Leader: Longer battery life, please

silicon.com does not, as our regular readers know, review hardware such as laptops, mobile phones and PDAs (we leave that to our sister site CNET.co.uk).

But as our readers (and indeed the silicon.com staff) are frequent users of all of the above, we do keep an eye on developments in consumer tech.

Our main complaint? Battery life - especially for laptops but also for mobiles. They just don't last long enough.

We know we're not alone. While hardware makers focus on bells-and-whistles, such as cameras, ringtones and sleek design, business users have long been crying out for better basics: longer batter life, clearer screens, wireless that works.

So it's reassuring to see the tide is finally turning.

Today O2 announced the new Jet phone, the main selling point of which is - you guessed it - impressive battery life.

HP has also said it's working on extending batter life for its laptops, PDAs and smart phones due to customer demands. HP's CTO of the personal systems group, Phil McKinney said they hear their users want to "go several days" without charging devices.

Others too, such as Intel, took a while to get on board but have now made power management a priority.

Let's hope we'll soon see the fruits of these labours. Better late than never right?

Which feature would you most like to see improved on your portable devices? Battery life? Or something else? Let us know by posting a Reader Comment below or emailing editorial@silicon.com.