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In the future, wireless won’t only refer to radio waves. It’ll also mean electricity. In terms the rest of us can understand, it’ll be like what your toothbrush does not to power, that is, without wires, only smarter.

The latest salvo is a nifty idea from Nokia, that harvests ambient radio waves. Think of it the same way a piece of coral’s tentacles harvest the passing nutrients in the sea. The Nokia mobile, currently at prototype stage, reaches out and grabs any radio waves a-blowin’ in the wind nearby, converts their energy into electrical current and, hey presto, a charging telephone.

Caveat: it only managed 5 milliwatts right now, which is the same output as a mini laser, and not nearly enough to power your phone while you make a call. But the aim is to harvest up to 50 milliwatts, and to commercialise this within three to five years.

Not the solution to global warming, then, but a step in the right direction. After all, a device that sustains itself doesn’t need energy from the grid.