Wireless recharging
Man, talk about solving a problem no one knew they had! Scalzi just pointed this out:
Powercast and its first major partner, electronics giant Philips, are set to launch their first device powered by electricity broadcast through the air.
It may sound futuristic, but Powercast's platform uses nothing more complex than a radio--and is cheap enough for just about any company to incorporate into a product. A transmitter plugs into the wall, and a dime-size receiver (the real innovation, costing about $5 to make) can be embedded into any low-voltage device. The receiver turns radio waves into DC electricity, recharging the device's battery at a distance of up to 3 feet.
Picture your cell phone charging up the second you sit down at your desk, and you start to get a sense of the opportunity.
I had just assumed you'd always have to plug something in to recharge it. Apparently not.
I'm picturing public recharging kiosks in coffee shops, airport waiting areas, etc.. The possibilities really are endless...
posted by Brian at
11:36 AM
1 Comments:
There was a company last year that was shopping around an induction pad -- you could put your cell phone and PDA down on a wide, flat surface and it would recharge. This, however, takes the cake. I'm less sanguine that laptops will be able to take advantage of it in the near future (or that people will trust it for pacemakers), but the gadget market alone will be huge.
By
Jeff Porten, at 9:42 PM, April 01, 2007
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