Another Living in the Future Moment

I know, I know, I'm a dork. But stuff like this gets me excited: The ability charge electronic devices -- without wires:

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.

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.

I have enough electronic stuff that the ability to get of wires is really appealing to me; as it is I have a big crate of power blocks and wires that I don't dare get rid of. I'd happily chuck them if I could. The fewer wires I need, the happier I'll be.

Tags: Wired or lack thereof

Written by johnmscalzi Blog about this entry

This entry has 3 comments: (Add your own)

#3 Comment from loisontheweb
3/31/07 11:08 PM | Permalink

THIS WORRIES ME; my cousin, near Lansing, MI ... is having serious health problems with electical fields in & near her home. She feels disoriented, & it is hard to concentrate. Away from her home, she notices that she feels okay.
She works out of the home, with long hours on the computer. Many of the devices in their home were set up on wireless.
The power company has massive underground, main trunkline electrical wires underground in the area. They are "investigating" the health problems of many people in the area ... but, will not, of course, admit liability.

loisontheweb
http://journals.aol.com/lowis6535/UpperPeninsulaMIandbeyond/
#2 Comment from trunkboy21
3/31/07 7:54 PM | Permalink

Absolutely amazing. I wonder, however, how such amazing technology can exist, yet we still are unable to create a cheap SOURCE of energy. You'd think before we could charge something wirelessly, we'd be able to charge something without burning coal! Yes, I know we have alternative power sources, but by and large we still use fossil fuels to boil water and turn a turbine with steam. That's so 1800's.

But you're right, putting my cellphone on the nightstand without plugging it in, and having it charged in the morning would be nice.
#1 Comment from monponsett
3/31/07 11:44 AM | Permalink

I'm working on a wire you can attach to your wireless device, just ecause no one else is.

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Another Living in the Future Moment