Short battery life consistently ranks as the top complaint of smartphone users. To increase it, smartphone manufacturers can produce devices with larger batteries, increasing their size and weight, improve the energy density of their batteries, or use different battery technology. Alternatively, they can make it easier for users to charge their devices, and that’s the path Huawei has decided to take by making long-range wireless charging a reality, according to an IT Home report.

The report revealed that the Chinese multinational technology company known for its telecommunications equipment and consumer electronics has filed a patent for a new technology that would make it possible to charge battery-powered devices wirelessly over a long distance.

Currently, wireless charging requires two coils to be placed directly opposite each other. This greatly restricts the potential applications of this otherwise wonderful technology, whose only other major drawback is its inefficiency.

IT Home

According to the patent’s description, Huawei has been able to figure out how to increase the distance between the two coils by sending electricity through a variety of media, including iron, aluminum, copper, alloy materials, metal pipes, humans, animals, soil, earth, seawater, or just about any other material with conductivity greater than that of air.

“IT Home understands that the purpose of this Huawei patent is to increase the equivalent coupling capacitance between the transmitting electrode and the receiving electrode, which can effectively increase the transmission power between the transmitting device and the receiving device, thereby realizing long-distance wireless charging,” writes the technology portal.

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This kind of long-range wireless charging technology could revolutionize the wearables market, but its potential applications extend much further. For example, it could be used to charge embedded medial devices, industrial sensors, and other small devices that can’t be easily connected to a regular charger.

Since the patented technology has yet to be put to practical use, we don’t know anything at all about its safety or potential downsides.