Imagine having a mobile phone that never needs to be plugged into your wall socket; one that essentially charges itself. Well, computer chip giant Intel is trying to make that a reality - the firm is beavering away on some technology that will allow mobile devices to "harvest" battery power from the world around it.

It all revolves around minute sensors capable of scavenging energy from unusual sources. You can already buy a watch that runs off body heat or the movement of your arm as you go about your day-to-day life, and a couple of Nokia's concept devices (including the Morph) have used solar panels for power, and these ideas are included in Intel's research - but there's more.

According to Intel's chief technology offer Justin Rattner, the manufacturer is also looking at tech that could harness energy from the movement of a phone's trackball or - even more ingenious - from the radiation emitted from mobile phone or TV signals. So essentially your phone would be sucking power out of thin air!

Intel's sensors are likely to be several years off, sadly. "It's not on anyone's road map at this point," says Rattner. But it's nice to know it's being worked on by one of the world's leading tech firms.

Via Yahoo.com