Electronic devices have long been able to communicate with each other wirelessly, but have always been shackled by batteries or power cords. One company, PowerBeam, aims to eliminate this restriction, and will be demoing its wireless electricity technology this week at CES.
Nicknamed WiTricity, the technology promises to help relieve the tangle of cables that ties down users. In theory, mobile phones and iPods could be recharged without having to plug them into anything. ""We're going to delete the word 'recharge' from the English dictionary," predicted PowerBeam co-founder David Graham, quoted in a Guardian article. "If your cellphone is recharging on your desk all day, you won't be thinking about it."
However, the products page on PowerBeam's website states that the company is "working with both OEMs and ODMs" to include their technology in digital picture frames, surround speakers, and lamps -- none of them devices people carry in their pockets.
That limitation is understandable when you look at how PowerBeam's technology works. A transmitter, using conventional AC power, shoots an infrared laser beam to a solar cell attached to the wireless device. The cell converts the light back to electricity. Clearly, the gadget receiving the power can be wireless, but it can't really be mobile.
According to the Guardian article, the current technology can beam 1.5 watts over a distance of 10 meters. Graham told the publication that the technology could "comfortably be scaled up."
Image: PowerBeam
Comments
This means the transmitter must have a line of sight to the wireless device's solar cell. This seems like a major limitation of the technology and even makes it unworkable for certain applications. What ever came of the "pad" that would sit on your desk and transmit electricity to a mobile device? You would be able to just set the device on it and it would pick up a charge.
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