Posted by
CmdrTaco
on from the now-thats-just-crazy dept.
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?
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?
by
kenthorvath
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
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?
Please please please
by
91degrees
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
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.
Finally, the future is here
by
Harald+Paulsen
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
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.
-- Harald
Re:Dumb Question
by
AlecC
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
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".
-- Consciousness is an illusion caused by an excess of self consciousness.
Re:Sounds like a great idea....
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 1, Insightful
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....
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
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 Great
by
plover
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
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?
Slashdot Mirror
THIS is the sort of thing that is worthy of a patent.
Not Bezos and his f****** 10 lines of HTML.
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.
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.
Harald
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".
Consciousness is an illusion caused by an excess of self consciousness.
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.
This assumes you don't live in a country that the US wants to spray with uranium, of course.
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?
John