Talk and charge : A radical way to charge your mobile phone!

We had a phone which can be charged with sun, one with hand, one with bicycle and one with body heat. Now we have one which can charge a phone with your own voice.

Remember the campaign run by IDEA cellular – Walk and talk. A novel campaign to keep your health in check while talking on the mobile. What if we were to say that you can walk, talk and charge your mobile all at the same time. I know. We got one expression : “What an idea sirjee”. South Korean engineers has devised a way to convert sound energy to electrical energy. Their solution will use not just your voice but background noise and even music to charge your phone. This is still in prototype stage and so far they were able to convert 100 decibel sound to 50 millivolts of electricity. Not enough to charge the mobile but they aren’t very far. With some change of materials, they should be able to generate more power.
photo © 2010 Funkdooby | more info (via: Wylio)

The technology uses tiny strands of zinc oxide sandwiched between two electrodes. A sound absorbing pad on top vibrates when sound waves hit it, causing the tiny zinc oxide wires to compress and release. This movement generates electrical current that can then be used to charge a battery. (ET)

The technology looks promising and useful. There were various concepts around charging a mobile phone. Nokia had a concept phone with a copper background which can be used to transmit body heat and charge the phone. ideaForge an Indian startup had one of the promising ways of charging a mobile phone with hand. Nokia had a bicycle kit which can be used to charge a mobile phone.

Getting charge from sound waves would just be incredible. We just have to see what accessories are needed and what the cost would be. This looks like a long process. Until then can we get a universal charger at the very least?