There's always a breakthrough coming in the battery division. I'm in materials and you can't throw a stone here without hitting someone who is working on some cutting-edge battery technology. The media is always catching wind of some laboratory-scale miracle device that for technical or practical reasons never sees the end of an assembly line.

There's no reason to believe there will be a revolutionary improvement in battery technology anytime soon. We are already using one of the most efficient chemistries possible (lithium *), and the possible improvements to overcome materials limitations are generally evolutionary rather than revolutionary.

Back on topic: i sure hope not. Even more than capacitive screens, it would represent a change based on management decisions rather than good sense.