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Is RCA's Airnergy Snake Oil?
Ben Newman writes "Of all the tech that's come out of CES this week, nothing has gotten the blogosphere more excited then the RCA Airnergy. A lot of people love the thought of an ever-recharging cell phone, and the Airnergy promises to constantly charge its internal battery through 2.4GHz wireless signals. Neat idea, but as some commenters have pointed out the energy just isn't there to make this work — BOTECs for a full charge range from 100 days to 32 years. Plus, don't let the RCA brand fool you into thinking this must be from a legitimate company: RCA hasn't existed as anything more then a licensed brand name for a couple of decades. So what do Slashdotters think — real deal or 21st century hokum?"
Yes, when I am confronted with an RCA TV, the first thing I think is, "a legitimate company produced this."
I'm sure we can look forward to a vigorous debate, where both sides bring up excellent points. I certainly cannot say where the slashdot community will land on this question, and the article certainly doesn't give any hints! Thanks, Ben, for your valuable question, and I hope you find the answers both challenging and enlightening.
Carry a cell tower... I think I'd rather carry a microwave oven - much more compact and convenient, since it can reheat my lunch too.
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
Of course, I can't be wrong: http://www.xkcd.com/687/
...unless you want to cook the user holding the phone at the same time.
Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
Literalism isn't a form of humor, it's you being irritating.
Obviously, you put this thing in the microwave, set it to High, and let it charge for 30 minutes.
(Please let it cool down before removing it from the oven.)
I am of the belief that yes, you can re-charge your 'phone's battery from an R.F. power source (after all, it works for RFID).
There are IMHO two caveats;
Your 'phone needs to be in standby, since when talking, you'll be using far more energy than the cell can provide.
Any active users will suffer reduced signal-strength due to all the passive users re-charging their 'phones. This power has to come from somewhere and that place will be the cell transmitter. Given enough 'phones re-charging and you won't be able to make/receive a call because your 'phone won't be able to hear the cell due to all the other 'phones sucking all the signal from it...
Just a thought.
C:\>
If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a thumb.
Tesla seemed to think this idea was workable. Can't say about RCA's product but I'll trust Tesla.
At what price learning? At what cost wisdom? The price is a man's peace of mind, and the cost is his life.
Frequency effects your ability to absorb the energy. I can only pick up NSA broadcasts on my dentalwork, for example.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
I'll get more energy with a hand-crank generator...
... depending on which picture is in front of you.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
I notice you switched units in your surface area calculation. Do you, by any chance, work on spacecraft going to Mars?
Slightly disreputable, albeit gregarious
I can feel the energy from the sun on my hand. I can't feel the energy from a router. Not even with my EM allergies :-)