Panasonic demos new li-ion battery at CES

As the IEEE hammers out new li-ion battery standards and Sony recuperates from the staggering blow delivered by hordes of recalled batteries, Panasonic is busy developing new battery packs, designed to address several concerns. On top of increasing energy density, ultimately leading to longer-lasting batteries, Panasonic is looking to improve heat resistance as well as making the unit safer overall. While the listed 3.6AH figure is less than many existing laptop batteries, with increased density and decreased heat output will come the ability to increase capacity by 20% to 40%, a significant chunk. That could mean an additional hour or more of life on existing laptop models, which can be stretched even further as low power components improve in quality:

The prototype, which is being shown here at CES, reportedly boasts a "20- to 40-percent" increase in capacity by using "an alloy material for the negative electrode instead of a commonly used carbon material" such as graphite carbon. Additionally, energy density per volume is increased to 740 Wh/L, which is 40-percent higher than that of the company's existing product.
Pansonic does not give any firm dates for development, though stated it would be at least a few years before they begin offering it.