Fujitsu Tech Could Turn Us All Into Battery Chargers

A prototype of Fujitsu's energy-harvesting technology. [Photo: Fujitsu]

Energy is everywhere--from light to heat to wind and everything in between. And in this era of high fuel prices, we need to find more ways of capturing it on the cheap. And Fujitsu might have come up with an effective way of doing so. Fujitsu's so-called energy harvesting technology works by collecting energy from various sources, such as ambient light, vibrations, ambient heat, and radio waves.

What makes this technology unique is that, unlike technology like solar cells, Fujitu's technology can harvest more than one type of energy at a time--more specifically, light and heat. Fujitsu based the technology on an organic material that it says is inexpensive to use (thoughFujitsu did not say what this organic matter was).

Fujitsu's press release gives more detail into how this new technology works--give it a read if you're curious about the nitty-gritty.

This sort of technology has countless uses: For example, it could be used in to power medical monitoring equipment without requiring wiring or batteries, as Fujitsu suggests. Or maybe it could be made into gadget-charging T-shirts--plug your smartphone into it for a little extra juice. And who knows? Depending on how much energy this technology produces, it could be put to use elsewhere, such as in cars.

But don't hold your breath for human-powered gadgets: Fujitsu plans on testing this technology until 2015.

[Fujitsu via Engadget]

Fujitsu’s Touchpad keyboard concept

I think Fujitsu’s concept devices have figured out what consumers really want. Last week, we reported on the hybrid notebook/tablet that can fold into quarters, and now this touchpad keyboard.

Clearly, customization is key for this touchpad keyboard. Some users prefer that ergonomic keyboard with the split diagonal setup, while others prefer the traditional method. This allows the user to pick the type of keyboard that he or she wants.

All in all, it looks like something that could help out those who love the numeric keypad but don’t have it on their laptop. It also looks like it would come in handy for when changing language layouts is an issue. Not that I’ve ever had that problem, but in the age of “there’s an app for that” consumers want a lot more freedom on their personal electronics.

Of course, this is assuming that every consumer is used to a touchscreen. For me, it would take me a while to get used to a full-sized keyboard as I am used to the haptic feedback and clickity-click of the keys. However, I don’t see how this could work without a touchscreen unless some sort of new apparatus gets involved for a shape-shifting keyboard.

I am assuming that if laptops are ever devices with twin touchscreens, this feature by Fujitsu would be a standard feature.

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