In what seems to be a first of its kind, Nokia has applied for a patent for a technology that would allow future cellphones to charge themselves up - without the need for a power socket.
Ever since mobile phones shed off their image as basic communications devices to become multimedia powerhouses, battery life has been a cause of concern. As the processing power and features grow exponentially, the rate of growth of battery technology to charge these power hungry devices is almost at a standstill. It then becomes imperative that we look for alternate sources to power our phones rather than just depending on a power adapter. This is what Nokia has done.
The concept of this new device involves the use of heavy components inside the phone being supported on a sturdy frame. The frame will be able to move along two sets of rails, giving it the ability travel up and down (or side by side). These rails have strips of piezoelectric crystals at each end. These will generate electricity to charge the device whenever they are compressed using a capacitor that will briefly store the generated electricity and use that to charge the battery. This also means that the natural movement of the phones during travel and the times when they are inside our pockets, these piezoelectric crystals could be at work - slowly charging our phones.
This is just at the conceptual stage and there is no word if this design and concept will ever make it to a mainstream production Nokia.
