Wireless Charging your Handhelds?

Flibble writes "The BBC has a story about a uk startup offering a mat for charging all your portable devices via magnetic inductive power transfer. Is this the answer to cutting the mountain of chargers I have to carry all the time?" God wouldn't that be a dream come true?

Comments

cool

[Joe the Lesser]

This is definitly better then their first idea, which of course was the 'Jump-to-Conclusions' mat.

Re:cool

[Anonymous Coward]

hahaha. Office Space.. what a classic!

Sounds like a great idea....

[Randolpho]

... until everyone's head explodes from all the radiation. ;)

Re:Sounds like a great idea....

[fulldecent]

magnetism has not yet been directly related to radiation poisioning

Re:Sounds like a great idea....

[Zathrus]

Well that's not likely, but people with pacemakers are likely to fall over dead if they get too close to one of these mats.

Pacemaker + powerful EM field = powerful EM field + corpse.

I have no idea how close too close would be though...

Re:Sounds like a great idea....

[FortKnox]

True, but are you willing to take the risk?

Re:Sounds like a great idea....

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes. Why not? The "risk" is unimaginably small.

Re:Sounds like a great idea....

[TummyX]

Um. Hate to tell you this but that monitor you're sitting infront of has an EMF and so does the planet you're sitting on.

Re:Sounds like a great idea....

[Gortbusters.org]

Cell phones, power lines, wireless LANs... we are doing a good job at radiating our bodies with electromagnetic radiation.

I wonder how the cancer rates will look like in 80 years...

Re:Sounds like a great idea....

[hurtta]

... until everyone's head explodes from all the radiation. ;)

magnetism has not yet been directly related to radiation poisioning

• Well, also light is radiation.
• radiation is not necessary same than radioactive
• variable magnetic field -> variable electrical field == this (combination) is electro-magnetic radiation
• How about micro wave oven?
• However; energy levels are probably LOT smaller

Re:Sounds like a great idea....

[Randolpho]

What? OMG!

Turns off compu-

Re:Sounds like a great idea....

[Anonymous Coward]

I have no idea how close too close would be though...

Judging from the article's comments about credit cards, probably inside your chest. Most likely, the only way one of these could actually kill someone, even someone with a pacemaker, is if you roll it up and beat them with it.

RTFA.

Re:Sounds like a great idea....

[Anonymous Coward]

I wonder how the cancer rates will look like in 80 years...

Much lower than today's, probably, as smoking rates will fall and car emissions will be more tightly controlled.

This assumes you don't live in a country that the US wants to spray with uranium, of course.

Re:Sounds like a great idea....

[Anonymous Coward]

radiation?

yea... cuz electromagnetic radiation will kill ya.... damn magnets...

Re:Sounds like a great idea....

[fireboy1919]

Pacemaker + powerful EM field = powerful EM field + corpse

All Necromantic experiments should certainly involve a pacemaker, since pacemakers can turn into corpses. Do you suppose that Dr. Frankenstein used a pacemaker and lightning to produce the monster? It was probably a BIG pacemaker, since it turned into such a big monster.

At the very least, the medical industry should stop asking people to donate their bodies to science, since bodies can be generated by merely applying a powerful enough field to pacemakers. REAL people can then be buried in peace.

Re:Sounds like a great idea....

[sfe_software]

... until everyone's head explodes from all the radiation. ;)

I know you meant this in humor, but all this basically does is take a standard AC power transformer, and split it into two parts. The "primary" coil is in the charger unit, while the "secondary" coil is in the unit itself. Placing the two cores close to each other will complete the transformer.

I think it's great. If everyone can standardize on the specs, we can have a single charger for many items. Imagine only having to buy one car charger for all (most) of your portable devices.

This would NOT be a good idea for something that is magnetically sensitive, as it would effectively erase floppy/hard disks, cassette tapes, etc...

The "radiation" would be the same that you'd get from any standard "wall wart" plug-in transformer.

Re:Sounds like a great idea....

[ChrisCampbell47]

"My neighbour has a pacemaker and every time he makes love with his wife, my garage door opens."

- Bob Hope

Re:Sounds like a great idea....

[andrew_0812]

See Sig

Re:Sounds like a great idea....

[Anonymous Coward]

Ionizing radiation is well known to cause cancer. But that is high frequency. I personally doubt that low power radio waves are dangerous.

If you get enough power at any frequency going through you, your internals can get cooked, but I wouldn't worry about that unless you're liable to go standing next to radar masts and the like.

Re:Sounds like a great idea....

[Dylan Zimmerman]

Well, at this rate, we will be building a nice, hefty resistance to EM radiation.

Re:Sounds like a great idea....

[Anonymous Coward]

Does that mean that I could recharge my mobile phone simply by placing it on top of the monitor?

Re:Sounds like a great idea....

[pyrote]

so why don't we devise a way to use the spare electro magnetic radiation around us to charge devices like this. Tesla would be proud.

Re:Sounds like a great idea....

[pyrote]

hmm... Johnny Mnemonic anyone?

Thats what the plauge of their century was supposed to be.

Panasonic wireless DECT system phones

[Anonymous Coward]

Those things are charegd by induction for a long time already.

Re:Panasonic wireless DECT system phones

[troc]

Yep - and my Braun electric toothbrush is as well.

The idea isn't inventive (so stop all the patent whinging now ;)

Troc

Re:Panasonic wireless DECT system phones

[Doobian Coedifier]

Ditto my Panasonic electric razor. Intuctive charging means no direct electrical contact, so the whole thing is water proof!

Don't newer electric cars use this too? With paddles? The technology isn't groundbreaking, it's just a new use.

Re:Panasonic wireless DECT system phones

[pyrote]

ya, I saw an article back in the 80's for a laser pointer kit. it had 2 designs, one normal, and one inductive charge. Inductive charging has been around since tesla was frying things with his coils.

Are you watching USPTO?

[Boss, Pointy Haired]

THIS is the sort of thing that is worthy of a patent.

Not Bezos and his f****** 10 lines of HTML.

Re:Are you watching USPTO?

[codeonezero]

Argh, if i could only go back in time a few years back and patent the idea when i had it... Damn it cool though :)

Re:Are you watching USPTO?

[kenthorvath]

Excuse me, but I think there is definately a PRIOR art on induction. Or believe me - there definately would be patents and a lot of other hoopla. On a side note, my electric toothbrush has been charging wirelessly for about two years now. This is news?

Re:Are you watching USPTO?

[MyGirlFriendsBroken]

Similar stuff like this has been done before and is already in the market place. For instance the key fob on new BMW never needs the battery changing as it is recharged by induction when it is in the ignition. I don't know if this would affect a patent on this device though

Re:Are you watching USPTO?

[eXtro]

Well, I would argue that it either already is patented or it's too late to patent. I have a Panasonic shaver that uses inductive charging. There's no receptacle on my shaver it just sits in a device and charges without wires. This mat is only an expansion of this concept.

Re:Are you watching USPTO?

[seanadams.com]

THIS is the sort of thing that is worthy of a patent.

Yes, I can see it now... "method and device for transmitting power by means of inductive coupling".

Here's a clue: the transformer been around for about as long as we've known about electricity.

ALso, the idea of using a transformer as the coupling for a charger base has been around for as long as I can remember. As a kid I had an electric toothbrush that did this. It's a great idea for something like a toothbrush, because it's harder to waterproof an electrical contact.

Re:Are you watching USPTO?

[semanticgap]

I doubt you can patent such a fundumental principal - how do you think transformers work? Also my Braun electric toothbrush charges its battery wirelessly and I've had it for years.

Re:Are you watching USPTO?

