Solar-Powered iPhone? Apple Patent Application Raises The Prospect

Fresh on the heels of the new 3G iPhone rumors comes an even more exciting prospect: a solar-powered iPhone (from Times Online):

Apple has filed a patent for a technology which would enable a layer of solar cells to be inserted under a touch-sensitive screen of the sort used in the iPhone...

...There is usually little room for solar panels on portable devices, once space taken up by the screen and keypad is taken into account - a fact which has plagued previous attempts to power MP3 players and mobile phones via the sun.

Apple's patent would get round the problem by stacking the solar cells underneath both the touch-sensitive screen and the LCD, according to The New York Times. That would potentially allow the full 2.4 by 4.5 inch glass face of the iPhone to operate as a solar panel.

Comments

[HatingTheGame]

Hmmm... wonder if these will still fry your brain with EMR? Perhaps not because no battery source, but maybe because still discharging.

Anyone have any thoughts?

[astein1]

yeah, you're an idiot.

[CaptainHowdy]

Another Apple commercial on HuffPo disguised as a news story.

[newshawk14]

The granting of this patent, is one of the clearest examples of what has gone wrong with the US
Patent Office. It is utterly obvious to anyone skilled in the art. We've had solar powered calculators
and other devices for years. Whether or not one comes up with a solar powered phone, is mainly
a marketing and practicality issue.

[danivers]

Do you have any idea how much power a calculator uses? Not much. A solar powered cell phone that plays movies and music, however, is an ENORMOUS breakthrough in solar tech... if they actually get it to work.

[newshawk14]

Sorry danivers, we've not had a revocation of physical laws, all the solar cell is
being used for is to simply charge a battery, when the cell phone is not in use.
Look at my post to loki below.

[Uberbah]

Not underneath the screen you haven't. There's baseless patents, and baseless nitpicking. You're doing the latter.

Everything is obvious, once someone else has done it.

[newshawk14]

You don't know what you are talking about, scroll down to my post to loki. At one
time the US patent office used to look quite skeptically at what are called
combination patents, i.e. the combining of two original ideas deserving of a
patent, and someone coming along and claiming that the combining of the two
constituted an original idea. Incidentally, I am skilled in the art.

[loki]

Solar is cute, but how much sun are you going to get while the phone is in its holster or your pocket? So you set it out on the table to charge and then you forget it? I like the water cell battery that is coming out next year in cell phones.

[TimmySlagle]

There is no energy in water.

[mntnguy]

go educate yourself there is a tremendous amount of energy in water! Google hard water read and learn

[newshawk14]

loki, I checked with a consultant friend of mine, who is one of the top battery experts in the
country. We both agree that this patent should never have been granted, and the solar cell
actually is simply used as a charger for an internal battery. It would be of some benefit to
hikers and off road vehicles, whose phone has gone dead, to be able to recharge it and be
able to call for help. The water battery, we didn't have a clue, but I know several years ago
a number of companies were experimenting with fuel cells for laptops, that would use
methyl or ethyl alcohol and water would be the waste product. For most practical uses, you
wouldn't know if it were a battery or a fuel cell.

[TrevorAlan]

This is less interesting for its use on that phone (cell phone power is not what's melting the ise caps) as much as the idea of coating this type of solar cell over every building in LA and the sun belt. Imagine if the entire surface of every glass office tower (I imagine even the side that gets less sun would generate SOMETHING about 3pm) contributing to the power supply, especially on those hot days when air conditioners otherwise cause brownouts.

I don't care about this on the iPhone, but it suggests great things for its OTHER possible applications.

[mamacat]

Another benefit would be the elimination, or at least minimisation, of the poisonous and expensive batteries. Kudos to the inventors of this technology!

[KYJurisDoctor]

Steve Jobs keeps making the I-Phone the ONE to own! Amazing!!

[dbdzen]

Don't want to say too much on this forum but think of innovation in a non-linear, non-incremental manner. The power from solar/natural light doesn't have to power the whole device. A new display technology I'm not mentioning directly, based on OLED, could be thrown into the mix. Even if this allows the phone to get 15-20% more use by supplementing battery power in an innovative way, it beats most of the conventional battery improvements generated by tens if millions of dollars in annual conventional battery R&D. This is not for iPhone version 2.

[KarateKid]

This message is being typed, and viewed, on an iMac 2.8ghz, 24 inch screen with a bluetooth keyboard,
and am I gloating..... :-D

Sorry, PC users, I made my escape. Oh, did I say I have an iPhone 16GB? LMAO.

