An electrical engineering student at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, has successfully tested an invention that promises to multiply battery life for wireless devices by a factor of 12.

Atif Shamim, an engineering PhD candidate, has come up with a way to stop power ‘getting lost’ between the devices’ circuitry and their wireless antennae. In the simplest terms, he eliminates the wires between the electronics and the antenna using a micro-wireless system within the device.

Shamim says his concept is not only less power-hungry, it’s also cheaper for manufacturers to build into their devices than conventional connections.

The new technology should be of particular interest to smart phone users who commonly complain about short batter life per charge. Shamim characterizes devices such as the iPhone that use a plethora of portable applications as ‘power sucking machines’.

Shamim and research partner Muhammad Arsalan were accorded ‘best paper’ honours at the recent European Wireless Technology Conference for their discovery.