A new battery recipe... from Panasonic. Bloomberg Boot Camp, a report on today's technology. It's the biggest complaint from owners of digital cameras. They don't have to buy film anymore... .but they wind up spending more than they're saving on batteries. Panasonic... has come up with a new formula that it says tops other batteries in digital cameras by a wide margin... lasting three to five times longer than the competition. The new line is called PowerEdge. Senior marketing manager Brian Kimberlin... says it includes one additional ingredient...

"Basically to give it some more juice and specifically again, for those digital cameras. Digital cameras require the most power out of any portable electronics device out there today. So again, from our expertise and experience in seeing where the market was going... we came up with this additional additive and it shows three to five times longer lasting performance than any alkaline."

But the real growth in battery sales is in rechargeables. If you have a digital camera, they make the most sense despite the initial high cost. The PowerEdge line might make for a handy set of spare batteries if the ones you can recharge run out of juice when you need them. Panasonic has a high performance line there as well and hopes to increase its market share... .

"Panasonic worldwide is the largest manufacturer of batteries. We are number one in Asian countries which includes Japan, number three in Europe and our goal in the United States is to be number one."

Even though its batteries are not as well known as those from companies like Duracell and Energizer. Bloomberg Boot Camp, I'm Fred Fishkin.