CES Wrap-Up: Other Developments on the Battery and Power Supply Front

Although PowerPulse covered some of the industry news and product announcements that came out of the recently concluded Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, there were a few other interesting items that may have escaped our readers' attention, particularly in the areas of batteries and power supply.

American Power Conversion (APC) announced three additions to its line of mobile accessories, the APC Universal Notebook Battery 50, 70 and 90, designed to enhance the availability of power for mobile solutions. Lightweight and portable, APC claims that its Universal Notebook Batteries are the only external notebook batteries designed to operate in a notebook case or beneath a laptop computer, giving mobile users more runtime for their computers while traveling.

APC's Universal Notebook Batteries are compatible with most leading brands of notebook computers, include a variety of `notebook tips' and allow users to select the required voltage. An Input/Output power port provides a simple way to charge and power the Universal Notebook Batteries using an APC Universal Power Adapter or the original OEM notebook power adapter. APC's Universal Notebook Battery 70 and 90 use lithium polymer battery cells, an advanced battery technology with a high power density, to create a compact, lightweight, solution with high power output.

There were other developments on the battery front at CES as well, as ZAP and Belkin also introduced new products.

ZAP announced that it has struck a deal with Victory Multimedia for distribution services of its new Recharge-It-All battery line for mobile electronic devices and laptop computers. These new products power and charge cell phones, smart phones, digital cameras, MP3/iPods, portable games and more. ZAP's new Recharge-It-All Battery for Laptop Computers is a 49W battery that will power or charge a laptop computer for up to 8 hours. The M48 from ZAP has a USB out for powering other low power mobile electronic devices as well as a laptop.

Belkin International Inc. announced its Battery Backup with Flashlight to help protect equipment and data, while also safeguarding personal security. The detachable flashlight turns on immediately when the power goes off, providing you with a convenient, portable light source. The Battery Backup keeps connected equipment on, giving ample time to shut down and prevent any data loss or hardware damage.

Belkin's BU305500-USB has a 550VA battery-load capacity for approximately 20 minutes of backup time (dependent upon what equipment is connected), and offers 4 battery-backup outlets + surge protection, and 2 surge-protected outlets. It provides 1-in, 2-out RJ11 telephone/fax surge protection; delivers fast data-transfer speed with USB connectivity; includes Power Management Software for automatic shutdowns, and proactive alerts, messaging, and diagnostic support.

One of the biggest "buzz" points created at CES 2007 was over the 2000W internal and external power supplies presented by OCZ Technology (OCZ) and Ultra Products.

OCZ presented a prototype 2kW offering that was actually two separate 900W PSU's sitting outside of the case, and another smaller unit that sits inside the case and is connected to the external unit. The unit can power two motherboards. ULTRA presented an actual product, the Ultra X3 Modular 2000W PSU, which the company said will be available to consumers sometime in early 2007.

According to George Ali, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Ultra Products, "It's not so much that we believe personal computers today need as much as 2000W of power. In fact, most household circuits can't even provide the ac power this unit would require in order to put out 2000W of dc power. But there's the always-inevitable questions of 'Do I have enough power?' or 'Does my power supply have enough juice where my high end components need it.' That is why we have put together this 2000W unit; as the end all of power supplies as far as dc output goes. With as much as 1800W available on the 12V alone, there should be no concern whatsoever that there is enough power available for quad core, quad GPU or large drive arrays."