It turns out that improving battery life of netbooks by actively improving the technology of the battery is one way of tackling the situation. The other one is to simply make energy efficient displays that would require less juice and thus the netbook would last longer on a single charge.
Wired writes: “Mary Lou Jepsen, designer of nonprofit One Laptop Per Child’sfamous green-and-white XO netbook, has plans to ship energy-efficient screens for laptops and e-books in the second half of 2009″. See more at: Notebooks Could Run 40 Hours With Power-Saving Displays
Battery life is the biggest concern for most netbook and laptop owners and companies are racing for the longest running mobile computer unit. I personally am looking forward to the day when I can travel from the East Coast to my relatives in Brisbane on a single battery charge!