatting with friends, they have undeniably become an important part of our lives. Now imagine that these phones double up as small explosive devices, which can burst at any instant.
Will you still feel the same about the device you hold so dearly Lithium-ion batteries?
All devices on the market, no matter how cheap or expensive are capable of an explosion if they run on a lithium-ion battery. These batteries are extremely dense which make them compact enough for a smartphone but at the same time equally dangerous if there's any fault in the device's manufacturing process.
Lithium-ion batteries are in existence since 1991 and though smartphones showed exponential growth in terms of technology within a span of 10 years, batteries have shown a rather disappointing learning curve.
After the launch of the first wave of smartphones, consumers realised the potential in this device segment. With each passing year, smartphones were subjected to higher expectations. Players like Samsung, Apple and even Nokia at one instant showed promising growth.
The chipsets that were central to the smartphone technology saw huge leap and bounds in processing power.Every year there is a growth of almost 30%- 40% in computational power of the smartphone chipsets.
On one hand this might be promising, on the other there is excessive pressure on the batteries of the device to last at least a day.To put this in perspective, to every 30%-40% growth in computational power every year, the battery technology shows a meager 5%-10% improvement.
Ultimately, most smartphone users end up carrying chargers or heavy power banks for their devices.Compromised Products Samsung's Note 7 fiasco has thrown light on the mad expectations out of a device. Though the companies charge a bomb for these devices, they make compromises to give that extra edge to their flagship headsets.
In case of the Note 7, Samsung mentioned a certain "battery-cell issue" to be the reason behind the exploding devices but there is no confirmation if that is the case after the "safe" replacement devices exploded.
However, it is certain that the battery is the source of the heat and power for these explosions.
The smartphone industry should take it as a wake-up call and treat batteries with special care and users will have to make do with either carrying chargers or power banks.
Courtesy: Business Today
