(PhysOrg.com) -- Most of us forget how much our cell phones are a part of the day-to-day of our lives until we don't have access to them. I'm not just talking about when you leave it at home, in a callous act of irresponsibility. An event as simple as a dead battery can mean that you miss an important call that creates ripples in your whole week.

So when you are out and your battery suddenly goes to red what are you going to do about it? Unless you happen to have an outlet in your pocket, in which case you are probably a robot, you are short on options. Or, at least you used to be.

In the near future Panasonic may have a solution to your problem. They were showing off a prototype of a solar-powered inductive charging table at the Retail Tech Expo in Tokyo. The device would be able to wirelessly charge any device with a Qi battery simply by setting the device down on it.

This not the first wireless charging station on the market. In 2010 Energizer put out a similar pad that relied on being plugged in to a power source. Various companies have created solar chargers for mobile devices, though most of these have been too unwieldy or too expensive to become popular. Panasonic is the first company to date to combine the two ideas and create a wireless solar charger.

Panasonic did mention that these units would be on sale by the end of this year in Japan. No word has been given yet on when this device will be on sale in the United States.

Explore further NTT Docomo's new smartphone features wireless charger

More information:

via via Japantrends

© 2010 PhysOrg.com