You’ll Soon Be Able to Charge All Devices Wirelessly, No Matter Where You Are

Groundbreaking “Radio Frequency” technology is definitely something to get charged up about.

Devices will power up no matter where in the room they are (Photo: Energous)

WattUp wire-free tech will charge your devices through the air (Photo: Energous)
WattUp wire-free tech will charge your devices through the air (Photo: Energous)

The problem with charging your devices wirelessly—using a dock, sleeve, side table or some other surface—is that while it eliminates the hassle of being tethered to an actual cord, it’s still location dependent. In other words, you have to place your device in a specific spot for it to charge.

That’s why we were blown away during a private demo at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show when Energous showed us how they’re able to charge devices through the air, using safe Radio Frequency (RF) technology.

The WattUp Miniature Transmitter plugs into your laptop (Photo: Energous)
The WattUp Miniature Transmitter plugs into your laptop (Photo: Energous)

That’s right: no wires, no pads, wherever you are in the room, your shit gets charged. For reals. The below video shows a very simple prototype. As we move the button within range, it lights up.

That’s just using a tiny transmitter. Although their Miniature Transmitter (pictured above), which just received FCC approval, can charge stuff at a close distance, the full-size one can juice up devices across the room, up to 15 feet away.

It can all be managed remotely through software, but it’s not much different conceptually from the kind of wireless stuff you already take for granted with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

Just take it in: You won’t have to search for outlets in the airport, on the plane or train, in your home or office, at the coffee shop… Seriously, of all the tech we saw amongst the hundreds of companies we came into contact with at CES, this has the biggest potential to completely changes our lives.

Energous already announced in March that Pegatron—a large Taiwanese device manufacturer—will be integrating wire-free designs into their electronics. And we’re not at liberty to discuss other partnerships.

But suffice to say, your various cords and plugs should be shaking in their shoes.

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