Death of the AC adapter?

They don't call your laptop's AC adapter a "power brick" because it's so light and portable.

No, they call it that because the AC adapter is the dreaded bane of every traveler, a true "brick" in shape, size, and weight that is not just heavy and awkward to tote, it's also easily forgotten, left behind wherever your travels take you.

Well don't get too excited just yet, but a tantalizing technology on the near horizon may make power bricks a thing of the past. How? A new transistor technology from Fujitsu which would handle the conversion of alternating current (wall power) to direct current (which electronic devices can actually put to use) in a much smaller amount of space.

The upshot is that AC-to-DC conversion could soon be completed within the confines of your laptop itself, without the external breakout box that's currently required. All you'd need to charge up your laptop is a standard extension cord (outfit with whatever connector the machine required -- maybe we could standardize that plug while we're at it?).

The technology used replaces silicon in the transistor with gallium nitride, which offers higher electrical resistance than silicon and loses less electricity over time. That means these transistors would use less power than traditional silicon-based ones, creating less heat while reducing the "vampire" effect from which nearly all AC adapters suffer.

Fujitsu says it wants to start production of the new transistor by 2011, with the goal of integrating the technology directly into laptops by 2014. Obviously, other gadgets could take advantage of the technology as well: What cell phone user wouldn't want a brick-less power adapter to replace his current one?

Fujitsu also has eyes on the electric vehicle and home appliance markets for various applications of the technology.