“How much money could you make from a technology that replaces electrical wires? A startup called Powercast, along with the more than 100 companies that have inked agreements with it, is about to start finding out. Powercast and its first major partner, electronics giant Philips, are set to launch their first device powered by electricity broadcast through the air,” Melanie Haiken reports for Business 2.0.
“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,” Haiken reports.
Haiken reports, “Picture your cell phone charging up the second you sit down at your desk, and you start to get a sense of the opportunity. How big can it get? ‘The sky’s the limit,’ says John Shearer, Powercast’s founder and CEO. He estimates shipping ‘many millions of units’ by the end of 2008.”
“Powercast says it has signed nondisclosure agreements to develop products with more than 100 companies, including major manufacturers of cell phones, MP3 players, automotive parts, temperature sensors, hearing aids, and medical implants,” Haiken reports.
“Could Powercast’s technology also work for larger devices? Perhaps, but not quite yet. Laptop computers, for example, use more than 10 times the wattage of Powercast transmissions,” Haiken reports. “But industry trends are on Shearer’s side: Thanks to less energy-hungry LCD screens and processors, PC power consumption is slowly diminishing. Within five years, Shearer says, laptops will be down to single-digit wattage–making his revenue potential even more electrifying.”
More in the full article here.
Does anyone remember that awesome movie from New Zealand called “The Quiet Earth”? < http://imdb.com/title/tt0089869/ > The premise was that turning on a global electrical net wiped out most humans, except for a few vewry special cases. This press release shows that we’re on that slippery slope, I’m afraid…
Except for possible long-term-exposure-to-radiation effects, I think this is very cool – really – really on both the possible radiation issue AND the cool factor.
No more wearing out proprietary connectors – Yeah!!!
Yeah, this has been done before. Last year, ThinkGeek announced their “cordless extension cord” that transmitted power wirelessly. That announcement was also made on April 1.
What does Avril Lavigne have to do with this story?
I believe that you are thinking of the year 2525.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Year_2525
” This press release shows that we’re on that slippery slope, I’m afraid…”
The slippery slope of a fictional book with fictional science being true?
Look, I think it is great want to be sure of the health implications of technology, but some of the conclusions here are based on ignorance and, in some cases, actual fiction.
And about 20 years down the road a very brilliant new invention will be developed to help save energy. It will be called “wired power”.
It will utilize wires and various connectors so you can charge battery powered devices in a ‘very direct way’ thus eliminating all the wasted energy caused by wireless charging systems which spew large amounts of energy all over hell in the process of getting some of it to your device.
It will power my greatest invention! The flying car!
I work with 6 GHz microwaves all day long, and I tell you this is safe. I’ll bet my third nut on it…
While most of the readers concerns here are unfounded there is the question of energy waste. I have not studied the technology personally but can assume that the transmitter will not be consuming or transmitting huge amounts of energy since the amount it will take to excite the receiver’s circuit will be minimal, especially at a distance of only 3 feet and also being coupled to one of the readers assumptions that the devices will have “talk” on/off circuitry. What would make it all even more efficient is if the corporate giants that introduce this technology, could curtail their greed and agree on an industry standardization right from the start, thereby allowing ten or twenty devices for example, to be charged by the same transmitter at the same time!
….also, this will not be harmful at all since all it will take to accomplish this is a simple flip/flop signal to be transmitted at something like 60 hertz or less and a couple watts….The wires in your house are emitting more than this all the time! Not to mention your TV or computer monitor, light bulbs, microwave, etc. etc…
HAARP mini…
@TT…dang that was funny…you made me spit on my Cinema Screen!
@typhoon:
“There have to be some negatives about power going through the air.
Look at my ex-in-laws for example. They lived too close to the power lines and they are all R*T@RDS!”
Are you sure the electricity is to blame for all the imbecilities told by your [ex-]relatives?
@typhoon…
Don’t think the ‘lectricity had anythin’ ta du wit’ it…soun’s like N-breeding…lol
Radio waves are a part of the electromagnetic spectrum, it is basically light. If your concerned about radiation , Google “radon gas” and see how many milli-REMs of radiation you receive from it each year.
It will help with battery waste.
http://powercasttechnology.com