Prototype Nokia phone recharges without wires

It’s indeed going to be one of the major breakthroughs in wireless technology. We have our technological update on the highest limit of wireless energy transmission and even the idea of recharging our laptops, mobile phones etc. without a wire seems a bit too far to conceive in near future.

Nokia, however, has taken a commendable initiative in exploring the idiosyncrasies of wireless utilization of electromagnetic waves and has come up with a mobile phone which has capabilities of recharging itself practically from thin air! This incredible piece of work is said to capture the ambient radio waves and turn them into usable energy for running the cell phone. The amount of energy is just sufficient to maintain the juice in the cell.

Nokia is different from the conventional wireless power systems which typically had transmitters, receivers and were specific to particular frequency ranges. This technology does not discriminate between frequencies of energy waves and utilizes all orders of TV and radio waves to churn useful energy for itself. Using these waves is, in a way, a good idea because these waves are theoretically an inexhaustible energy source which otherwise have been getting wasted till now by continuous bouncing and reflecting. The second good reason is that they are all around us at all times, unless one is not stuck somewhere deep under the ground where radio waves can’t be reached.

What the cell exactly does is that it absorbs these pieces of electromagnetic energy and converts them into electric current. This current is further used to charge the mobile phone. It is noteworthy that the fraction of electromagnetic energy utilized here for recharging is typically a small amount.  To be specific, Nokia is able to tap only 5 milliwatts from the ambient radiation till now. The company however, targets to be able to use up to 20 milliwatts after the first developmental phase and up to 50 milliwatts down the line.  This amount of current is pretty less and not enough to keep your mobile up during an active call. But it can surely recharge the cell slowly while it is in stand by mode.

Nokia is hopeful to market this technology by the next three to five years.