Nokia files patent for kinetically-charging mobile phone battery

Question: can you file a patent for something that’s existed for a long time? I guess the question is of implementation. While self-winding watches and shake-to-charge flashlights already harvest kinetic energy to store and later discharge, I suppose they do it in a different way than this proposed system from Nokia. Not sure I trust something sliding back and forth in my phone, either. And wouldn’t that necessitate a bunch of empty space that could be taken up with, I don’t know, a bigger battery?

Well, I shouldn’t carp at a perfectly practical idea. How often have you been stuck somewhere with a low battery, and no outlet in sight? Shake your phone a few hundred times and you’ve gained… a couple minutes of power. And a lot of weird stares.

[via Unwired View, Symbian Freaks, Slashgear]