You know what, I’m all for integrating solar and other alternative energy sources in our daily lives, but I’m seriously not one of those people who would necessarily go around carrying a butt-ugly solar charger for my portables. Thankfully, a new patent application spotted at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office features a rather innovative technology that could integrate solar cells right onto the handhelds themselves, so you don’t have to be caught dead with a not-so-good looking charger. The application, put forward by Apple employees, promises to place the electricity generating cells underneath the semi-transparent display of the device itself which would feed off of the sunlight to power major electric components within the device, including data-processing system and the memory. Of course, this does not in any way indicate a charging-cord free future anytime soon, but this sure is something to look forward to in the alternative energy-fueled times to come.
via: Crave