For battery nerds, the batteries as announced boast a power density of 1800W/kg (20A continuous discharge). Sony is using olivine-type lithium iron phosphate as the cathode material, which Sony characterized as being “extremely suited for use as a cathode material due to its robust crystal structure and stable performance, even at high temperatures.”
The company said that this new battery technology will first appear in…power tools, with shipments having already started in June of 2009. “Mobile electronic devices” will soon follow, however, though no time table was offered.
In other words, these batteries could come an iPod, iPhone, iPad, iPod Extreme, MacBook Air, or similar device near you, at some point in the future.