One of the holy grails of technology has always been wireless power. I’ve long believed that the first person to invent wireless electricity will probably be the first trillionaire. I mean think about it, imagine no more plugging in wires to charge devices. No matter where you are, your gadgets and other electrical devices will charge. While this is certainly very convenient, it also has some life-saving applications as well. Wireless power would mean that you wouldn’t have to worry about your phone dying in the middle of a 911 call. Or if you’re stuck somewhere and need directions, your cell would always have the power to make the call.
Nokia has made one step closer to realizing this potential by introducing a wirelessly powered device. Now, it certainly doesn’t have enough power to charge while making calls or anything, but it is thought to be able to generate (harness is a better word, I suppose) enough electricity to charge itself slowly while in standby mode. Although the details are a little sketchy, it appears to be using ambient radio waves that are certainly plentiful no matter where you go. The way the technology is being initially marketed is that if you leave your phone on overnight in standby mode, it’ll be charged when you wake up. Heavy users will probably have to still charge their phone via wires every once in a while, but for casual talkers, this is truly some excellent news.
I really like the prospect of this technology as it may work to reduce the chance of a cell phone dying during a 911 call. Even if this technology could extend the call five seconds, that may be just enough to state your location or the symptoms you’re experiencing. Remember that in these types of situations, a few seconds here or there can make the difference between life and death.
Nokia is expecting to be able to unveil this technology commercially within the next three to five years although I really hope they can do this a little sooner. It’s really amazing to think that one day we may never have to worry about charging cell phones or laptops again!
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Tags: 911 Call, Applications, Cell Phone, Electrical Devices, First Person, gadgets, Holy Grails, Invent, Life And Death, nokia, Radio Waves, Standby Mode, Talkers, Technology, Trillionaire, Wireless Electricity
I read about this a little while back in an edition of New Scientist. It’s really quite extraordinary and very, very practical. It’s a shame that the radio waves aren’t powerful enough to have your device charge as you use but to implement them for harnessing electrical power is genius. I don’t entirely know the logistics of it, but as the mass switch-over to digital is taking place on a global scale those old radio frequencies are going unused and this is certainly the most consumer-orientated use for them. The next step is obviously to look at the entire range of the electro-magnetic spectrum and assess where the best place to initiate a new power-transmission-frequency. Of course, we already light to some extent; solar power. And infra-red is an effective source of energy on a hot day but perhaps there could be a way to emit low doses of ultra-violet across the Earth. The higher frequency would mean more effective charging and low doses would reduce the risk of skin-cancer, though it wouldn’t eliminate it entirely and with the addition of the sun it could actually see a potentially high increase.
The solution then, as I see it, is to create hybrid-wireless-charging technologies. By summer, the device could harness the natural UV, visible and infra-red light emitted by the sun while still picking up on those dormant radio frequencies; and by winter, artificial low-dosage UV and radio frequencies could be used as delivery for all that energy.
Either way, I can’t wait. My current laptop gets drained of energy within only thirty minutes of use away from a plug socket. The sooner they effectively get wireless powered devices on the market, the happier I’ll be to take my laptop for a trip to the seaside; it’s an idea I’ve toyed with – soft, gentle flow of the ocean waters against the rocks while the soothing lyrics of KT Tunstall serenade me from my headphones, to the backdrop of a gorgeous setting sun, and there I shall sit content and writing some new work of fiction…
I shouldn’t leave comments on the internet… I tend to ramble. Loving the report, though.