Have you ever wished you could charge gadgets – and we mean really wirelessly, not by placing them on a charging pad?
This day may come very soon, as the Federal Communications Commission recently approved the first wireless charger “power-at-a-distance”.
Manufactured by Energous – a company that was once rumored to have collaborated with Apple for wireless charging from a distance – the WattUp is a charger that “sends focused, RF power to devices” at a distance of up to thirty centimeters.
This is the first time the FCC has certified any wireless charger that works at a distance.
“Free wireless charging – like charging a fitness band even while you wear it – is exactly what consumers expected. Now we are able to promote our consumer electronics, the IoT and smart home customers at rapid rates , said Stephen R. Rizzone, president and chief executive officer of Energous.
The company's promotional advertising messages for WattUp say that it can charge multiple devices simultaneously and can stop charging as soon as the devices are fully charged. The WattUp receiver is tiny and can be placed on almost any device, including waterproof devices.
While this sounds great, we are still curious to see how this will work in real life. For example, if the “charging bundle” is very tight, will this significantly reduce the usability of the WattUp charger?
Energous will showcase the WattUp charger at next year's CES, which starts on January 9 in Las Vegas.