[Black Perl]

Excuse me, but I think there is definately a PRIOR art on induction. Or believe me - there definately would be patents and a lot of other hoopla. On a side note, my electric toothbrush has been charging wirelessly for about two years now. This is news?

Excuse me, but this patent is NOT on inductive charging. It USES inductive charging, but so what?

Lots of patents get granted for battery-operated things. Following your logic, those patents shouldn't be granted because there's lots of things that use batteries.

Re:Are you watching USPTO?

[rzbx]

"The technology developed by SplashPower is based on the principle of magnetic inductive power transfer.

Inductive charging systems are already used in products like rechargeable electric toothbrushes."

They based it on a principle they did not discover. The technology already exists and all they did was make a slight improvement. So they deserve to own the rights to the technology all of a sudden?

Personally I'm against all patents (Based on many many many many hours of reading about the subject). Yet, I know most people do not agree with that. Still, what is so new that they did here to get a patent if you really believe in it? Slight improvement? If you did some reading on the legal side of patents you'd see that for one they would be infringing on a patent if one existed for the technology already. Second, if they did receive one, due to the way lawyers seem to do things, they could charge royalties on all those previous products similar to theirs. Don't think so? The companies that have to pay royalties have two choices. One is pay up in royalties, or second is pay up in legal fees to fight the patent, which will cost many times more than the royalties themselves. The rate at which companies spend on legal fees is increasing constantly. Less is put into technology investment due to this, or the cost is just passed to the customers.

How much do you really know about patents to make such a statement as you did?

Re:Are you watching USPTO?

[damiena]

Yes, I can see it now... "method and device for transmitting power by means of inductive coupling".

No, no, no. It'll be for a "method and device for transmitting power by means of inductive coupling on the web"

Sounds Great

[Martok7]

Sounds great, but I wonder how slow the charge time is and how compatible it is.

Re:Sounds Great

[CynicTheHedgehog]

The article says that devices will have to install a module (less than a millimeter thick, and costing about $0.25) in order to make use of the pad. And as long as I get a day of use out of my device, I don't care if it takes all night to charge.

This is an awesome innovation and just the excuse I've been looking for to upgrade my cellphone :)

Re:Sounds Great

[plover]

Actually, I'm wondering if retrofit kits will be available for existing equipment, such as a stickyback pad with a couple of solderable wires or some such. Those of us with old cell phones that are already out of warranty, or are not afraid to void our warranties, would love to use this.

Hey, another patentable feature: put the receiver in a Bluetooth mouse and use the charging pad as a mouse pad. Never EVER needs ANYTHING.

The cool thing is that "compatible" should be a non-issue. Each receiver will probably be fitted with an appropriately valued voltage regulator. The field produced by the mat won't have a "voltage" per se, but rather a "field strength." The receiver side will convert that to a voltage which will then be regulated as needed.

Hmm. I wonder if it'll even make a difference if the pad gets 120 or 220 volts?

Re:Sounds Great

[brakk]

Theoretically, charging time could be as fast or faster than a normal charger. The reciever circuit could easily be built into a cellphone battery to use in existing phones or even into a AA, AAA battery or battery back to use in about anything that is currently on the market without soldering.

It *could* operate on either 120 or 220, but the problem is the receiver gets the desired voltage through a ratio of the input voltage to the pad(just like a transformer), if you doubled the input voltage to the pad, you would double the output voltage of the receiver.

And, yes, you could make a mousepad out of it to use with a wireless mouse, but then your mouse pad would have to be plugged in. What would be the point of that?

Re:Sounds Great

[The Notorious ASP]

And, yes, you could make a mousepad out of it to use with a wireless mouse, but then your mouse pad would have to be plugged in. What would be the point of that?

No no no... You don't get it, you would get TWO of the pads, lay the second (unplugged) one on top of the first one (which will supply power to the not plugged in one, aka your mousepad) and wallah!

duh!

Seriously though, I wonder what the range on these things is? Could you maybe stick one to the bottom of your desk and it radiate through?

Re:Sounds Great

[xoff00]

Then I stop wearing these heavy "cure all" magnets on my wrist!

Re:Sounds Great

[plover]

Replace the replacable battery! Brilliant and simple! I love it! I wish I had a mod point for you. (But I would hate to throw away my current sets of overpriced Li-Ion batteries.)

And I see what you mean about the inducted voltage being a ratio just like an ordinary cored transformer. I don't know how well the voltage regulators would withstand the twice-expected voltage, or if they'd make the devices too hot to handle.

Either that or they'll build specific market 120 or 220 pads (or pads with a voltage switch) and make all pads sold emit at the same level. I'd hate to have my smartpad-chargable cell phone not work in London. And I'd hate to think the company would be so shortsighted as to not try to solve the global problem in the easy place.

Hmm. Now I wonder if their charging coil would pick up stray EMF from other sources, such as a coiled-up extension cord (under load, of course.)

Dumb Question

[boatboy]

OK, Dumb Question: Why doesn't it short out easily?

Re:Dumb Question

[Anonymous Coward]

Duh! There are no exposed wires TO short out! The mat sets up an alternating magnetic field and the device being recharged converts that magnetic field back into whatever voltage it needs for its batteries. It's an over-glorified transformer without an iron core!

Re:Dumb Question

[0x4B]

maybe I'm missing your point, but placing objects on the mat doesn't complete a circuit. the mat produces a magnetic field, objects in the field are irradiated and recieve energy.

Re:Dumb Question

[Oculus Habent]

It merely radiates energy, probably through a sealed casing.

The same thing is used in some cell phones and the occasional electric toothbrush. I also read a while back (no link, sorry) about using a similar system to power heart regulators without placing a "jack" in someone's skin.

Re:Dumb Question

[cdrudge]

Um...not quite sure what you are asking. There is nothing to short out...well, actually there is internally, but you just lay your device on it and it charges it inductively assuming that you have the SplashModule "receiver" inside your device to "receive wireless power".

Are you confusing conductive with inductive? Inductive is using EMF to transfer the power. I'm starting to see more and more things use inductive recharging systems. I've had a razor that used it as well as many electric cars use it I believe.

Re:Dumb Question

[Glen Ponda]

OK, Dumb Question: Why doesn't it short out easily?

Uh, it like, uses technology, or something.

Re:Dumb Question

[AlecC]

There is no electrical contact *to* short out. It is using magnetism, not electicity. Pad generates alternating magnetic field above its surface. Put coil tuned to same frequency in field. Conductor in changing magnetic field generates current, so AC generated. Add rectifier, DC generated. I can see that the add-on to the mobile device will be cheap - a coil and 4 diodes. This could work.

One non-green point: How much power is dissipated with no devices on it, or with fully charged devices? But then, how much power is dissipated by plugged in "wall warts".

Re:Dumb Question

[Smallpond]

Not a dumb question. Magnetic circuits can be shorted just like electrical circuits. In fact, proximity sensors work because any metallic object absorbs enough energy to be detectable by its electronics. In this case, I assume they have done their homework and made the energy field low enough not to fry your hand if you are wearing a wedding ring, say.

Re:Dumb Question

[GigsVT]

And a pretty large capacitor if they really need DC. The output from a diode bridge looks more like a McDonalds logo than DC power. Of course, the batteries might be capable of using the pulsed DC directly, and the battery itself would tend to smooth out the power as long as the battery was in circuit.

Re:Dumb Question

[brakk]

The principal is the same thing that makes the current charger for your phone or power supply for your laptop work. They all have a transformer inside to step down the voltage coming from the wall. 110VAC goes through one coil in the transformer which is held close to another coil that is wrapped different so you get a lower AC voltage out the other side. There is no electrical connection, but since it's AC power, it creates a magnetic field that is picked up by the second coil. Then, it's just run through a rectifier and a filter to convert it to DC voltage to plug into your phone.

