A battery that doesn’t need recharging and runs cool is an iPhone owner’s dream and it may become a reality. Such a battery – called a beta voltaic battery – was invented in research activity funded by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory. It works by nuclear decay, which probably sounds hazardous to you, but apparently it isn’t. When a neutron decays into a proton it emits an electron. If the electron hits a two layer semiconductor interface then current can be generated. For a more detailed explanation, and a picture if you need one, read Scientists Invent 30 Year Continuous Power Laptop Battery.

The story I’ve linked to suggests that the battery will be commercialized within 2-3 years. Will it really? I ‘ll believe it if it happens, but batteries are big business and ones that last half a life-time will kill the whole market. But then again there’s the possibility of using such devices to power cars. Maybe the need trumps vested interest in this case. We shall see.

Skype and eBay

Nobody could ever explain to me why eBay’s purchase of Skype made any sense and I far from alone in thinking the acquisition was bizarre. The news broke yesterday that eBay has got nothing worthwhile from it. Well, duh!

Anyway, Skype now has a few million more users on-line than it did 2 years ago when it was acquired, so the momentum continues. eBay should sell it on to someone who could make a business from it. I’m thinking Google, Yahoo! -  even Microsoft.

Joost Another TV Web Site

Meanwhile the two founders of Skype moved onto video quite a while ago. Their project has been surrounded with hype since it began – because of their record of success; i.e. both KaZaa and Skype. Originally dubbed the Venice Project, their new venture came to market as Joost and has been in beta since January. Joost is a free P2P TV service with limited content. As far as I can tell there’s nothing compelling about it. There are lots of such sites out there.

We’re done here.