Apple files patent for solar charging

This would be a great technological investment for Apple, and frankly I am surprised that the back of an i phone is not already covered in the crystalline beauty of a solar panel.

Andrew, Actually solar panels are a very durable technology, They can be made of flexible plastic, or the normal solid kind, and they are often known to be have warrantees exceeding 20 years and are suspected to last way way more.

im thinking my computer, ipod and iphone get hot enough as it is...no need to bake them in the sunlight. they'll melt.

The shipment of electric computers must have this. It would confirm what blacktornado said that they grow towards the sun.

The PowerBook 1400 supported a solar panel "bookcover"

http://macspeedzone.com/archive/5.0/bymac/app/PBK14_166Oct00.html

I don't think we'll see this soon. I don't think the rest of our gadgets are ready to be left in direct sunlight. So maybe Apple is just hedging a bet but for right now I don't think direct sunlight is any place for high end gadgets.

I don't think we'll see this soon. I don't think the rest of our gadgets are ready to be left in direct sunlight. So maybe Apple is just hedging a bet but for right now I don't think direct sunlight is any place for high end gadgets.

This would be nice just to give our devices that 'extra boost' to the battery. Obviously they will keep the traditional charging methods. I don't know much about solar cells or anything like that, but I'm guessing they're pretty fragile. Maybe someone out there can answer this question, but would their charging capabilities be hindered by scuffs and scratches? I've got a 4 year old PowerBook, and it has quite a bit of battle damage. But other than cosmetics, it works better than the day I got it (I recently upgraded the RAM and to Leopard) but I would be worried about buying something too fragile.