This is also the same concept that makes security badges at the last two companies I've worked for function. You get a sealed plastic badge that you just hold up next to (within about 5 inches) a "block" on the wall and it reads the data off it. The badge doesn't have a battery in it but is still able to transmit and never runs down. It works because the "block" is transmitting a low frequency radiation that is picked up by a coil in the badge which supplies power to it. That activates the circuit built into it (that has a number hard coded into it) and a tiny radio transmitter that transmits the number back to the "block" on a higher frequency. Both the badge and the "block" are encased in plastic and have no electrical connection to each other.

Re:Dumb Question

[Anonymous Coward]

> Uh, it like, uses technology, or something.

Magic, got it.

Re:Dumb Question

[Anonymous Coward]

Ellen Fies (sp?): I put the phone on the pad thingie and it was like... beep beep beep. And then it was like... charged.

Re:Emf?

[aallan]

Still, I wonder if this "pad" comes with a warning not to leave credit cards, etc. near it?

If you'd taken the time to read the article, you'd have seen that it says that the pad "...will not even wipe credit cards if you accidentally put one on the pad".

Al.

Please please please

[91degrees]

Make these things standard! I an really annoyed by the dozen different types of connectors, 5 different voltage levels, and 2 possible polarities. I want one PSU that can recharge everything.

Re:Please please please

[shekondar]

That shouldn't be a problem - since it's basically a transformer, you can generate any voltage by varying the turns ratio (to generate higher/lower voltages, just vary the number of windings in the device's coil).

Re:Please please please

[Anonymous Coward]

Not sure if this will help, but RadioShack sells DC power supplies with adjustable voltages (3-9 volts in 1.5 volt increments), and like 8 different size ends. Maybe this would help you recharge all those devices...

Re:Please please please

[rnws]

There are predominantly two reasons why such things aren't standardised:

1. Many countries (and companies) have a "not invented here" mentality - have you seen the profusion of power plugs around the world?!
Apparently one of the most protracted (and unresloved) arguments in the EU was whose power jacks to standardise on.

2. If a company makes a proprietary power supply, with a proprietary connector, a weird-ass voltage/current combination and proprietary screws holding the casing together then said company has quite a good earner for replacement parts that you can't get anywhere else.

Example? Today I had to source 40 UK power cables for the shipment of computer equipment that US head office sent me. On top of that another piece of equipment was missing it's power adaptor - which uses guess what??? A proprietary connector! Now I have to wait for head office to order that part (in the USA) and ship it to me (in the UK).

There's nothing like a standard - and this is nothing like one.

Sigh...

Re:Please please please

[91degrees]

Many countries (and companies) have a "not invented here" mentality - have you seen the profusion of power plugs around the world?!

I saw a website covering this once. There seem to be at least 7 currently in use, with a whole lot that are outdated and not used anywhere, as well as 2 (well, 4 but nobody's too fussy about the difference between 220 and 240) different voltage levels and two different frequencies.

It's ironic that the only worldwide standard power supply I've seen is one that most people never see - the two connector types in a PC that power hard drives and floppies.

Apparently one of the most protracted (and unresloved) arguments in the EU was whose power jacks to standardise on.

I get the feeling this will remain unresolved. At least they all have one fo two standards at the other side of the cable. While I sympathise with your difficulties, it's easier to find 40 kettle leads than rewire the entire office, and replace every single plug in the building. Especially since half those plus are going to have bilt in transformers.

Re:Please please please

[Melchior_of_wg]

Mmm, this would not be a problem if there were just one type of mat (either one manufacturer or one standard). However, since various electronical tools are bound to use different voltage and such, you would need different add-ons for them. Or you would have to change some settings on the mat. And people are bound to mess up here. The whole point with standards is to remove the need to change anything in the first place, so don't be *too* hopefull that you don't have to bother about things like voltage even with this thing.

Re:Please please please

[twitter]

I'll settle for standard sized batteries. AA, AAA, D, C. Why can't they do something like that for lithium? Oh yeah, so they can charge suckers like me $50 for THE batery that I must have to make my $300 gadget work. I hate to death every stupid gadget I buy like that because I know that one day the "right" battery won't be available and my slick little gadget will require some awful battery pack rig. An inductance pad will do nothing for me that standard sized batteries would not do better.

Works for my toothbrush, why not?

[Enry]

Sonicare toothbrushes (teethbrushes?) can already do this, and there are a few other bathroom-type things (elec. razors) that have this capability. This allows the items themselves to be sealed, so you can drop it in the sink, etc. without destroying it.

Re:Works for my toothbrush, why not?

[cswiii]

Oh, we all know that /.'ers never leave the computer anyway... so why not just use a USB toothbrush instead?

Re:Works for my toothbrush, why not?

[Dr. Smeegee]

According to Robert Heinlein in "Number of the Beast" the proper plual of toothbrush is "teethbreesh".

Now you know.

damage

[Anonymous Coward]

Could the elctro magnetic field not cause damage to sensitive electronics, especially things like flash memory?

Re:damage

[Anonymous Coward]

basically no.

The reason for this is that the materials used in batteries (usually metal hydrides) possess a low bandgap which makes them easy to recharge with a small current over a long period of time(this is why you have to leave your charger on over a period of hours).

Flash memory cards on the other hand have a wide bangap material, and while I won't go into the quantum mechanics, this basically means that you can only change the spin state of the electrons by applying a stronger but less sustained current.

All this basically means that it is easy to design a device that will be suitable for charging batteries but will not affect other electronics. You just have to keep the current small.

Emf? Not a problem, apparently

[mooZENDog]

Still, I wonder if this "pad" comes with a warning not to leave credit cards, etc. near it?

Having read the website, they're saying that it's no trouble for credit cards. If they have to keep the power levels low, then it may hamper the device's usefulness. Perhaps they could have variable speeds, perhaps you could crank it right up and fry eggs on it! Toasty :)

Re:Emf?

[aminorex]

The article actually addresses this very issue.
Using actual words. They were in English too,
amazingly, so that anyone who read the /. article
could also read those informative little squiggles.

Re:Emf?

[jemnery]

Well, the article says:
"The company says the system is perfectly safe and will not even wipe credit cards if you accidentally put one on the pad."

But I wonder how long this thing would take to charge a battery?

It does seem like a very cool idea, though. Hope it works - especially at the quored sub-$50 price point.
--
jc

I don't know

[2names]

If it is strong enough to charge power sources through the case, wouldn't the plate in my head cause me to be stuck to the thing?

Big deal...

[CrackerJackz]

for the low cost method ... http://www.afrotechmods.com/cheap/arnoldpad/arnold pad.htm

After all what could possibly go wrong? :)

Re:Big deal...

[curtisk]

hehe, I was just gonna post the same page...took him a little bit be he finally got it (with Arnold's help..) Wish they would update that site alot more..

Cool

[codeonezero]

I've been waiting for something like this since I was in my Physics lab class playing with magnets flux and copper coil.

If true this could be awesome :)

Wouldnt there be a problem with devices with magnetic drives though? I'm guessing either those devices have to be shielded, or they have to be devices not using magnetic drives (say compactflash cards, or optical drives...) ?

What would this do to portable fuel cells?

[electro_mike]

I wonder what this will do for the production of portable fuel cells? I mean, everyone is looking forward to the convience of instant recharging of the fuel cell, but if this technology catches on you could be recharging as ya sip a coffee, and the only advantage of the portable fule cell would be for people out in remote areas which is a very small market.

Re:What would this do to portable fuel cells?

[Oculus Habent]

I'd be much happier carrying around ink cartridge (pen, not printer) sized plastic tubes of alcohol or hydrogen, as long as there are standard sizes. We've had AA, AAA, C, D and more for decades. I inderstand that portable devicees have their own special shape issues, but a single style of fuel cell would be a huge help.