As far as Apple's solar power initiative, let's wait until they actually come out with it before lampooning it, OK? Actually, I'm not sure it 's even necessary. For one thing, I've used the phone, played music, watched video most of some days, and it still had juice left that night. For another thing, there are very portable USB battery chargers, not much bigger than a credit card, available.

Battery life is simply not an issue for this user.

[veracity]

Actually, I went the other way! I've got a new 17" ProBook sitting in box, unused... the keyboard is so flat and unforgiving, it give me carpal-tunnel syndrome in my hands. I actually much prefer the cheaper keyboard of a Compaq or HP... which also use fans instead of passive cooling, leading to a much cooler machine.
Mac's file storage and access (search) is probably superior, but internet search engines are now good enough, and on-line storage sites like Digg, etc., that your HD archive is less important than it used to be.
I can barely believe that I am saying good things about a Windows computer! But Apple refused to give me a plastic keyboard with bigger than a 12" screen.

(IF you get Vista, you need a good DualCore processor, and at least 2 gigs RAM to make it work well... and even then, it is a good idea to hit "restart" every 2 or 3 hours.)

[AmbivalentGuy]

Key boards can be a bitch.
I have injuries to my hands and wrists,
I spent a long time looking for a real ergo
keyboard.

Strongly recommend the Kinesis Maxim if you
continue to have problems. Not cheap, but
highly adjustable. USB - should work on your
Probook. Some other good ones out there too,
just forget about those contour boards though.

I use Linix on desktops, got a very nice dv6000 HP laptop
on black friday for $400 (accident, just standing there
when they brought out all the stuff that wasn't claimed
by the allnighters). I really haven't had a problem with the
Vista Home Premium it came with.

[thegreatgiginthesky]

This may come as a shock to you but the mac is a PC.

[TimmySlagle]

Nonsense.

PC is old and chubby and wears glasses and a tie.

Mac is cool and cute, young and hip, and he doesn't even tuck his shirt in.

Don't you know nothing about computers?

[fedupwiththis]

Time to kill this thread. Didn't take long to turn it into Apple fanboys vs. PC hacks.

[AmbivalentGuy]

Don't forget us Linux knuckleheads who are inherently neo-luddites

[jsarets]

I support solar power, but this isn't a very good idea. A PV array of this size would produce about 0.5 W in direct sunlight. The iPhone probably uses somewhere in the area of 5 W. Of course, any life-cycle energy cost savings are out of the question, but it doesn't even seem like this is a reasonable investment for those environmentalists who are willing to spend extra money in order to reduce their carbon footprint. If Apple charges as little a $100 extra for this feature, it's not a worthwhile energy conservation measure by any reasonable estimation.

I'm disappointed in Apple, because the solar industry as a whole is generally very honest when it comes to marketing PV products to consumers and businesses. They'll usually tell you straight up if your rooftop isn't a good candidate for PV. They understand that this fledgling industry relies heavily on word-of-mouth, and they don't want any disappointed customers with under-performing systems spreading horror stories around the neighborhood. It's in their long-term best interest to turn down clients with marginal rooftops.

Hopefully this iPhone feature will never see the light of day, because it will most likely drag the reputation of solar power through the mud. However, I would be interested in large, outdoor, reflective LCD touchscreens (e.g. information kiosks for outdoor attractions and commercial centers) with inlaid PV arrays. At a reasonable screen size, the power generation could be enough to justify the added cost.

[MaracaKabob]

Wow, it's that kind of can do spirit that got us great programs like universal health care and the wildly successful electric car.
Oh, wait, that was too much work to figure out. Oh well, I guess we'll just leave that kind of innovation to those other successful, busy people.

[macbabe]

Go Apple!!!!!!!!! ... Love My Apple Toys and Apple Stock!!!!!!!!

[wedgie]

Batteries suck.

**

[Podewumun]

If only someone would invent a solar powered coozie that'll keep a beer cold.

[mamacat]

If there are any Japanese reading this, they will probably start working on your invention tomorrow.

[CaptainHowdy]

How much does Apple donate the HuffPo?

Not a day goes by without an Apple commercial, like this, appearing in the business section. Not bad for a company that's barely newsworthy 3-4 times a year.

Time for full disclosure.

[wedgie]

You're just pissed cause you still didn't buy any stock.

**

[macbabe]

Exactly... got my at $67 :) *happy dancing*