Looks pretty similar, thanks PointyOintment!
Obviously you are Richard Thornton on the comments. One thing that stood out to me is how did the "Kate" woman who was giving you crap know that you only backed for $1? I looked through your past comments and you never said that. Seems like she must be talking to the creator, or perhaps more likely, it's a shill account of the creators? Seems like most of the accounts praising were created within a short period of each other and they all say the same thing... "wow, what an amazing project, I am so proud to back this!".
And I don't really see what is different in his device than in the Joule thief. Even the name is virtually identical... power source + word that means 'to take'. AmpMiser, VoltGrabber, ElectronStealer, PowerScrounger, WattPlucker. Take your pick. Thing is - the Joule Thief is a type of circuit that has been around for quite a while, as have DC-DC converters, so I don't see what the self proclaimed non-electronics guy thinks he is patenting? No need for secrecy... patent applications are published by law, so if he has applied for one, there should be no issue telling everyone exactly how his device works.
However ohms law is inescapable. Power is volts and amps... and as one goes up, the other must go down. With the losses of DC-DC conversion and using a single depleted cell to get 3V, that means quite a lot of current draw, which drops the voltage which increases current draw which drops the voltage - a snowball effect. Not to mention the internal resistance of a battery goes up as it discharges, and with the nature of a DC-DC converter being that you're trading amps for volts... there will be an decreasing current capability as the original cells disharge and you use this device to get your 3V. I mean... what if you can only get 50mA out of it from a 1.1V battery - it won't work in most devices then.
He really needs to substantiate the claim that 50% of the juice is left. I think that's "bullshit" as Dave would say. It should be very simple to test and demonstrate.