Motorola developed an alcohol-based battery replacement in early 2000, but no word since then.

Re:What would this do to portable fuel cells?

[cowtamer]

It will do exactly what it's intended to do--prevent their development!
</cynicism>

(I really hope not...I actually _would_ pay cold, hard cash for a device like this)

Finally, the future is here

[Harald Paulsen]

One step closer to eliminating all those wires clogging up my desk. A laptop-PSU, a cell-charger, a charger for my Jornada 720, a charger for my wireless mouse. All could be replaced by a mat.

I imagine this would be useful in a car as well.

Big Deal.

[Lumpy]

I've had one of these for a tablet PC for over 10 years now. Toshiba released one for doctors for their tablet PC's back in the mid 90's

Got it with an auction I won that had 20 of those 486 tablet Pc's that used wacom tablets behind the screens for the pointer. Neat device.

Re:Big Deal.

[Salamander]

I doubt it. There have been power mats - basically just big LiPoly batteries - for ages, but not inductive power units. They're very different things.

Re:Big Deal.

[Anonymous Coward]

I cant give you the numbers but it was a mat that was set on the desk and a leather cover that had an induction coil in it's back that went to a circuit box and then plugged into the power/charge plug on the tablet pc. I've seen them.

all it is is coil induction, a ac current in the mat's coil and the cover's coil grabs it and simply continues along. The technology has been around for over 100 years.

Old News

[ayf6]

This device has been in the works for over two years. Popular Science reported this device along time ago as a device to watch out for. And trust me i've been watching out for it. I just wonder if it would shorten the length of batteries... One of the reasons you need to use a real outlet is to push a high charge through the battery so that you get excess material from one side to the other. (I'm grossly simplifying). I doubt a high enough current could be induced through this mat to do this. Granted its probrablly ok for short term use but in the long run i would imagine that it would wear out batteries faster.

Re:Old News

[cybermace5]

???

Do you know what you're talking about?

No.

Re:Old News

[insanecarbonbasedlif]

I doubt a high enough current could be induced through this mat to do this. Granted its probrablly ok for short term use but in the long run i would imagine that it would wear out batteries faster.

It seems to have worked fine for powered tooth brushes and razors...
Please don't just make stuff up...

not very efficient

[hottoh]

Yeah it is a cool idea. Long ago I had a rechargeable electric toothbrush that had a induction field charger. So the concept is not 'new' to the marketplace.

Lastly they technology is not very efficient. I recall that it is less than half as efficient as a transformer [aka, adapter].

Re:not very efficient

[hottoh]

Sure, if you say so.

Some people are 'hoping' for the same for their laptops to simplify their assortment of power adapters.

Lets see P4 laptop, 78watt adapter [for said machine] x 2. That is tiny.

Re:not very efficient

[alchemist68]

I agree, it is a nice idea in theory to charge every device with one charger, but electromagnetic fields are not very efficient and their amplitude decreases substantially with distance. Does this device "sense" when charging is complete and turn off by itself?

To the guy getting into his SUV, regular little black transformers for electronic devices typically cost about 5% of your electric bill, because they are ALWAYS ON, whether or not the device is on, these things burn electricity just sitting there plugged in, throwing off waste heat. Imagine this little charging plate taking 12% to 15% of your total electric bill, and this gets REALLY expensive if your local electric utility provides power via a nuclear power plant. Just ask anyone in the vicinity of Toledo Edison who gets its power from Davis-Besse Nuclear power plant. Chic-ching! Now multiply his by several billion people living in America, Japan, and Europe and you have a lot of wasted energy.

Re:not very efficient

[hurtta]

Some people are 'hoping' for the same for their laptops to simplify their assortment of power adapters.

Lets see P4 laptop, 78watt adapter [for said machine] x 2. That is tiny.

Lets see...

That it about 160 W -- via induction. Micro wave oven produces 600 W.

Good way to cook user?

Re:not very efficient

[Anonymous Coward]

Ever heard of an off switch? Yeah, thought not, stupid American.

Lights on ThinkGeek have this

[Bander]

Charging by magnetic induction. They say, "like magic or something"... Har har. Kinda cool:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/lights/5cf5/

(I'm not trying to sell you these, I'm not affiliated with ThinkGeek, yadda yadda...)

-- Bander

Re:Lights on ThinkGeek have this

[watzinaneihm]

And looks like the thinkgeek guys have a patent on this
What is slashdot trying to do advertising a product which breaks a patent held by an affiliate?

Along these lines...

[xXunderdogXx]

One thing I always dreamed about when I was studying EM radiation in first year chemistry was how awesome it would be to somehow grab power out of directed EM radiation. Just imagine all the useful things that would come out of such a technology:

• No more power lines
• No more batteries
• Completely wireless monitors (without recharging)

On a side note, I've always wanted wireless headphones that could be used for a walkman. So you'd just have to put tiny earbuds in your ears and leave your mobile audio device in your pocket.. I always figured this isn't feasible because of the power requirements.

Re:Along these lines...

[Mr2cents]

When I was a kid, I once made a radio that required no power supply. The signal was strong enough to drive a high impedance headphone. So it is definitely possible to extract some energy from radio waves. However, it would not be enough to power a led..

Re:Along these lines...

[Anonymous Coward]

Plus, emp generating devices will be far more useful. That is, I'll be able to overload your (and all the NYSE yuppies') mobile devices with the same power that would have previously only screwed up CRTs. :)

Re:Along these lines...

[eXtro]

Nikola Tesla proposed this around 1890 or so.

Re:Along these lines...

[Anonymous Coward]

A lot of work is going into this in the UK, where the UK is burdened with an antiquicated pylon system. Basically they are looking at transmitting power wirelessly accross the county from the power stations directly into a transformer in your home via a 50Hz Channel.

This technique was imagined by Tesla over 100 years ago but people basically said he was crazy. Fortunately we now know about induction arcing and low resistive impedance.

Re:Along these lines...

[mnmn]

You need the wires to pull it out of your ears!

Imagine the number of people heading to their physicians to pull out the buds.

And the lazy teens who NEVER pull em out. You could bug them with a linux-programmed PDA that emits shrill sounds.. great tool for examiners making sure students arent cheating.. just turn the PDA on and stare at the faces, see which one twitches first.

Or more seriously have satellite power companies beaming power down to subscribers all the time.. hmm

Re:Along these lines...

[Stephen Maturin]

Did it involve a crystal and a cat whisker?

Re:Along these lines...

[Anonymous Coward]

Unless you live near a TV transmission aerial, and pack your loft with coils of wire. Then you can power your whole house...until they arrest you.

Re:Along these lines...

[42forty-two42]

• No more power lines
• No more batteries
• Completely wireless monitors (without recharging)

No more hard drives... No more oscillators with inductors as a component

Re:Along these lines...

[TheKodiak]

As for your side note, take a look at the Jabra Freespeak Bluetooth:

http://www.jabra.com/products/FreeSpeak_Bluetoot h. htm

That's currently the smallest wireless earbud I'm familiar with. It's not what you're talking about, and it's designed for use with a cellphone, not a walkman. It lasts about 2 hours on a charge, and has a range of about 15 feet. But it's REALLY comfortable, honestly more comfortable than any earbud I've tried, many of which are much smaller.

Re:Along these lines...

[jpmkm]

I'm sure I've seen those wireless earbud things for hearing aids. The electronics are worn somewhere on the body, and then it is connected to a metal necklace that "transmits" the sound to the tiny little earpieces so that you don't have to have huge things in your ears. I haven't heard anything about these lately, but I'm sure they exist somewhere.

Re:Along these lines...

