What Is Wireless Charging?

Unless you are mainly organized and good with tie wrap, you likely have a few dusty power cord tangles around your home. You may have even had to pursue one specific cord through the seemingly impossible mess up to the outlet, hopefully that the plug you pull will be the correct one. This is one of the defeats of electricity. While it can make people’s life simpler, it can put in a lot of clutter in the process.

For these reasons, scientists have tried to build up methods of wireless power transmission that could cut the mess or lead to cleaner sources of electricity. While the thought may seem innovative, it isn’t principally new. The wireless transmission of energy is frequent in much of the world. Radio waves are energy, and people use them to send and receive TV, cell phone and WiFi signals each day. The radio waves spread in all directions until they reach antennae that are tuned to the correct frequency.

Inductive coupling uses magnetic fields that are a usual part of current’s movement through wire. This is normally done with a charging station. Energy is transmitted through inductive coupling to an electrical device, which then can employ that energy to charge batteries.

Because there is a little gap between the two smart coils utilized in each of the sender and receiver of the energy within the particular devices, inductive charging is measured a short distance “wireless” energy transfer, in spite of the fact that there are usually more wires used with inductive charging than direct-contact charging, as it disconnects the user from having to deal with wires between the two devices.

Induction chargers normally use an induction coil to produce an alternating electromagnetic field from within a charging base station, and another induction coil in the moveable device acquires power from the induction coils in vicinity join to form an electrical transformer.

Larger distances can be attained when the inductive charging system makes use of resonant inductive coupling.

Top 5 Wireless Chargers for iPhone and Android & Blackberry Devices

Below mentioned are the five most relevant wireless chargers:

Powermat One-Position Mat with iPhone 3G/3GS Hard Case

• Enables drop and charge instead of plug and unplug
• Powermat One-Position Mat with iPhone 3G/3GS Hard Case
• Simple fast and efficient technique to charge your iPhone 3G or 3GS wirelessly.
• Sleek, minimalist mat design makes it perfect for office, home and anywhere else you park your electronics
• Hard case includes a pass through micro USB port which enables syncing without removing case
• Also has hard receiver case for iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS, 1XA mat (single position mat),power supply, micro USB to USB data cable
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars

Powermat One Position Charging Mat with BlackBerry Bold 9700 Receiver

• This includes (1) Powermat 1X charging mat, (1) 100-240 VAC Power Supply, and Receiver Battery Door for Blackberry 9700 series
• Seamlessly upgrade your phone to wireless charging
• Average Customer Review: 4 out of 5 stars

Powermat Receiver Universal Powercube

Powercube is the universal solution to charge a wide variety of devices. It includes many power tips for various cell phones, music players and other devices. Designed to use with Powermat Charging Mats.

The product includes:

• Interchangeable Mini and Micro USB tips
• Tip Storage Case that magnetically attaches to Powercube
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars

PowerMat Wireless Charging System for Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant/4G – Charger – Retail Packaging – Black

Allow your Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant or Samsung Galaxy S 4G with this Powermat Receiver for the best experience. The new battery case permits you to charge Your Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant or Samsung Galaxy S 4G along with the included Powermat charging system. Moreover, inductive charging enables you to charge your phone wirelessly without plugging and unplugging into the wall. All you need to do is place it on the included Powermat IX charging base and you are getting power without the wires!

Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars

Powermat One-Position Charging Mat with Receiver Case for iPhone 4 (Fits AT&T and Verizon iPhone)

Powermat Wireless Charging System for iPhone 4 comprises (1) Powermat 1Xi Charging Mat; (1)100-240 VAC Power Supply, (1) Case for iPhone, and (1) Data Sync Cable.

