Orange has announced a prototype mobile phone charger called the Orange 'Sound Charge'. It's a t-shirt that contains piezoelectric film, which converts sound waves into electrical charge. This is stored by a rechargeable battery within the t-shirt.

An interchangeable lead allows a variety of mobile phones to be connected and charged.

Market research company IHS iSuppli has been looking at the trend of incorporating 'wireless charging' cradles or mats in vehicles. It says proprietary solutions are now giving way to industry standards that are compatible with a variety of devices.

The company notes that Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles could include Powermat inductive charging from next year.

Vodafone is sponsoring hundreds of London taxis, putting 'universal' mobile phone chargers in them and also introducing m-payments.

The taxis will be wrapped in a Union Jack design, as will Heathrow Express trains. It's part of a 'London Calling' advertising campaign focussed on the network's performance in the city.

Researchers from Edinburgh University, Konkuk University and Seoul National University have developed a piece of technology that could improve memory storage on electronic equipment, including mobile phones and tablet computers.

Not only does the 'microelectromechanical system-based non-volatile memory device' offer faster operation than conventional flash memory, it also uses less power.

LG has announced a new wireless mobile phone charger. It's called the LG Wireless Charging Pad and will be available in the USA next month for $69.99.

UK availability and pricing aren't known; in fact, LG hasn't even said which devices it'll work with.