10-Year Battery Life Coming to Bluetooth Keyboards

[exfileme]

Broadcom has introduced a new Bluetooth reference design that allows devices to use a single pair of AA batteries for up to 10 years.

10-Year Battery Life Coming to Bluetooth Keyboards : Read more

 

[rozz]

so, most likely, the batteries would leak in the keyboard before needing replaced..

 

[nordlead]

the standard AA batteries will die from age before 10 years...

 

[nordlead]

just to add, this would be great for headsets, cell phones, and other devices that need to be charged much more frequently.

 

[CaedenV]

my last logitech keyboard lasted 8-9 years before it finally bit the dust. Anything over 5 years is a good long life for any electronic device.

News from 12/8/2022:
Broadcom goes bankrupt after a slew of product returns originally sold in 2012/2013

 

[CaedenV]

btw, not saying that the batteries lasted 8-9 years. The batteries lasted about 1.5 years on a pair of AA batteries. Just saying that the product will wear out before the batteries do if it is used every day.

 

[theuniquegamer]

Who needs 10year battery life? May be in 10year the gadget will be changed a lot , may be we don't need the conventional battery as power source to the gadgets. A lot of change can happen in 10 years. TBH the average life of a gadget is about 5 years or so (it will be replaced very soon with newer advanced one)

 

[digitalzom-b]

[citation][nom]theuniquegamer[/nom]Who needs 10year battery life? May be in 10year the gadget will be changed a lot , may be we don't need the conventional battery as power source to the gadgets. A lot of change can happen in 10 years. TBH the average life of a gadget is about 5 years or so (it will be replaced very soon with newer advanced one)[/citation]

Would you rather they take a step back in technology and make it less efficient so you can have a 5 year battery life instead?

 

[Guest]

"or the device's expected lifespan"

I've been using my MS Natural keyboard everyday since 1996. The E and S labels have mostly worn off, but it works as well as the day I took it out of the box.

 

[willard]

[citation][nom]nordlead[/nom]just to add, this would be great for headsets, cell phones, and other devices that need to be charged much more frequently.[/citation]
Unfortunately, headsets and cell phones have basically nothing in common with a bluetooth keyboard and this advancement is barely relevant to them at all. The bluetooth components of such devices will use less power, but the devices themselves require much, MUCH more power than a keyboard.

Basically all a keyboard has to do is send and receive data over the bluetooth radio. Your cell has to power its processor, GPU, display, cellular radios, GPS, flash memory, touch input digitizer, etc.. The bluetooth component of power usage might be 1% of overall power use in a modern phone, if that much.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but this isn't going to do anything for your cell phone or headset.

 

[kenyee]

Need a followup on this when real devices ship...

 

[rosen380]

or Maybe rather than two 1.5v 3000 mAH AA batteries, they can stick in a 3v coin cell that'll still last for a couple years [at ~500-1000 mAH] and also shave off a little bulk from the keyboard?

 

[Uberragen21]

[citation][nom]willard[/nom]Unfortunately, headsets and cell phones have basically nothing in common with a bluetooth keyboard and this advancement is barely relevant to them at all. The bluetooth components of such devices will use less power, but the devices themselves require much, MUCH more power than a keyboard.Basically all a keyboard has to do is send and receive data over the bluetooth radio. Your cell has to power its processor, GPU, display, cellular radios, GPS, flash memory, touch input digitizer, etc.. The bluetooth component of power usage might be 1% of overall power use in a modern phone, if that much.Sorry to burst your bubble, but this isn't going to do anything for your cell phone or headset.[/citation]
That's not entirely true, but a good theory. We all know when you keep your cell phone's bluetooth turned on, the battery drains faster regardless of whether you are actually connected to anything. This will help reduce the amount of power the bluetooth radio transmitter / receiver consumes, therefore improving cell phone / headset battery life. Determining how much is up to someone who cares.

 

[willard]

[citation][nom]Uberragen21[/nom]That's not entirely true, but a good theory. We all know when you keep your cell phone's bluetooth turned on, the battery drains faster regardless of whether you are actually connected to anything. This will help reduce the amount of power the bluetooth radio transmitter / receiver consumes, therefore improving cell phone / headset battery life. Determining how much is up to someone who cares.[/citation]
That's why I said "barely relevant." Bluetooth doesn't use a ton of power compared to the rest of the phone, but if your phone isn't doing anything, the proportion of course goes up.

I don't know about iPhones, but on Android phones you can get a breakdown of what percentage of battery was used by which part of your phone (or app). I've never seen Bluetooth anywhere near the top of the list, or at all, really.

 

[danwat1234]

HID ; High Intensity Discharge emulation? I have HIDs on my car, they work well? They aren't running off a Broadcom chip though.

 

[Uberragen21]

[citation][nom]willard[/nom]That's why I said "barely relevant." Bluetooth doesn't use a ton of power compared to the rest of the phone, but if your phone isn't doing anything, the proportion of course goes up. I don't know about iPhones, but on Android phones you can get a breakdown of what percentage of battery was used by which part of your phone (or app). I've never seen Bluetooth anywhere near the top of the list, or at all, really.[/citation]
Yup. That's correct. I don't use my bluetooth on my Samsung phone, but on my old Crapberry, when I had my bluetooth (v 1.1) on, but not in use, the battery life was noticeably lower. I'm sure the bluetooth has improved since then, but either way any improvements are a good thing.

 

[robochump]

This needs to happen with mouse HID (Human Interface Device) since they are battery hogs!!!

 

[Guest]

Most likely companies will start using smaller and smaller batteries since less power is needed and we will only end up with similar or only slightly better battery life.

 

[Chef_Boyardee]

This is awesome. Now I am ready to switch. I've been using the same two mx518 mice since they became available. That's a long time. I was always reluctant to switch because of battery life.

 

[eddieroolz]

I doubt this, since all my mice that supposedly feature months of battery life only lasts up to a month.