Week-long tablet battery is 5 years away

Woes over constantly recharging a tablet computer or smartphone may dissipate in the near future, as US scientists believe they are on the path to creating a new battery that lasts up to one week on a single charge.

According to the BBC, engineers from Northwestern University in Chicago are developing a battery that can be fully charged in just 15 minutes with enough juice to carry it through an entire week.

Achieving the longer and faster charge required the scientists to make several adjustments to the configuration of the lithium-ion battery itself. For example, according to the BBC, scientists poked millions of tiny holes in the battery, which allow more ions to fit inside and move in a more efficient way.

"Even after 150 charges, which would be one year or more of operation, the battery is still five times more effective than lithium-ion batteries on the market today," says lead scientist Harold Kung, according to the news provider.

Kung estimates that the batteries will be available for commercial use by 2016. Extending the battery life could be a huge breakthrough for tablet and smartphone technology, as the need to recharge frequently is often cited as one of the main frustrations with the devices.