[jafuser]

If a "crystal set" radio can work without power, why can't a hearing aid or a tiny am earbud radio work without a power source?

Re:Along these lines...

[karlandtanya]

The crystal set *IS* powered.

Interesting you should bring up up crystal radio sets in a discussion about wireless power...

Easier solution...

[ryanvm]

Just put your Palm Pilot in the microwave for 30 seconds. Works for me.

Oh wait - I didn't say turn it on!

It Works for Great Toothbrushes

[Schlemphfer]

I bought an Interplak toothbrush about five years ago, that I think uses the same kind of technology seen here. It worked great, and I was able to use that toothbrush every day until I dropped it on the floor last week. This kind of charging solution is ideal for something like a toothbrush, which is likely to get wet and be a supreme electrocution hazard if plugged directly into a wall.

Anyway, this technology worked so well that I'd think this is almost an obvious idea for recharging electronic items, especially if it's not going to screw up hard drives and electronic media. So the question is, why haven't other companies taken this technology beyond toothbrushes?

Overall, I was disappointed by the BBC article. It would have been great if the author had sought out an EE authority, and had her/him mention the disadvantages of this charging approach. I have a feeling that this charging solution is likely incredibly wasteful of electricity. But maybe this waste doesn't matter much if you're talking about minor charging needs like cellphones. Anyway, surely there's somebody on here with a EE background who can speak to whatever shortcomings are inherent in this technology.

Re:It Works for Great Toothbrushes

[DinoZaurus]

It will probably only be available for iPAQs, and never for older PDA, such as the Zaurus.

but is it worth it

[blind_abraxas]

to buy a splashmodule adapter for all of the existing batteries I need to charge? Something about sub-millimeter thin module is mentioned, but not in their minimalist faq. Apparently this module is customized to the size and shape of whatever you need to stick it in.

Huge points for cool factor, but will there be compatibility issues with the SplashModule and my cell phone battery?

Bad news for Krusty...

[dr_labrat]

Remind me not to go near anywhere that offers this what with my pacemaker and all...

Re:Emf?

[joshmccormack]

If it's something that would allow you to use the devices while they're charging it wouldn't even matter, really. The convenience would be great. Put on desks, conference tables, even coffee shop tables it could unobtrusively keep you charged up without having to lug big chargers and find outlets.

Integrate this with seat warmers

[FuzzyDaddy]

Volvo's come with seat warmers. Add one of these, and charge your cell phone as you drive!

Of course, as long as you don't mind putting your future progeny's genetic material on and induction coil...

Hmm. Nevermind.

Re:Integrate this with seat warmers

[frause]

Here in Sweden, ALL cars come with seat warmers... or "butt heaters", as we call them :)

Re:Integrate this with seat warmers

[swillden]

Of course, as long as you don't mind putting your future progeny's genetic material on and induction coil...

Not a problem. Given the way I feel right now about my four "past progeny", there ain't gonna be no future progeny, no way, no how.

Yes, the two year-old got into my books and CDs. Again. But now he knows how to open the shampoo bottle. And after the yesterday's incident with my wife's computer and the peanut butter...

Similar Product

[johnkoer]

MobileWise has a similar product.

I saw both of these reviewed on TechTV because they were at the CES show a couple of months back.

They seem pretty cool but I really do not want to see the pricetag.

Re:Similar Product

[mgessner]

Yeah, similar, but far and away nowhere near as cool.

This is from the MobileWise/Technology Overview page:

"# Data & Equipment Safety
Since the Wire-free Electricity Base does not utilize magnetic fields, the technology is safe for magnetic media, such as hard drives, and does not interfere with the operation of electronic equipment."

So there has to be some metal-to-metal contact.

I think the product described in the article is way cooler.

'Green' my shiny metal ass...

[Oddly_Drac]

...unless they've managed efficiencies approaching the transformer's.

Personally I'm interested in how they regulate the charge into the device itself...throttling with the antenna included in the product?

OD

Re:'Green' my shiny metal ass...

[Mister Black]

...unless they've managed efficiencies approaching the transformer's

How efficient is an energon cube?

aliens ate my brain

[SubtleNuance]

How big would the EMF field attached to such a charger be? What kind of risk are we talking about here?

Note: Im not a tinfoil hat EMF weirdo, i understand my microwave gives off an emf field yadda yadda... but in order to induct a charge into a device, i must imagine the GOAL of such a device to be a LARGE and POWERFULL field. exactly why we dont want 20,000KV lines next to our houses.. while its not going to melt my skin off, i think were seeing its not a good idea to ASK for such a thing... any clarity on the subject?

Why not just build this into the carpeting?

[BreadMan]

Then you could get conductive shoes, socks, pants and just charge the devices as you carry them around! You'd be sterile, but that's a _small_ price to pay for not having to cradle your phone.

Re:Why not just build this into the carpeting?

[Quill_28]

> You'd be sterile

And that would matter around here why?

Just a joke. Move along.

Re:Wireless recharging?

[the uNF cola]

Note to self:

1. Write post.
2. Choose "Plain old text option"
3. ???
4. Profit

would work better.

Very low score topic...

[ZappaSoft]

... I guess it shows that people don't know much about this technology Let's wait and see

Hey, I can use this on my tape recorder...

[WareW01f]

oh, wait... Seriously, the mat is great, but what happens when I accidentally drop my wallet on there, or that zipdisk with tomorrows presentation... Yes, we should all switch to SD's, MMC's, usb dongles, etc..., but until prices of removable media come down a bit, this thing could be dangerous!

sweet

[MORTAR_COMBAT!]

If only I wasn't still using my Palm III, having to replace batteries every couple weeks anyway. Why didn't I wait for Li-ION???!? Sounds great for the cell phone though.

Gadgets with frickin' "laser beams"

[irving47]

It's a pipedream, but I always thought it would be interesting to put together a cordless mouse that has a few small solar cells in it that you could aim a laser (or maybe a focussed, white LED) at from it's little USB receiver and charge the batteries wirelessly that way. Problem is, solar cells are so inefficient, it would probably take a week or two just to get one charge...

Re:Gadgets with frickin' "laser beams"

[Anonymous Coward]

better get a patent on that!

heh...

Re:Gadgets with frickin' "laser beams"

[unitron]

If you want a rechargeable mouse, convert some of the energy used to move the mouse around into electricity. Presto, recharged mouse and massive arm muscles on one side.

better solution

[g4dget]

I think MobileWise has a better solution.

could this idea be based on

[burninginside]

something tesla came up with? Power via airwaves and such?

Re:could this idea be based on

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, I could have sworn that this was something out of Tesla. I'm still waiting to see John Galt's engine go into production, though.

Re:could this idea be based on

[bugnuts]

No. This is simple magnetism which "scrubs" electrons through a coil where they are extracted as electricity.

Other applications

[Ed Avis]

That picture on their web site makes the mat soft and comfortable. Rather than charging boring mobile phones, why not use it as a pillow?

There was once a movie 'Electric Dreams' which I've never seen but probably had nothing to do with this.

He said, getting into his SUV...

[Moderation abuser]

Efficiency for the tiny devices we're talking about here is about as close to irrelevant as you get.

Efficiency for a 300kW car engine on the other hand...

Six months in the future.....

[hplasm]

"Aargh! My charging mat has attracted the steel plate in my skull! Someone get this thing off of me!!!"

not dumb

[Anonymous Coward]

My Panasonic linear shaver uses induction charging, works great, is waterproof, too.

They're available from HeartlandAmerica for $80. Hint to geeks with red palms: it's under the grooming section.

And bankrupt the device manufacturers?

[matthewg42]

This could really put the price of hardware up--the manufacturers charge (no pun intended) such amazingly high prices for replacement chargers...

