Nokia bringing wirless and accessory free charging to a device near you in 3 to 4 years?

In what perhaps is the “holy grail” of battery technology, wireless charging has fascinated scientists and tech nerds alike for some time. While improved battery technologies that allow longer run times between charges and different methods such as accessory aided wireless charging (more or less Palm Pre and Touchstone), the coolest and biggest goal to reach is that of wireless, accessory free charging. To put it in more lamens terms, pulling battery juice right out of thin air. Is it starting to sound like a science fiction movie?

The technology that Nokia is said to be developing towards a not too distant release relies on RFID tags and their ability to pull electricity from the surrounding air that is cast out by other objects around, such as radio towers, WiFi routers, etc. The number of power they’re reaching for is 50 miliwatts. While electricians and nerds will quickly come to the realization that this isn’t enough to charge a phone in use, it is enough to slow a battery’s discharge rate as well as possibly even *slowly* charge a phone that is turned off.

Nokia has quite a rough road ahead however as current prototypes of RFID-based, wireless, accessory free charging are currently maxing out at 5 miliwatts which is for all intents and purposes, worthless. Still, you’ve got to start somewhere. Nokia is taking the extremely optimistic road even amidst critics who say the technology is years upon years away from prime time by claiming that they could see and very well have the technology ready withing 3-4 years! Not a small claim in the least. Here’s to hoping Nokia can pull it off. Babysitting an outlet isn’t as fun as it used to be, is it?

Source: Gizmodo, Technology Review, Image Source