IT company Intel has announced that it is studying technology to harvest free energy from the environment. if successful, the effort will lead to cellphones and other gadgets running for prolonged periods without a recharge.

Intel

A PCWorld report said that Intel is now working on "tiny sensors that can capture energy from sources such as sunlight and body heat".

"In the future, such energy could be used to power personal electronic devices such as cell phones," said the report.

An Intel executive pointed out that there are now watches powered by body heat, and prototype smartphones with display screens that double as solar cells.

Other potential sources of free power for mobile phones include the energy generated the movement of a phone's trackball, cellphone radiation and TV signals.

PCWorld said that Intel's initial efforts concern the use of "sensors", which could power themselves using free energy.