I sometimes wonder if this isn't their primary business, as DNA said--Xerox are not in the business of selling photocopiers, they are in the business of selling toner...

When I tried to get a replacement charger for an old Compaq laptop I picked up I found out where their margins really are... 80 quid they wanted for a charger. A replacement battery was about the same.

Re:Nuke France

[Anonymous Coward]

Speak for yourself, i'm boycotting US and Israeli goods. And I think you`ll find that around the world (you know, that place you never see covered on US news, unless Americans are blowing bits of it up) more people are following this idea than yours.

Not really

[91degrees]

The multiple plugs aspect is fine, but it's possible to damage equipment if you set the power too high, and in some cases simply if you use the wrong polarity.

Best solution

[swb]

My solution to this has been simple. Carry less gadgets when you travel.

Dream on.

[twitter]

Do you think the makers of those devices are going to use this? They could be using standard battery sizes if they wanted to eliminate all those wires. It's a backward concept anyway. Devices should not be good devices not battery chargers. I've tried very hard to avoid silly devices that use non-standard batteries but I now own four and feel like I'm going backward in time.

Nope

[Anonymous Coward]

>God wouldn't that be a dream come true?

No, two chicks at one time would be.

Use as mousepad

[sjonke]

You can also use it as a kind of "holistic mousepad". Improves tracking and cures wrist pain at the same time.

Re:Use as mousepad

[Jon Abbott]

You can also use it as a kind of "holistic mousepad". Improves tracking and cures wrist pain at the same time.

Stop it! You're giving The Sharper Image ideas.

Public places for these mats?

[mnmn]

Now wireless parks and cafes could offer tables on which you could put your laptop and use it PLUGGED. If airlines take the idea too, and car manufacturers, we wouldnt need batterly lives of over 4 hours.

To make it worth it, cafes for instance could make their tables coin-op to start powering for say 30 minutes, while you place your laptop and coffe cup over it. I wonder what the effecs of electrolysis are on coffee.

I'm too skeptical of the inductive effects on foodstuff and the human body though.

Re:Public places for these mats?

[DJPenguin]

Let's just carpet the whole planet in this stuff... wh00t!

Afrotech

[xombo]

This was accomplised by Afrotech with an optical mouse ... here. I want to see it implemented by apple, I also want to see OS X.3 "Pather" at macworld.

Re:Afrotech

[Anonymous Coward]

Other than having to deal with Arnold, very interesting link.

practical application.

[twitter]

I can imagine what this will really look like. A big pile of stuff piled up on a mat that's too small to hold them all. A hard to place 60 Hz BZZZZZZZ will be heard next to it.

GM's EV1 had a wireless option...

[Paddyish]

For charging, that is. The car had a simple little holder where you would place the external charging coil (attached to a much larger unit). No electrical contact was made.

I remember one of the pitches they made for it was that it could safely charge even underwater...

...of course, that car was never put into full production, as a recent /. post detailed.

I've also heard of artificial hearts being charged using this method, eliminating the need for wires running outside of the body.

The first thing I do when I get home...

[wondafucka]

is put my keys down, then the baby, then my cellphone. Uh oh, baby has a tumor. But damn, my cell phone is a-charged!

What about energy waste?

[Marillion]

It seems to me that since this is a glorified transformer, the amount of energy lost in the transfer would be MUCH higher than a classic wall-wart.
People with transformer isolated data centers know that you typically loose 2% to 5% of the energy going into the unit as raw heat.
I can't imagine this thing would get better than 60% efficiency.

Re:What about energy waste?

[Xrikcus]

Probably true, but on balance, does everyone do things for efficiency... think 4x4s.

Nikola Tesla your time has come

[mesach]

it may be a little different in the implementation...

But his basic idea is there!

Tesla

[luzrek]

This sounds quite a bit like Tesla's original idea for the distribution of electricity, but at a more practical level. Tesla's idea was that a huge tesla coil would sit in the middle of a town and all electronic devices would be powered off of the very high frequency EM pulses from it. The two major problems (ok, three if you count the tesla coil) were that there was no way to meter usage, and the 1 of distance squared fall off in intensity once you got a resonalbe distance from the coil. The charging pad solves these problems. However, I think it will waste a bit of electricity. It would be better to have a charging "box" so less energy gets wasted.

Re:Tesla

[Sfing_ter]

I know, instead of a charging box, we could get a device that the unit would 'rest' in and that would recharge it, somewhat similar to the cradles we have now but much cooler cuz we madem!!!

I want more!

[nosilA]

Inductive charging has been done. It would be nice to have 1 charger for all my devices, but it's no great innovation. I want to see a wireless device powered by radio waves.

-Alison

Are these things efficient?

[osgeek]

What's the efficiency of your run of the mill inductive transfer? I'd imagine that you lose a lot of power generating the field that isn't transferred to the target device.

Kind of speaks against their "green" argument.

And the next step

[jandersen]

... will be one that simply taps it's power from any electromagnetic radiation happens to be around, like radio waves or the electric noise from passing car electrics.

I can be done, actually. I knew a guy who lived near a tv mast - he put up an aerial and got a major savings on his electricity bill. That is, until the owners of the mast discovered it.

Fuck that, dumb idea

[Anonymous Coward]

What they SHOULD make is an AC adapter that has many heads and settable voltage for each one of those. This will help clean up that huge clutter of big heavy AC adapters everyone has under their desk.

"God wouldn't that be a dream come true?"

[Anonymous Coward]

"God wouldn't that be a dream come true?"

God says he thinks it's not a bad idea but it as its drawbacks. Personally, he's worried that he'd leave a floppy disk on it, or even worse, a credit card. God has Amex you know.

hard to believe

[Transcendent]

I have a hard time believing that this is safe for electronic devices that store memory in ram chips (like PDA's). Wouldnt this effect the entire circuit? How do they isolate it to the proper section of the device? ... how the hell do they know which is the proper section?

Re:Nuke France

[Anonymous Coward]

You're just mad because you're probably french and now have to buy Freedom Fries.

Electro Magnetic Induction + my VAIO?

[roman_mir]

What about my poor hard drive? Or do I have to disconnect the battery and put it on the mat by itself?

The whole thing's a con

[Perianwyr Stormcrow]

The only way to solve the patent problem is to remove the patent office's requirement to be self-funding. That way, there's no incentive for them to accept bad patents just because it pays.

Nothing else in patent reform matters before that is resolved.

Well no, it won't reduce the number of chargers

[biglig2]

Because of course it is physically possible to standardise a single wired power connector for all the devices in your life, and no-one has ever bothered to.

I can see a market for it of course but I fear you might end up with one pad per device instead of one cable per device.

A new technology recharges your laptop without a p

[rpiquepa]

As it was mentioned in an earlier comment, [ MobileWise also has an interesting product. "MobileWise has a clever solution: technology that lets a flat surface (like a desk pad, or maybe even a desk itself) transmit power to little conductive contacts on the bottom of a device (notebook computer, PDA, cell phone, etc.) when it's set down. The power flows right through an exposed grid of contacts via direct current, and yet the recharger never shorts out or presents a danger, because it doesn't turn on until it recognizes a device." Read this column for more details -- and a picture.

Charging via Tesla coil would be nice too.

[Anonymous Coward]

You would not even have to put it on a mat. Just
keep it in your pocket.

Now if they up the voltage on this..

[mivok]

they could market it as a sort of high tech whoopee cushion. Only the victim gets more of a shock than a mere unexpected rude noise.

BZZZZZZTTTTTTTT!!!!

battery packs?

[GlassUser]

So why are they talking about building these receivers into the devices? Why not have replacable battery packs with these integrated? I don't know how large the effective charge field is, but since most electronic device shells are plastic, there should be no penetration issues. The only problem I could see is that it takes size from the battery, but how small can you get a coil and four diodes?

