Cap-XX & Murata partner to improve cellphone sound and photo-flash

Stuart Corner
Monday, 31 March 2008 06:56

Business IT - Technology

Supercapacitors can significantly improve cellphone performance - particularly flash for cameraphones and audio quality - and Australian manufacturer Cap-XX has signed a partnership with Japanese manufacturer Murata that it says will boost the implementation of this technology in future handsets, and the development of the next generation of supercapacitors.

Murata Manufacturing Corporation of Japan is a global company specialising in the development, manufacture and supply of electronic components for a broad spectrum of industries, including the mobile handset industry. Under the partnership it will undertake mass production, sales and marketing of Cap-XX developed supercapacitors and the two companies will jointly develop the next generation of supercapacitor products.

Cap-XX CEO Anthony Kongats, said the partnership would enable Cap_XX to meet customers' requirements such as quality, volume and product specifications. "This partnership with Murata is a critical step for CAP-XX, as Murata is able to support us in many fields of the business value chain such as mass production, sales and marketing and new product development."

CAP-XX claims to be a world leader in the design and manufacture of thin form supercapacitors and energy management systems, predominantly for portable electronic devices. "The unique feature of CAP-XX's supercapacitors is their ability to store high volumes of energy and output high power levels within a thin form design. These attributes will be critical for the next generation of high volume, power-hungry portable electronic devices, including mobile phones."

iTWire last year reported that demand for supercapacitors to drive high intensity flash in cameraphones was forecast to grow significantly. We quoted Stuart Robinson, director of handset component technologies for technology market research firm Strategy Analytics, saying: "Consumers want their cellphones to be as good as their digital still cameras and produce clear pictures even in low light. We estimate that over the next three years high-powered LED flash in cellphones will grow at an annual average rate of 155 percent, and will be in over 70 percent of all camera phones by 2010.

Supercapacitors can also improve audio quality in portable music devices by enabling sound power peaks to be delivered without distortion-inducing voltage drops associated with battery power. And last June we reported Kongats saying that he expected Cap-XX supercapacitors to be incorporated in cellphones for this purpose during 2008.