Cap-xx Regulatory News (CPX)

28 Feb 2007 18:06

CAP-XX Limited (LSE:CPX) today announced that EDN has selected itssupercapacitor-based BriteFlash(TM) LED flash power architecture as afinalist for this year's EDN Innovation Awards. Specifically, theultra-thin CAP-XX GS206 dual-cell supercapacitor was selected in thePower Sources category for its ability to power multiple high-currentLEDs in a camera phone to produce a flash that can take clear picturesin low light or backlit conditions, such as in restaurants, bars orother places where people socialize. £ Instituted in 1990, EDN's Innovation Awards honor the people,products and technologies that have shaped the semiconductor industryover the past year. Nominees must have demonstrated innovation thatresulted in a significant advance in technology during the past 12months. "Our 2006 roster of Innovation finalists includes greatproducts across the analog, digital, software and test spaces," statesEDN Editor-in-Chief Maury Wright. £ EDN will recognize the winners at a ceremony on April 2, 2007 inSan Jose, Calif. For information on all nominees in the 17 categories:http://www.edn.com/innovation £ "We are honored that EDN has nominated our supercapacitors forthis award," said CAP-XX CEO Anthony Kongats. "This achievementrecognizes our dedication to developing unique power solutions formobile devices, which continue to shrink in size but increase infunctionality." £ CAP-XX BriteFlash(TM) LED Flash Power Architecture for CameraPhones: £ To achieve full light intensity, high-current LEDs need up to 400%more power than a phone battery can provide. In CAP-XX'sBriteFlash(TM) architecture, a thin, prismatic GS206 supercapacitor(0.55-farad, 50-milliohm) delivers 15 watts of pulse power to theLEDs, compared to a battery which can only deliver 1 - 2 watts. Thisproduces enough flash power to take clear pictures in low light fromup to 3 meters away. The battery is only needed to recharge thesupercapacitor for 2 seconds between flashes. £ "BriteFlash maximizes performance from our Luxeon(R) Flash LEDs sothat cell phone users get superior image quality," said Danny Yu, VPBusiness Development at Philips Lumileds. £ As an alternative to LED flash, some camera phones use xenon flashtubes driven by electrolytic storage capacitors. CAP-XX compared theseflash solutions - xenon vs. high-current LEDs powered by asupercapacitor - and showed that the light energy delivered by theBriteFlash(TM) LEDs exceeded that of most xenon flashes. Furthermore,the bulky electrolytic storage capacitor required for xenon flashunits 1) compromises slim handset design, 2) causes safety concernsdue to the high voltages involved, 3) takes a long time to rechargebetween flashes (8 seconds in the Sony Ericsson K800 tested), and 4)cannot be used for other power management needs within the phone. Onthe other hand, a thin supercapacitor 1) fits a slim handset, 2) haslow voltage and no safety concerns, 3) takes only 2 seconds torecharge between flashes, and 4) can offload peak power demands fromthe battery to improve talk time, battery life and audio quality. Formore information on this study:http://www.cap-xx.com/news/Press_Release_Comparing_Light_Energy_from_Xenon_vs_LEDs_in_Camera_Phones.pdf (Due to its length, this URL mayneed to be copied/pasted into your Internet browser's address field.Remove the extra space if one exists.) £ "We have seen images taken with well-known camera-phone modelsboth with and without CAP-XX's supercapacitor-enabled BriteFlash LEDflash and the differences are dramatic," said Tony Henning, MobileImaging Analyst, 6Sight(TM) Future of Imaging. "Subjects up to 10 feetfrom the camera are well-illuminated with the CAP-XX solution and allbut pitch black without." £ About CAP-XX: £ CAP-XX Ltd. is a world leader in the design and manufacture ofthin, flat supercapacitors and power architectures for portableelectronic devices. Supercapacitors resolve the power and performancelimitations of batteries, bridging the gap between the power demandedand that available from a battery. £ CAP-XX supercapacitors enable manufacturers to make smaller,thinner, longer-running portable electronics such as cell phones,PDAs, medical devices, AMRs and notebooks. The company, which islisted on the Alternative Investment Markets (AIM) in London, is basedin Sydney, Australia, has additional production facilities inMalaysia, and sales offices in London, UK, South Carolina, USA andTaipei, Taiwan. For more information visit http://www.cap-xx.com oremail sales@cap-xx.com. £ Note: For flash comparisons, electrolytic storage capacitor andsupercapacitor comparisons, diagrams and photographs:http://www.cap-xx.com/news/photogallery.htm Copyright Business Wire 2007