the big info missing on this is radiation source, and radiation type.

note the illustration on the right:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioac...Types_of_decay

alpha and beta radiation can be stopped by paper and aluminum respectively, gamma however is the nasty one that can only be stopped by lead or similar dense substance.

I think it goes without saying that they're not going to be using gamma radiation sources in a power pack.intended for consumer electronics. lol

There are as many battery technologies out there in the investigation stage as their are academic grants to fuel them. I don't hold out high hopes for any of them in the near future. I would much rather Nokia invested in something like the Toshiba fuel cell technology"

http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/06/t...nes-at-ceatec/

I am also pleased that Nokia has invested in the Qi wireless power technology and I hope to see it in the N910.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/02/n...er-consortium/

Even after these new technologies reach production stage, it's often just one company making them, defending it vigorously through patents, and setting prices like their monopoly situation allows...

Yes, they want money invested in r&d back. Who would do r&d if nobody couldn't gain money from it?

most real R&D these days are done at universities, then the students patent in private and spin a company around it.

xerox parc and similar is very rare these days...

LOL "the students patent in private". Not in my neck of the woods. Any IP that comes up during research has been claimed several times over by the funding entity (usually a company these days), school, and principal investigator.

True. The unfortunate thing is that much of the research is publicly funded. Now if governments would just write into grants that patent rights reverted to the public domain in two or three years, we could move forward more expeditiously.