An oxyride battery is an especially powerful, long lasting battery developed by Matsushita Electric Industrial of Tokyo for Panasonic. The oxyride battery is 1.5 times as powerful as a regular alkaline battery, allowing extended use of high-drain battery-powered devices such as digital cameras, with the ability to take up to twice as many digital pictures. Flashes also recover quicker and pictures can be taken faster. The extra power of the oxyride battery might also deliver enhanced bass in audio players, according to some.

Oxyride batteries use updated alkaline chemistry that includes a finer grained graphite and manganese dioxide, allowing a denser fill of material. With an advanced substance for the cathode or negative (-) side, called oxy nickel hydroxide the batteries maintain higher voltage. Oxyride batteries also utilize a breakthrough vacuum-pouring technology in the production process, allowing more electrolyte to be packed into each battery for increased durability. Hence, increased power and a longer life!

The oxyride battery was first introduced to the Japanese market in 2004 and has boasted an impressive demonstration, powering the 9.5 foot (2.9 meter) 'Oxyride' car. The car, built especially for the demonstration and resembling a torpedo with three bicycle wheels, carried a 110 pound (50 kilogram) female passenger laying luge-style under the drop-top canopy. Powered by two AA oxyride batteries, it traveled 213 feet (65 meters) in 74 seconds, and went a total of three quarters of a mile (1.23 kilometers) before the batteries ran dry.

In more practical terms, toy trucks will run faster, PDA's will compute longer, powered toothbrushes will brush longer, and MP3 players will crank out more tunes. In fact, with the advent of more and more digital products that require a battery power source, the oxyride battery promises a brighter and longer-lasting future.

The Panasonic brand of oxyride battery is called 'Digital Xtreme Power' and the AA and AAA oxyrides will cost about 10% more than their normal counterpart alkaline batteries.