How Smart Is Your Battery???
by Gary Woods

If car gas gauges were as accurate as the battery gauge on your notebook, the side of the road would be littered with frustrated drivers who couldn't understand why their tank plummeted from half-full to empty in a matter of minutes. It turns out that current battery gauges are guessing more than you think when they're measuring your devices' remaining power.

Texas Instruments hopes to change that with its new "intelligent" battery-measurement system. Dubbed "Impedance Track" the technology learns how you use your devices. Do you turn it on every day or do you use it just once a week? It even looks at whether you're using your device in a hot or cold climate.

By contrast the current battery gauge in your cell phone, notebook, or digital camera calculates the remaining battery life using a static model designed by the battery manufacturer – a model based on average use, not your actual habits. That means your battery gauge is probably off by at least 5 percent, providing you've been draining your battery regularly before charging. And if you haven't been draining it the gauge could be off by as much as 30 to 80 percent.

Impedance Track - equipped notebooks, portable DVD players, and other multi-cell-battery-powered - devices should hit the streets this summer, according to TI, while single-cell battery powered gadgets such as cell phones, MP3 players and digital cameras should start getting them by the end of 2005

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