• Comes with Slim, sleek, form fitting design and can be simply placed on any Powermat and requires no plugging and unplugging
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of stars

Advantages of Wireless Charging

The clear advantage of wireless charging is the capability to place electronics on a wireless charger device, rather than take a cell phone charger, or other type of charger all over in the case the batteries run out of charge. One more less known benefit of wireless charging is that chargers can be positioned near water when needed. This is because all the parts are enclosed, with no wires sticking out, or some toothbrushes, or electric razors come with wireless chargers for the sake of security. In addition, most of the wireless chargers can sense how much power each type of electronic device needs, so batteries are not physically charged too much.

Disadvantages of Wireless Charging

One drawback of the ability to charge electronics wirelessly is the normally higher cost when contrasted to wired chargers. To get the most competent wireless charging devices, it is often essential to invest a lot of money, which normally results in the latest charger. If not, older wireless chargers are often found to be slower at charging. They also often produce more heat than wired chargers, which can be measured a danger in spite of the somewhat smaller chances of electric shock when it comes to wireless charging devices.

Wireless charging for mobile devices is cool and potential, but at present it does not actually make life more convenient and efficient. Instead of having to connect your smartphone to a charging cord, you must ensure you have the correct charging sleeve. Rather than having the right adapter and connector to juice up your gadget, you need the suitable charging mat.

Gadgets are progressively becoming more mobile and wireless, and we are breaking free of cords and wires. Even wireless devices have to be plugged in every so often so as to recharge their batteries. Wireless charging technology could alter that, though and allow us to live in a truly cord-free world.

Powercast Corporation is the foremost supplier of RF-based wireless power technologies for low power applications. Powercast technologies and products offer wireless power over distance, eradicate or reduce the requirement for batteries, and allow devices to be charged or powered without connectors and wires.

Powercast technology offers actual wireless power for continuous charging and power-over-distance for one or more devices. Wireless power transmission is based on frequently used radio waves and Podcast’s patented RF-to-DC conversion technology. The blend allows low-power electronic devices to become finally untethered with trickle-charge embedded wireless power.

Powercast components – embedded wireless power modules – join together flawlessly with power distribution and storage systems for low power electronic devices by delivering MICRO-WATTS to LOW MILLIWATTS without wires.

Powercast brings remote, wireless power ability to micro power devices such as data loggers, wireless sensors, RTLS tags, active RFID, and many more. RF energy harvesting technology from Powercast breaks new ground in remote, wireless power by escalating the efficiency of converting RF energy (radio waves) into DC power allowing that efficiency over a wide operating range. Powercast embedded power technology permits battery substitution to be reduced or removed by trickle charging rechargeable batteries or by means of supercapacitors and thin-film energy cells.

Why RF Based Wireless Power?

Minimizes Operational Costs

Industrial

• Eliminates service downtime caused by used up batteries
• Decreases battery handling and disposal
• Eradicates cost to hard wire or substitute batteries- e.g. wireless sensors

Improved Product Design

OEMs

• Embedded power – remove cables, wires, connectors
• Sealed devices – less costly enclosures and manufacturing
• Reliability – reduced product failures, improved durability, eliminate ESD

Convenience and Usability

End-Users

• Embedded powers – connectors
• Placement flexibility – no charging stations or charging mats
• Transparent charging – user action is not needed

Powercast Wireless Sensor System

The Powercast Wireless Sensor System is made up of the WSG-101 Building Automation System (BAS) Gateway, Lifetime Power Wireless Temperature and Humidity Sensor (WSN-1001), and the TX 91501 Powercaster Transmitter. The parts of the Powercast Wireless Sensor System work jointly to send out precise temperature and humidity measurements in real time through a BAS network with a wide range of physical interfaces and industry standard set of rules including LonWorks, Metasys, BACnet, and Modbus.

Applications:

HVAC Control

Sensor input is important for control and operation of HVAC systems. Wireless technology significantly reduces the installation cost for sensors, permits rapid development, and overcomes construction obstructions that can make wiring impossible. Powercast wireless sensors can be set up off-site and deployed in minutes at the project site, resulting in minimal occupant disturbance and reduced installation costs. Precise transmitter types for HVAC systems comprise wall-mount temperature, temperature with external probes, CO2, Humidity, pressure, and open-close.

