Battery-Free Wireless Controllers Next Gen? Maybe This Gen.

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silicon said:

binary solo said:

silicon said:
Wait... that sounds like it still has a battery.

It's a battery Jim but not as we know it. If your device will always be used within range of the transmitter then there won't be any need for a traditional battery. Unlike a mobile phone which you will be taking out of transmitter range all the time. Sounds cool.

So much for Yahoo's "don't by a PS3 because the battery in the controller will fail" advice. Next year there won't be a battery in the controller for it to fail on you.

Batteries are a bit of an environmental nasty, even the ones in wireless controllers, because you've eventually got to throw them out. Anything that removes the need for batteries and their chemicals without affecting useability of a device is a good move.

Imagine my electric lawn mower not needing to have a cord running from the house to the mower, or not having a battery that loses it's charge 7/8ths of the way through mowing the lawns.

Chances are mobile phones will use the same technology. The first step is wire-less charging. I think some phones use magnetic chargers. The idea is you have a plater that you put your devices on and they all charge, but the charging is wire-less. This is being done to remove the need for standardized cords and the fact that people generally have several devices that require charging.

I thought the European Parliament passed a law requiring all cell phones sold within the EU to use a single format charging port by 2010 or 2011? I'm certainly looking forward to that day, though we'll still need multiple charge cables because we'lkl want to charge more than one thing at a time. It will be good when wireless charging achieves mass market penetration, so all re-chargeable products will incorporate it.