(Image source: USPTO)

BY JJ BAILEY AND NATHAN GIANNINI

ANCHOR CHRISTINA HARTMAN

Apple may have lost its iconic leader, but the company is still on the cutting edge. This time, it’s in the energy department. Here’s the Today Show with details. 

“Tech blogs are buzzing over Apple's reported plans to create new sources of energy for its products. The company has filed patents for a hydrogen fuel cell technology to produce lighter batteries that will last for days or even weeks. Love that.”

While Apple cited a few reasons for its move, dependence on international actors seems to be a big one. The Telegraph highlights that particular part of the patent application.

“Our country’s continuing reliance on fossil fuels has forced our government to maintain complicated political and military relationships with unstable governments in the Middle East, and has also exposed our coastlines and our citizens to the associated hazards of offshore drilling.”

The new power source would satisfy the green camp as well, because the cells will use hydrogen and oxygen to produce power, leaving water as a byproduct. 

SmartPlanet says the technology is already in use in certain industries, but bringing it to personal electronics would be a groundbreaking achievement. 

“So far, fuel cell technology has been used in NASA space satellites and certain types of vehicles such as cars, boats and submarines. There have even been some fuel cell products developed to charge electronics, but they are usually used for portable charging, meaning the consumer carries a fuel cartridge to recharge a portable device.”

And the Daily Mail is looking at new CEO Tim Cook. The paper notes this could be his breakthrough moment, and help pass the torch from one Apple visionary to another. 

“While the iPhone 4S was released after the death of legendary Apple founder Steve Jobs in October, a technological breakthrough like an entirely different battery would be a massive upswing for the company. The new iPhone 5 is still on the imminent horizon, as initial predictions put its release date at sometime in late December.”

Apple has not given a concrete date for when this technology would hit the market. At this point it’s just a patent filing.