Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. (Japan) and Matsushita Battery Industrial Co. Ltd. (Japan) will market an AA nickel-metal-hydride battery, the Metal Hydride 2000 Series, which achieves a high capacity of 1,900mAh (minimum level). The Hydride 2000 Series products will be available for sale on April 1, 2002.
The Metal Hydride 2000 Series achieves an electrical capacity of 1,900mAh with new active materials of positive polarity and improved structural parts. The battery's capacity is up approximately 15 percent (about 250mAh) from the company's current products. The batteries are suitable for digital cameras that require a large capacity of electric currents. Prices are the same as the existing models – a set of four batteries is priced at 1,940 yen and a set of two batteries is priced at 1,080 yen.
A boosting battery charger, the BQ-390, scheduled to be sold with the battery, is designed to have an independent circuit for detecting single battery charging. The device is available for simultaneous charging of a combination nickel-metal hydride battery and a nickel-cadmium battery, or AA and AAA batteries. The price of the electric charger is open, but the expected over-the-counter price of the BQ-390 is around 400 yen.
