Remote Controls, Without the AAA Batteries.

Smartphones, tablets and other portable devices that need electricity rely on batteries that use a chemical reaction. But Maxwell Technologies, a company in San Diego, announced Tuesday that it was providing devices for television remote controls that store electricity without chemicals.

The devices, called ultracapacitors, are a little smaller than the two AAA batteries they will replace. They can recharge within minutes and have a life span that will probably outlast the remote control, said Michael W. Sund, a spokesman for the company.

Maxwell said it was approached by Celadon, a company that makes remote controls for set-top boxes, with a request for a power system that could work with a remote control.