most people here want a higher current,more lumens so if those manufacture can meet that needs and still compact as lithium light maybe AA light will rise once again J)
I too am a huge fan of AA lights running on Eneloops and I've searched all over for decent drivers with no real success.
I think part of the reason for lack of high powered 1AA and 2AA drivers is that most manufacturers assume that people will expect good performance on Alkaleaks and so they design accordingly. (My brother for instance was surprised at the jump in output of his 2AA Lenser when I gave him some Eneloops last year.)
As BLF members, we no doubt know better than to use alkalines but we are probably too small a market to cater to. I'd be happy with a 30min runtime on a good high output, but a light built this way would be useless on inferior cells and no doubt customers who knew no better would complain.
Armytek have a history of making very high quality lights with great drivers but they are unfortunately frustratingly slow to get them to market. I've been awaiting the Smart series since it was announced ages ago. Still waiting........
If any of the talented people in here could design a decent P60 boost driver exclusively for Eneloop quality NiMH cells I'd order a dozen but alas I fear it will never happen. Beyond my skill set......
Apart from my Zebra SC51w, I've been pretty happy with the output from my Javelin and also the Shadow mini TC6 despite it having only HIgh, Low and Strobe. Even the Balder SE-1 is pretty good for a 2AA light but I think using a 14500 in the XM-L version was what fried the driver after only a few weeks.
So no, sadly there is not a lot of innovation in the AA market at present due to the inherent capacity limitations of AA cells and most manufacturers looking for mass market appeal in this sector.
Having a Javelin myself, I can tell you that the best possible thing you can do for a Javelin is get a 3AA extender. That way, you can take it out of the ‘2AA dim zone’ and use a typical 3.0-4.2V P60 that actually has a decent output. Even with a non-XM-L based P60 (such as the one available from Dereelight), output is MUCH better with 3 cells vs two. And if you think the light will be too awkward, think again. I find that the 3AA Javelin fits REALLY well in my hand.
Matt, I actually run mine this way too when I want more runtime than the "shorty" option on a 16340 or 14500.
It's one of my favourite lights. The Dereelight XP-E dropin is the sweet spot in beam profile for me. 
coz in the megalumens wars, AA is not good ammo
I’m not going for megalumens, as i stated earlier that battery life would suck, but i would like more then the low numbers we are seeing.
Keep in mind something like an eneloop can do mega lumens if drivered properly, just for less time then li ion
Also, as with anything, there’s strength in numbers. With enough NiMH AA batteries, you can have a light that can both kick out some power and power a fairly bright emitter. There just comes the issue of at what point do you have more cells than people are willing to deal with.
Of course, I also agree with another post here made about alkaline batteries. Simply put, most AA lights (and other lights using standard, non Li-Ion batteries) are designed around the low current output of alkaline batteries. If we could have more AA lights designed around the much higher current output of NiMH batteries, we would probably have a larger selection of brighter AA lights.
i’ve had this thought many times, must design for the lowest common denominator
i wish they make like a 10x AA batetry ligths
Lights like the Olight S65 (6*AA), Nitcore EA8 (8*AA) or Fenix TK41/TK45 (8*AA) prove that it can be done but the point about people being willing to deal with changing 8 batteries is valid.
It is also expensive unless you buy during "specials". Typical price for 4-pack of Eneloops here is about $20 so you could potentially be spending $80 just on batteries for the Fenix lights if you wanted a set in the tube and a set of spares as well. $80 buys a lot of Li-Ion 18650s.
Weight - could be an issue for some. 8 AAs is a hefty package.
Balancing or tracking cell condition. With 8 AAs there is quite a risk of cell reversal on weaker batteries so you'd really need to keep them in matched sets to prevent this. This means a good charger (more expense) and numbering or other meticulous record-keeping to keep matched cells together.
Alkaleaks - not only hazardous to your flashlight and probable poor performance, but also expensive and ecologically unsound to be burning through 8 primaries at a time.
I personally think 4 AA is the sweet spot. My Nitecore EA4 is a great light (apart from the fatal switch boot problem) and the Sunwayman D40A has been getting great press as well.
AAs are still a viable option for many uses. As "enthusiasts" I think we often convince ourselves we "need" more output than we actually do. The Deerelight Javelin, Olight S15, Shadow Mini TC6 and others all put out light levels that would have been considered astounding "back in the day". It isn't any darker at night now. 
Howver, there is no doubt that with current technology (2013) emitters and drivers, Li-Ion is still required if you want to combine high output and long runtimes in one package.
In a way it is, as we get older our eyes are not as good as they once were 
Something like a cane light?
Seems no point in AA in a side by side holder vs 18650, and I miss the appeal of 2x or 3x inline vs 1x 14500.
As a modder I would love to make more mods for 1xAA Nimh, but the little boost drivers available in budget lights and as loose parts are dramatically inefficient and are ancient in UI and PWM frequency, the same drivers are used that were available 6 years ago, nothing develops. Quality brands have much better drivers now but those are not available for DIY.
I have some hope that Intl-outdoor comes up with some new developed drivers.
Something like the SC52 driver would be nice for DIY, but its a classic marketing issue, buyers of the SK68 clones are very cheap and value oriented, so top 20% by price might only make up 1 or 2% of sales volume, too small of sales to amortize improvements.
Is it possible to copy the SC52 driver and mass produce it without getting sued?
Are you suggesting that one Chinese company would steal IP from another? I'm horrified!
Or are you thinking of making drivers yourself? Just change the colour of the board - that should be enough!
All the OBDII diagnostic tools are based around a version of the PIC processor called an ELM327, and all are illegal copies as far as I know.
The reason we don’t have a mass of SC52 clones is hard to guess, but a hint might be the downward price spiral of the SK68 clones and the insanely low costs of the parts to build them in China. A driver board that costs $3 vs maybe 62 cents might drive overall costs into the middle $20 range.