Nokia Developing Ambient Radio Wave Powered Cell Phones

Solar-powered cell phone prototypes and rumors abound, but Nokia has a battery-less alternative power source for our cell phones lined up: radio waves. The company told MIT's Technology Review that it is working on technology to suck up enough power from ambient radio waves emitted by Wi-Fi transmitters, cell phone antennas, and television masts to keep a cell phone charged.

The Nokia Research Centre in Cambridge, UK is currently working on a phone prototype that can harness ambient radio waves otherwise known as electromagnetic radiation from antennas, TV masts, WiFi transmitters among others as a source of power. Like a typical RFID tag, the technology can convert electromagnetic waves into electric signals which it harnesses for power. Current prototype of the device can harness 3 to 5 milliwatts of electricity; far from the target 50 milliwatts needed to power a cell phone.

If Nokia's technology works, it could be used in a range of electronic devices. MP3 players, for example, use 100 milliwatts of power and could easily be recharged by Nokia's radio wave power. Nokia plans to release the technology in three to five years, probably as an add-on to solar cell-equipped phones.

(June 10, 2009)

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