Micro Power Bolsters Safety Standard for Portable Battery Systems; Portable Power Solutions Expert Upgrades Lithium Battery Packs Designed to Boost Safety and Eliminate Dangerous Failures or Malfunctions

HILLSBORO, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 24, 2006--Micro Power, the global leader in portable power solutions for mission-critical equipment, today announced several upgrades to SecuraPack(TM), its custom lithium battery pack designed to optimize battery system reliability and product safety. The SecuraPack brand offers OEM customers a premium solution with a customized, high-performance -- and most importantly, safe -- battery system that is resistant to dangerous malfunctions.

Micro Power raises the safety standard in battery system reliability with SecuraPack to virtually eliminate the risk of unwanted electrochemical reactions and electrical failures. Specific upgrades include authentication, redundant protection circuits and Li-ion cells designed with enhanced safety.

With the recent increase in the catastrophic failure of battery packs associated with improper charging of counterfeit rechargeable batteries, aftermarket batteries have resulted in injuries and tarnished brand names. The implementation of a challenge/response authentication system that prevents the use of an invalid battery pack can remedy these problems. SecuraPack implements authentication with a small microcontroller embedded in the battery pack that communicates with the processor resident in the host device. Authentication will protect against not only the accidental Micro Power Bolsters Safety Standard for Portable Battery Systems use of an inappropriate battery pack, but also against intentional copying of battery packs by making the reverse engineering of the system prohibitively expensive.

In addition, SecuraPack's enhanced safety features include protection circuitry that will disable the battery pack in the event of temperatures or currents that are out of spec. However, some batteries are so crucial to a device that only dangerous events, such as thermal runaway or a short circuit, should disable the battery pack. SecuraPack's patent-pending redundant protection circuit design has two protection circuits and if one fails due to a non-safety cause, the parallel circuit can continue to operate. The battery pack is disabled only when both circuits experience a common failure event, threatening safety.

Micro Power Electronics only employs cells manufactured with the highest quality standards. SecuraPack features state-of-the-art cells with enhanced safety. Li-ion batteries offer the best energy density of any rechargeable battery chemistry, but they are dependent on a polymer separator to inhibit internal shorting of the anode and cathode. Now cells are available with separators that have a heat-resistant layer, which prevents hole expansion, in the event of a puncture. In addition, new solid solution cathode materials raise the temperature at which thermal runaway occurs. Micro Power Electronics has qualified these cells to its stringent standards and has designed several battery packs incorporating them.

"These upgrades to the SecuraPack brand demonstrate that Micro Power is continuing its commitment to provide the most up-to-date solutions that address its clients' critical portable power needs,"said Jeffrey VanZwol, Micro Power marketing manager. "This enhanced, custom power solution encompasses all the crucial elements that OEMs dealing with mission critical portable applications demand including safety, reliability and performance."

Micro Power serves one of the electronics industry's fastest growing sectors -- power solutions for portable, handheld devices for the medical, Automatic Identification and Data Collection (AIDC), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), data management and commercial military markets. Micro Power is a United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) registered supplier of custom battery systems for portable medical equipment.

About SecuraPack

SecuraPack is a branded combination of custom battery pack technology and specialized manufacturing processes which produces a primary or rechargeable lithium battery system that virtually eliminates the risk of unwanted electrochemical reactions and electrical failures. SecuraPack features the use of premium lithium cells, performance testing of all cells selected for each pack, pack operation over extended temperature ranges, ultrasonic welding of pack enclosures, production testing of full functionality of embedded circuitry, and compliance with the IEEE Standard 1625-2004 on Rechargeable Batteries for Portable Computers. For more information, visit www.micro-power.com or call 800-576-6177.

About Micro Power Electronics, Inc.

Micro Power Electronics, Inc. is an ISO 9001:2000 certified and FDA registered supplier of custom battery systems for the portable medical, rugged handheld computing, and data collection equipment markets. As a pioneer in the development of Lithium battery systems and smart battery packs, with over 20 years of experience developing battery solutions, Micro Power is capable of meeting the most challenging power requirements. With a proven track record of technical excellence, quality solutions and award-winning service, Micro Power has become the fastest growing supplier of custom battery systems in North America. For more information, please visit www.micro-power.com or call 800-576-6177.