A group of researchers from the University of Washington has invented the battery-free cell phone that is believed to be a major step in moving beyond chargers and cords. The phone requires just a few microwatts of power to operate which is harvested either from ambient radio signals or ambient light.  The team demonstrated the working of the phone by making audio as well as Skype calls. It showed how the prototype made of commercial, off-the-shelf components could receive and transmit speech and communication with a base station. The details of this technology have already been published in a paper on July 1.

The year 2016 viewed the global semiconductor sales reaching new heights with a sales record of $39 billion across the world. During the same year, this particular industry also spent approx. $7.2 billion USD on wafers that act as substrates for all kind of microelectronics components that can be turned into light-emitting diodes, transistors, and every other kind of photonic and electronic equipment.Recently, a team of MIT engineers came up with a very simple solution for the high prices of semiconductor wafers, this new technology will not only reduce the average cost of wafer technology but will also allow these devices to have better-performing and highly exotic semiconductor materials as compared to traditional silicon.