On 24/01/2018 8:29 PM, Brian Gaff wrote:
Is it April 1st already?
WattUp®, a revolutionary wire-free, power-at-a-distance charging technology,
today announced Federal Communications Commission (FCC) certification of its
first-generation WattUp Mid Field transmitter, which sends focused, RF-based
power to devices at a distance. As the first FCC certification for
power-at-a-distance wireless charging under Part 18 of the FCC's rules, this
development represents a new era of wireless charging, and opens up a
tremendous opportunity for the electronics industry.
Energous' WattUp Mid Field transmitter underwent rigorous, multi-month
testing to verify it met consumer safety and regulatory requirements. As the
first Part 18 FCC approved power-at-a-distance wireless charging
transmitter, the certification marks a significant milestone for the
consumer electronics industry and paves the way for future wireless charging
ubiquity for nearly any small electronic device, including smartphones,
tablets, fitness trackers, smart watches, earbuds, wireless keyboards and
mice, smart speakers and more.
The company's WattUp Mid Field transmitter can deliver power via radio
frequency (RF) energy to WattUp-enabled electronic devices at a distance of
up to three feet. As the only technology that can do both contact-based and
non-contact-based wireless charging, as well as charge multiple devices at
once, WattUp is highly scalable and automatically charges devices, as
needed, until they are topped off. While older charging technologies allow
for only contact-based charging, Energous is the only company to achieve
Wireless Charging 2.0 to-date, which is the ability to charge devices both
at contact (including fast charging large battery devices such as
smartphones and tablets), as well as power-at-a-distance. Similar to WiFi,
the WattUp ecosystem ensures interoperability between receivers and
transmitters, regardless of the manufacturer, making the entire ecosystem
flexible and accessible for consumers and manufacturing partners.
"Older wireless charging technologies have received limited adoption over
the past 15 years, and are confined to contact-based charging only. The FCC
certification of Energous' power-at-a-distance wireless charging transmitter
is a major market milestone. It opens up options, outside of just
contact-based charging, to Wireless Charging 2.0: an ecosystem where devices
can be charged both, via pad and at a distance," said Stephen R. Rizzone,
president and CEO of Energous. "Untethered, wire-free charging -- such as
charging a fitness band even while wearing it -- is exactly what consumers
have been waiting for. We are now in a position to move our consumer
electronics, IoT and smart home customers forward at an accelerated pace."
"WattUp from Energous represents an incredibly positive lifestyle change,"
said Martin Cooper, Energous Board of Directors member and 'Father of the
Cell Phone' -- a pioneer and visionary of the wireless industry. "This
ground-breaking technology allows users to automatically charge their
WattUp-enabled devices without having to remove them from their wrist or
pocket, plug them in or place them on a mat to charge, freeing them from
ever having to think about charging their devices again."
WattUp transmitter technology will continue to advance in both power,
distance, efficiency and scale, with applications that could include
integration into the bezel of computer monitors, soundbars, smart speakers,
TVs, smart lighting, and other electronics in the home, office and beyond.
"Providing meaningful power-at-a-distance is a real game changer for
wireless charging," said Mark Tyndall, senior vice president corporate
development and strategy, Dialog Semiconductor. "As the strategic partner
and exclusive world-wide supplier of Energous' WattUp technology, Dialog
provides early adopters with the assurance of chip supply and support that
comes from a top tier semiconductor company that ships millions of chips
each month into some of the world's most demanding customers."
This represents the first time FCC equipment certification has been awarded
to any device that charges wirelessly at a distance, and operates under Part
18 of the FCC's rules. The FCC's Part 18 rules permit higher-power
operations than are permitted under the Part 15 rules that have been used to
approve other at a distance charging devices.

Not a lot of detail and whizzing about various links there seems to be a
very vague Apple patent application in co-operation with a couple of other
companies, one mentioned above regarding this.
I could just about reckon that using resonant circuits and at such a short
range, although not very efficient this may work but longer range I'd
suggest you are in danger of bringing out the radio transmitters near the
body brigade of potential brain tumours or cancer lot. I would also not want
to be near one of these devices myself and if you are going to stay within 3
feet of something long enough to charge up a phone battery what is the
point, you might as well plug the damn thing in and charge it properly,
surely?

My feeling is this is going to either be the biggest flop since the last big
flop or its going to be deemed unsafe for the time needed to do anything
good with it. It would be interesting to find out what the FCC safety tests
were.
Any comments?
Brian


**Sounds like an extremely inefficient, potentially dangerous idea to
me. I'm an old fashioned guy. I just plug stuff in. Seems to work OK.

BTW: My latest battery drill (a Bosch GSB 18V-85C) has an optional
Bluetooth communication system with a smartphone. Technology gone too
far? I'm not paying the extra 40 Bucks to find out either.

--
Trevor Wilson
www.rageaudio.com.au