SuVolta raises the curtain on new chip technology

Mobile devices consume a lot of power: Think of the large display on an iPad, or all the video games that can be played on cellphones.

Now a Los Gatos-based startup claims it has developed a technology that it says cuts the power consumed by microprocessors in half -- without adding cost or sacrificing performance. That would greatly extend the battery life of popular mobile devices like smartphones and tablets.
SuVolta officially emerges from "stealth mode," the state of secrecy startups often maintain before they are ready to launch a product, Monday. The company, which has 45 employees and is hiring research scientists and engineers, is backed by venture firms NEA, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and August Capital.
SuVolta is not making chips but licensing its PowerShrink technology to leading semiconductor companies like Japan's Fujitsu, which it revealed as its first licensee. The PowerShrink platform addresses the primary cause of excess power consumption by minimizing the electrical variation of the millions of transistors on a chip.
"When you play 'Angry Birds' on your phone, the battery is dead after an hour," said SuVolta CEO Bruce McWilliams. "But if the chip power consumption is cut in half, you can put twice as much stuff on there and use it longer."