Professor Keon Jae Lee at the Korean Advanced Institute Of Science And Technology created a solid-state flexible battery that retains is energy level when folded, spindled, and or mildly mutilated. The battery could mean future ereaders and tablets could be paper thin and partially foldable, ushering in interesting new device designs.
These rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are actually printed on a thin film. Applying battery material to rollable displays has been a big problem for the gadget manufacturers thus far but this breakthrough could change the way we think about surfaces, screens, and case materials.
As you can see from the video, the thin film battery can be bent over and over again without reducing voltage output. Professor Lee expects this technology to be part of “next-generation fully flexible electronic systems” but there was no discussion of potential commercial adoption. I guess we’ll just have to wait for our EZ Roll Soft-Style iPods for another few years.