To infinity and beyond! We are living in very interesting times as far as technology is concerned, but the scarily pleasant part is that this is just the tip of a very big iceberg, so to speak.
Now it is hard to deny that Nokia has been one of the pioneers of the mobile industry. The Finnish telecommunication titan may have made things tough for itself recently, but when it comes to research and innovation, the company still live up to its name.
News emerged a few years back that the company’s researchers were working on means to wirelessly charge devices from a distance. It seems that the exploration of this new technology has continued.
According to WMPowerUser, the company’s smartphones may get this new technology in the next few years that would allow for infinite standby time without the need to recharge smartphone and devices.
The idea is not new actually, and has been around for more than a century.
This wireless transfer of energy attempts to harvest ambient radiowaves that surround us — things like weak TV, radio and cell phone signals. A wide-band antenna then picks up these frequencies ranging from 500 megahertz to 10 gigahertz. Epic!
Two additional circuits have to be placed in devices, though. One that picks up and transforms the signals into electricity, and another that then feeds the electricity to the smartphone’s battery.
However, research teams have managed to harvest only 5 milliwatts of electricity, meaning enough to keep a smartphone alive forever when idle. To actually recharge the battery inside a smartphone, researchers will have to harvest at least 50 milliwatts out of thin air.
That would mean limitless power — depending on the usage of the device, of course.
They are now looking to increase the harvest to at least 20 milliwatts, and then come up with the needed assembly so that they can put this technology in smartphones.
A technology like this could have striking implications in the corporate sector as enterprises are now paying increased attention on efficient power management.