This will never work!?

[CMan20]

How would any company ever survive if they can't sell you an incompatible charger at $35 for your house, and $50 for your car, for every single electronic item you buy, and your cell phone that you replace every 7.2 months???

manufacturers charge so much ...

[lfourrier]

...on additionnal chargers that I'm sure they don't want this type of solution.
Or else, charger would have been compatible a long time ago.

The barrier isn't technological...

[cgenman]

Is this the answer to cutting the mountain of chargers I have to carry all the time?" God wouldn't that be a dream come true?

The reason there are so many different chargers is intentional incompatibility. Splash Charge themselves shows evidence of this, as they intend to charge "between 25 and 50 dollars" when this ships. How much does a replacement AC adapter cost you? About 10 - 20 dollars in a normal device. How much does it cost the company? Pennies.

Besides voltage settings (12 volts would be pretty even), there is no reason why device manufacturers couldn't have standardized on an 4-mm sized center positive 1.0 Amp plug by now. The ability to charge multiple devices at once is interesting, though one has to wonder how strong such a device could be with a reasonably sized wall wart.

The technology is very cool and I look forward to using it someday. But I expect once that day comes, it will be a propreitary charging pad, able to fit only a specific device thanks to some unnecessary plastic tabs.

Electric cars tried inductive and gave up

[ChrisCampbell47]

The electric car manufacturers tried inductive charging for years and gave up, in particular because the California Air Resources Board (CARB) in June 2001 decided to standardize on conductive. Now, this may only indicate a problem with inductive charging in high-power applications, and maybe gadget power is fine, but it's worth pointing out.

it is only 60% efficient or so

[Anonymous Coward]

An inductive charger is essentially and air core transformer. Air core transformers aren't very efficient. This system would lose about 40% of its power in the inductive transmission. This is on top of any other inefficiencies in the power supply.

Wasting energy is bad in itself. It basically means you have to put in 50% more electricity to do the same charging.

But on top of that, when coupled with devices that take a lot of power, the heat of the waste energy can be a problem. Even something like an iPod would put off a lot more heat when charging.

An extreme example of this is GM's EV1 electic car. It used inductive charging, and supposedly it was so inefficient that the government declared that it wasn't a zero emissions vehicle.

Where is Tesla when you need him?

[neophenix]

What would be great is if someone would resurrect Tesla's plans for wireless transmission of energy (circa 1910 or so, dont have the book on me to look up the exact date). then we wouldnt even need to worry about finding a mat.

Clever, but a possible alternative

[panurge]

A UPS converts mains to 12V battery and then converts the 12V back to the mains. Then the little power supply brick converts the mains down to a few volts again...stupid.

Now look at those in-car chargers which are just a plug to the lighter socket with some simple voltage conversion.

What I would like to see is simply a UPS with a suitably large battery and a set of those car sockets round the back, and neat little adaptors for gadgets that plug into those sockets. Maybe the sockets could even go on top and you plug in a Motorola, Nokia, Palm what have you socket adaptor so you just push the gadget in, no wires. Now I can run everything from the UPS, and in the event of mains power failure I can turn off the PC and then still use the battery to charge my PDA, phone, etc.

Fewer voltage conversions to go wrong, less power wasted in converting up and down. And, unlike this induction scheme, existing devices can easily be modified: they just need a 12V adaptor which many of them have anyway.

Magnetic mat?

[JRHelgeson]

Just don't set your wallet on the mat, lest ye destroy all the credit cards.

Or would it charge those up too?

--
"Give a man fire, and he'll be warm for a day; set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life."

Re:Big Deal. - sources? facts?!

[Anonymous Coward]

Mod parent down... he doesn't even bother to site a model number for the laptop or charger... There's nothing "Informative" here....

nice sig

[jonnyfivealive]

that is possibly the funniest sig i have EVER seen, good work

MOD PARENT DOWN

[Anonymous Coward]

No interesting or informative information here... mod him down and mod up REAL FACTS...

Great!

[kin_korn_karn]

This beats the hell out of my tesla coil solution

Underwater Lamps

[Anonymous Coward]

I saw this charging method applied to underwater lamps ages ago (15-20 years). If the frequency is kept relatively low there's absolute no harm for people even at very high power rates. Of course the nearby components must sustain the high EM energy (i.e. no magnetic tapes or disks).

RFC3251

[b1t r0t]

All right! RFC3251 over 802.11b!

nice, but...

[Anonymous Coward]

don't try to charge your ipod on it... ouch.

sounds like what they really invented...

[Hubert_Shrump]

is a new place for my cat to sleep.

Re:pricetag

[twl]

my $30 braun electric toothbrush uses an inductive charging system...

A universal charger

[Anonymous Coward]

MAHA sells a universal charger. I have one.

It comes with adjustable prongs and a set of test clips, and I have yet to find something it cannot charge.

Note that this is a fast charger too: you have to put a temperature sensor on the pack being charged so it doesn't get cooked.

Packs that used to take me 6 hours to charge get charged in 20 minutes. Yow!

Range?

[brakk]

Well, the security badge I have for work works off the same concept (see my other post http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=57915&cid=5565 848 ) and it works from about 4-6 inches away. Depending on what your desk was made out of you could mount it to the bottom, and it could even be built into the desk. That would actually be a great idea, your whole desk could recharge anything you set on it. It could even put out enough power to run and charge your laptop.

Re:Emf?

[unitron]

The first time Slashdot ran a story on this a couple or six months ago, that same question was asked and answered in the article.

Once all these rechargeable devices have their half of the inductive coupling built in, you can make your own pad. Glue a coil of wire to a mouse pad, glue another on top of it, and feed it with a wall wart.

Is this a troll?

[MemeRot]

Or do you really not understand the system at all?

A patent application for this gadget would only be invalid if someone else had already marketed a gadget that uses magnetic induction in connection with another gadget embedded in portable electronics to recharge said electronic devices. It's not like every gadget has to use some new undiscovered law of physics to be patentable.

Re:Is this a troll?

[kenthorvath]

Again, I think that my toothbrush is considered "portable" and obviously electronic. What other type of device would need to be charged? And again, there is no relevance here to the laws of physics. The point is that people have been doing this for a while, and that patents are getting WAY WAY WAY out of hand (search slashdot for "patent").

If the carpeting was magnetically charged....

[MemeRot]

It should either 'north' or 'south' - correct? So how about some shoes with powerful electromagnets with the opposite polarity? Instant roller rink. Or one of those back to the future flying skateboards?

I wouldn't pay much money to charge a phone.... but to have my own personal maglev floor?

Re:If the carpeting was magnetically charged....

[Melchior_of_wg]

Well, something similar to this is in development for use in trains; Basically you use strong magnets to make the train float, and then you just push it along. If you make shoes of this, though, I think you'd have a bit of a hard time standing up.

Two major? Try THREE major

[MemeRot]

The third being that the EM field caused everyone in range to lose continence.....

IHBT

[plastik55]

So, you are saying that a patent would be invalid if there is prior art on using "magnetic induction in connection with another gadget embedded in portable electronics to recharge..." Gee, sounds a lot like my electric toothbrush.

The patentable innovation isn't charging via magnetic induction. That's old hat. The innovative bits are integrating it into a surface so that each device doesn't need to sit in its own cradle to recharge, and despite this having the resulting electromagnetic field be small enough to not cause unwanted interference.

mod parent stupid

[Anonymous Coward]

if he can't even find the 'stupid' mod option, he must be a right idiot

Re:Two major? Try THREE major

[luzrek]

It turns out that very high frequency very high voltage fields cannot pass through human skin.

