You’re still tied down to the surface and need to be stationary. And for phones that don’t have a receiver embedded in them, you’ll have to get a case that works with the technology.
Powermat’s definitely not the only product out there. Google sells a $49.99 wireless charger that you can place your phone on without plugging into anything. But it still has to be stationary. Samsung sells a $59.99 charging pad, and Verizon has some nice products, too.
And then there are companies like PowerSquare that turn a whole table or surface into a charging pad instead of one limited area.
Another interesting application is creating some sort of container that would charge everything inside of it.
Intel unveiled a concept of a wireless charging bowl at this year’s CES that does just that. But while the bowl may be more aesthetically pleasing, again we find ourselves tethered.
But chargers in the form of a bowl or bucket would serve a purpose if placed by the entrance to your house. Imagine walking into your house and just dumping all of your devices in the bowl or bucket instead of having to charge each in individually.
A Korean Prototype Is Advancing The Possibilities, But At A Price The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) has developed a prototype that can power up to 40 smartphones at the same time from up to 5 meters away. It uses inductive charging through its own technology, which it calls the “Dipole Coil Resonant System.”
KAIST
The prototype is still too expensive for individual consumers, but it could be used to power devices in public spaces. So you may see Wi-Power zones around a city letting you quickly power up your phone, but that could take a while.
Also, the problem with applying magnetic induction to larger distances is that often a ton of energy is wasted. So if a transmitter sends out 100 watts of energy, only 50 watts will actually reach the device.
Not only is that bad for the environment, but it’s also pricey. Hopefully KAIST will figure out a way to make the technology efficient and scalable, but it’s probably not going to be anything marketable in the near future.
uBeam Is Inventing A Totally New Technology
Another far-off technology totally veers from the standard magnetic induction path and looks to ultrasound as a way to power devices across longer distances.
One company, called uBeam, has been at the forefront of this technology since 2011, and it just announced it’s getting ready to launch a product within the next two years.
The technology behind uBeam converts electricity to sound and sends it through the air over ultrasound. A receiver catches the waves and converts it back to electricity to power up devices in the room.
D-9 via AllThingsD
“We’ve developed a powerful and intelligent ultrasonic transmitter that beams high intensity ultrasound through the air,” Meredith Perry, uBeam’s founder, tells Business Insider. “The ultrasound in the air then hits a receiver, which can be in the shape of a case around an electronic device or can be embedded within a device. The receiver vibrates in response to the sound at a frequency too fast for people to feel, and then converts that vibration into electrical power.”
This means that you could walk around a room freely while your phone was charging.
While uBeam’s technology could totally shift the wireless charging space, it’s probably a far-off reality. Especially since uBeam is working on manufacturing the devices itself and looking into making its own factories.
“I think there’s a lot of promise [with uBeam] and they have got good funding,” Mangharam said. “But again it depends on how well they match the needs in the markets, how well they can partner with customers. It’s also how they can realize the system. I think it still remains to be seen.”
Even current contenders in the wireless charging space are excited about uBeam.
“We’d love to see these technologies mature, and we’re happy to use any technology that serves our customers best,” Powermat’s president Daniel Schreiber told Business Insider. “These are still very far off. We follow them closely, but we don’t have the luxury of bringing about academic papers; we need real products.”
