energous

Wireless charging is less fussy, but still a work in progress

24 February 2018 by Steve Blum
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One of my goals for CES was to see if wireless charging technology is ready for mainstream consumer adoption. The answer is yes if you’re making contact with a charging pad, but only maybe if you’re not.

Charging pads, of one kind or another, were easy to find at CES. Near field charging – putting a gizmo in direct contact with a wireless charging device – appears to be a maturing technology. Although the Qi standard is gaining – Samsung, LG and Apple support it in some of their models – compatibility is still an issue.… More

Wireless charging is still a contact sport

11 June 2016 by Steve Blum
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Closer to reality.

Energous Corporation is walking back claims of wirelessly charging batteries from across the room, but is moving ahead with products that charge on simple contact, without having to plug anything in. That kind of technology is reasonably well established – it’s a common enough demo to see at CES, for example – but the solutions on offer are still fiddly in nature and there’s no generally accepted standard yet.

Last year, at Pepcom’s Mobile Focus event in San Francisco, Energous had a gizmo generally the size and shape of a high end audio speaker on its exhibit table, that a spokesman said could deliver 4 watts of electrical to a suitably equipped device 15 feet away, and 16 watts at five feet.… More

Energous technology promises wireless charging at a distance

26 September 2015 by Steve Blum
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Big charger with a small beam.

The easiest way to charge a wearable gizmo is to do it while you’re wearing it. Taking off a fitness monitor, say, every night is a fast route to leaving it behind every morning. Energous Corporation has a way to make that happen.

The company demoed its short range wireless charging technology at Pepcom’s Mobile Focus event in San Francisco in May. The idea is to use 5 GHz WiFi transmissions, pinpoint focused by a Bluetooth steering beacon, to charge handheld devices.… More