How about making special receiver units

[gurps_npc]

Make a receiver unit the size and shape of 1/2 a standard batteries. Build it into a regular rechargeable battery. Yes, it will only have 1/2 the regular shelf life, but you can put it in any battery operated device

Well....

[MemeRot]

I was just saying it's patentable, which we both agree on. There is non-obvious innovation. The fact that some technology is the same as tech used elsewhere wasn't important.

I kind of stand by my point though. I wouldn't really call a toothbrush a mobile electronic device. Sure... you COULD carry it around like your cell phone or cd player.... but what the hell for? I don't think there is any device using induction to charge cell phones or cd players which is what I think of when I think of mobile electronics.

I'm surprised at how many people here talk about their rechargable electric toothbrushes. I guess if a geek is going to brush his teeth, he'll probably be too lazy to move his hand in small circles by himself?

Re:Well....

[plastik55]

Well, you have to consider that applying a proven technology in an obvious way to a very slightly different device isn't really worthy of a patent. Title 103 says a patent is invalid if the claimed innovations are "obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains." I don't think it's unreasonalbe to expect that an electrical engineer, knowing of the existence of inductive charging, would consider it obvious to apply it to a "mobile device" if it improved the product in some say.

And toothbrushes come up in this discussion because they are the most common consumer devices to have inductive charging. It is a good technology to use if you are trying to make a waterproof device, which is a basic requirement for toothbrushes.

laptop airliner power solution

[jstoner]

Hmmm... if you put this in an airline seat tray table, you could possibly run the actual laptop of the charge instead of charging a battery. Or switch between the two.

Interesting: this would be a much more natural use for most people, at least for laptops. Who wants to flip the tray table down, put a laptop on it, and just let it sit there?

re: magnetically sensitive

[benjamindees]

Is that why laptops have an external transformer "brick", or is that just for convenience?

Wired wireless mouse?

[mr_zorg]

I rather though the point of a wireless mouse was, well, no wires. Now you want to run a wire to the mouse pad... What difference does it make if the wire runs to the mouse or the pad? There's still a wire! Seriously though, it could be nice because you don't have to drag the cord around with you when you move the mouse...

Re:Wired wireless mouse?

[plover]

"Hey, I'm just the visionary here. I don't actually USE the darn things." ;-)

No, seriously, I don't like the cord on the mouse offering even the slightest springiness. If I let go of the mouse and it moves even just one mickey, I find it annoying. The bluetooth mouse has a lot of appeal to me, but not with it requiring disposable batteries. (Same with the IR mouse.)

I also don't like the bulk of the current crop of cordless meeces. If it can count on the pad constantly charging it the batteries can be considerably smaller and lighter, only having to provide 60 minutes of operation instead of 40 hours or whatever. They can make them the same form factor as the current corded mice.

Re: magnetically sensitive

[netringer]

Is that why laptops have an external transformer "brick", or is that just for convenience?

Laptops typically have AC power supplies in external "bricks" to separate the bulk and weight of the AC transformer from the laptop. You don't need that brick when you're running off battery.

The irony is you still usually have to lug the birck and power cord along in your laptop bag when you hit the road - along with the swappable floppy drive, CD-RW or DVD drive, and the spare battery. That's why carrying my "4 pound" laptop puts a painful dent in my shoulder.

Americans, too.

[Anonymous Coward]

Mobilewise has been working on a similar product for a while, using direct DC contact (presumably with large contacts on the device, and automatic negotiation when you plop your phone/laptop on the mat- similar to the way your cordless phone resets its security code when placed in the charger).

I like induction better, myself, but for those of you afraid of the EM fields, this is your alternative. ;)

Watch time run backwards

[awtbfb]

One of the guys I used to work with was on a project to recharge electric vehicles with induction. He was telling me that everyone's watches would go backwards whenever the device activated.

SPAM Charging Solution?

[Doctor Hu]

Sadly, no. Amount of energy received from any input message is much less than the amount needed to process it. Just as well, really. If it's greater, then you're in the sights of a weapon.

--
Ever wondered why s[cp]ammers write PENIS in big letters?

Saw this on afrotech 2 months ago

[t0qer]

I tried to submit a story about this same subject a while back. Instead of some corporation creating it though, it's slashdots favorite hard disk speaker creating Ghetto modder Afroman with his version. Good instructions if you want to make this pad DIY. (I wonder if splashpower reads afrotech as well?)

So that's how my toothbrush works

[Anonymous Coward]

Cool, which explains why it hasn't fried me in the shower.

FAQ You!

[riqnevala]

Key Technical Features - Efficient power transfer.

Q. Is it possible to charge different devices using this technology, even if they have different types of batteries?
A. Yes. Splashpower is designed be universally interoperable, catering for a range of different devices with different requirements simultaneously, delivering ultimate convenience for the end user.

Analyse that for an answer. :) Peace.

FAQ You too!

[riqnevala]

Q. Is it safe?
A. Yes. Splashpower technology is intrinsically designed to be safe and has been demonstrated to be compliant to relevant regulations and recommendations



Analyse that for an answer! :)

what happens when....

[ital]

someone wearing a metal coil braclet rests their arm on the pad? Doesnt a coil passed through a magnetic field generate electrical current?

Re: magnetically sensitive

[uberdave]

It is a cost saving feature. In order to market an appliance that uses AC power, it must be certified. The regulations are generally such that any change in the design of the laptop, would require re-certification. i.e. change the trackball for a trackpad, recertify the machine. Equip it with a dvd instead of a cdrom. recertify the machine.

However, the regulations are a lot less demanding with low voltage equipment. So, you keep one certified power "brick" or wall wart, and you can change the rest of the gear to your heart's content.

Floppies

[Ungrounded Lightning]

This would NOT be a good idea for something that is magnetically sensitive, as it would effectively erase floppy/hard disks, cassette tapes, etc...

Well, putting degaussing coils on all the desktops in the guise of power supplies for portable devices is ONE way to create an incentive to retrofit or replace any remaining legacy equipment and complete the migration away from floppy disks.

An Ode to Nikolai Tesla

[inode_buddha]

... as performed by Pink Floyd:

"Wish you were here"

MobileWise

[danielwong125]

Is it just me or have I been hearing about a similar technology called mobilewise for some time now? I believe it was in both popsci and maxpc (magazines)... Anyways, I can't wait! When this thing comes out, we can have completely cordless computers, which is by far the coolest thing I can think of (ok not really, but pretty darn close).

Update...

[danielwong125]

yeah, I just found it. Took about 2 seconds (give or take): http://www.mobilewise.com/ first hit on google. hehe ;)

It's not inductive.

[ancukiewiczd]

The pad doesn't use inductive charging; instead, it's a grid of tiny contacts that probe corresponding contacts on the device. When it finds the corresponding contacts touching, it starts charging. Thus, you don't have to worry about EM radiation, wiping away credit cards, or anything like that.

Japan has it already!!!

[goofrider]

Well, on a portable CD/MP3 player at least.

This Panasonic protable CD/MP3 player comes with a magnetic induction charger.

(Click on the "enlarge image" and you'll see a tiny pic of the power adapter connection.)

Re:Nuke France

[Anonymous Coward]

"You're just mad because you're probably french and now have to buy Freedom Fries."

Close, but I'm not French, and I don't have to buy freedom fries.

Depends....

[MemeRot]

For years and years there have been cell phones/cd players/etc with non-inductive chargers. If it's so obvious, why hasn't anyone done it before? Hundreds of devices over more than a decade, none use inductive charging - kind of lends itself to saying that it's a non-obvious application in and of itself.

Re:Depends....

[plastik55]

Because it provides little to no practical benefit in the case where every device needs its own charger. Anyway, I have seen phones which use inductive charging. Not a lot of them, because in existing implementations there are few benefits beyonds sealing the case, but they're out there