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Fujitsu Eyes Wireless Gadget Charging For 2012

Posted by timothy on from the don't-cross-the-streams dept.

angry tapir writes "Researchers at Fujitsu Laboratories have developed a wireless charging system that they say can simultaneously charge a variety of portable gadgets over a distance of several centimeters without the need for cables. The system, which will be detailed at a technical conference in Japan this week, could begin appearing in mobile phones and other products as soon as 2012, the company said. Fujitsu's system is based on magnetic resonance in which power can be wirelessly sent between two coils that are tuned to resonate at the same frequency."

4 of 158 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Efficiency by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    You could read the article. The efficiency is 85% at 15cm, and much higher at closer distances, since the efficiency drops off with the cube of the distance.

  2. Already here for a while now by TheNarrator · · Score: 4, Informative

    Is it me, or are people having a hard time believing the technology actually exists?

    Two Companies Already Have Products:

    http://www.powercastco.com/
    http://www.witricity.com/

    NY Times Covered this stuff in 2007

    http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/09/magazine/09wirelessenergy.html?_r=1&ref=magazine

    Here's CNET demoing powercast's tech in 2007!
    http://cnettv.cnet.com/powercast/9742-1_53-25606.html

    You can buy full blown evaluation boards online that powercast manufactures that implement wireless electricity:

    http://www.futureelectronics.com/en/technologies/development-tools/rf-wireless/Pages/9660812-P1110-EVB.aspx

    Why is everyone having such a hard time with this concept?

    1. Re:Already here for a while now by Mike+McTernan · · Score: 3, Informative

      Splashpower started in 2001: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Splashpower

      I actually saw one of their demonstrations and it was cool. The pad was just a slightly thick mousepad like device, and you could put multiple phones of different types on it at the same time and at any orientation. They had modified battery modules to contain their own chip which did the inductive pick up and regulation. They said their goal was to get the chip built into devices by default, although unless the chip was very cheap, I suspect this would have been difficult to include in cost sensitive mobile phones and iPods.

      --
      -- Mike
  3. Re:How many wireless charging systems do we need? by Aldanga · · Score: 3, Informative

    There definitely needs to be a set standard. I suspect IEEE or another such organization will eventually step up and figure out an agreeable standard.

    However, the technology hasn't advanced to the point where it's exactly realistic for most people, or even truly usable. Unless there is a significant breakthrough in the near future, such standardization will probably not happen anytime soon.