Battery life is consistently listed as a major flaw of smartphones , smartwatches and other wearables . But this problem could soon be solved thanks to technology that promises to extend battery life for 'decades . ' Atmel has released its latest microcontrollers ( MCUs ) for a variety of gadgets that are so low power they can even harvest energy from a person 's body . Atmel has released its latest microcontrollers ( MCUs ) for a variety of gadgets that are so low power they can even harvest energy from a person 's body . Atmel said its MCUs extend 'battery life from years to decades , reducing the number of times batteries need to be changed in devices ' The ultra-low power SAM L microcontrollers are part of Atmel 's 32-bit ARM-based MCU range . These are all powered by chip maker ARM 's Cortex M0+ 32-bit processors . A number of Apple devices , including the iPhone 5S and iPad Air are powered by chips based around ARM technology . During a demonstration of the microcontrollers to ARMDevices.net at this year 's CES , Andreas Eieland , Atmel 's director of product marketing demonstrated how he could power a radio by placing his hand on a panel . This panel recognised a change in temperature between the hand and the room and this was harvested to create charge . Mr Eieland said this is based on piezoelectric materials . The material is able to produce an electric charge when it stretches and is subjected to mechanical stress . PFC is a type of piezoelectric material made up of integrated electrodes , and an adhesive polymer matrix . The material is able to produce an electric charge when it stretches and is subjected to mechanical stress . Atmel said its MCUs extend 'battery life from years to decades , reducing the number of times batteries need to be changed in devices such as fire alarms , healthcare , medical , wearable , and devices placed in rural , agriculture , offshore and other remote areas . ' They use a third of the power of rival chips and tests have shown they are the lowest power microprocessor ever made . The microcontrollers run on the firm 's picoPower technology and Atmel 's Event System that makes different parts of the device work together to carry out tasks . By effectively 'sharing ' energy , the whole device uses less power and , subsequently , less battery . It can also manage how much energy is being used by other components to make them as efficient as possible . Plus , the technology is so low power it can harvest energy from the body using changes in temperature . During a demonstration of the microcontrollers at this year 's CES , Andreas Eieland , Atmel 's director of product marketing demonstrated how he could power a radio by placing his hand on a panel . This panel recognised a change in temperature between the hand and the room and this was harvested to create charge . Mr Eieland said this is based on piezoelectric materials . During a demonstration of the microcontrollers at this year 's CES , Andreas Eieland , Atmel 's director of product marketing demonstrated how he could power a radio by placing his hand on a panel . This panel recognised a change in temperature between the hand and the room and this was harvested to create charge . The material is able to produce an electric charge when it stretches and is subjected to mechanical stress . As Ars Technica 's Sean Gallagher explained , the processor is n't powerful enough to run a computer desktop , for example , but does come with enough power and memory to stream media from a USB stick , send alerts from smart alarms and lights and run multiple apps . The firm said that the microcontroller itself can run for years on a single charge , but the battery life of the devices it is added to will depend on how much they are used . Atmel 's current model is designed for smart household devices and other gadgets that use relatively low power , but the technology has the potential to one day run on more power-hungry gadgets such as phones and tablets .
Atmel has released its ultra-low power ARM-based microcontroller . Uses third of the power than rivals and can harvest energy from your body . Score: 6