Lighting Control

Lighting accounts for a considerable portion of overall energy consumption in commercial buildings. The capability to compute light levels is a significant parameter for controlling and optimizing light output. Daylighting, or daylight harvesting, can be used to decrease the amount of light output from overhead fixtures. Powercast light sensor calculates lux values which can be used as input to a wide range of lighting systems for on/off and dining control.

Remote Monitoring

Remotely monitoring and data logging of environmental conditions and equipment status can lead to energy savings, reduced downtime and energy savings. Powercast solution, used together with 3rd party monitoring partners, offers an automated solution to remotely watch equipment and sites. Real-time email and text message alerts can notify staff when operating parameters go above the desired range, and data logging can be used for predictive or trending maintenance.

Industrial Automation

Powercast technology permits facility and plant monitoring with minimal or zero maintenance. Wireless monitoring allows you to go from monthly visits with clipboards to receiving automated electronic data each minute for detailed trending and data logging. Equipment malfunction can be better foreseen to reduce system or production downtime.

Medical Compliance

As added compliance measures (e.g. JCAHO) are required of hospitals, staff can become overloaded with documenting routine measurements.

Powercast solution, used together with 3rd party monitoring partners, offers an automated way to collect vital environmental data from a variety of sensitive equipment such as blanket warmers, refrigerators and freezers. Environmental fact is logged automatically and stored up on secure servers. Compliance reports can be produced weekly or monthly, and real-time email and text messages alerts can let staff know when environmental parameters go beyond the preferred operating range.

The concept of Wireless Power has been in news for some time now. Lot of researchers have been working to find a breakthrough in the system to be able to charge the electronic devices without the aid of wires. A team from MIT came up with the concept of WiTricity ( as in Wireless Electicity) and demonstrated it by lighting a 60W electrical bulb that was wirlessly connected to the power source seven feet away. The concept has been based on magnetic resonance by which electromagnetic energy is transmitted to those receivers that have the identical resonant frequencies as the transmitting device.

With magnetic resonance as the base, Sony Corporation has developed a prototype system that can transmit 60W electricity to a a device situated at about 50-80 cms away. The power transmission between the transmission and the recipient devices is 80% efficient. When a rectifier circuit is included, the efficieny is still 60%. Sony has built a repeater device that can increase the transmission range. The repeater device, being a passive component, is placed between the transmitting and the receieving devices to relay magnetic resonance.

So the time is not very far away when one can have a clutter-free TV set hooked onto the wall. And the countdown for a complete wireless world has begun.

Haier’s wireless TV is not available in the market yet but it is an indication of what is coming. Televisions have already gotten ultra slim and can produce HD video without using very little space in your living room. However, TVs are still somewhat “wired” and you connect the DVD players, power cords and other cables although you could use some costly alternatives to reduce to the clutter to some extent. It is a good sign that manufacturers are coming up with electronics without cables.

Wireless Powered TV

The wireless power system was supplied to Haier was developed by Witricity. Power transfer is made possible through a coil on the back of the TV that receives power from another device plugged into a wall socket that resonates and the energy is transferred using a magnetic near field.

This TV also features Wireless Home Digital Interface (WHDI), which can stream 1080p content at 3 Gbps. It works at distances up to about 100 feet away. So there’s no need for video input cables either. The company did not provide a time-line for a consumer release. It appears it may take 6 months to an year before you can purchase it for your home.

This product was chosen to receive a 2010 CES “Product of the Future Award” from POPULAR SCIENCE.

The technology at the core of WiTricity’s approach is called magnetic coupled resonance, which can provoke an energetic response at a distance between two coils, one powered, the other not. If the two coils are correctly tuned to one another, energy flows from the connected one (installed, say, on the ceiling of a room) into the other (inside, say, your laptop). Giler presented a demo of it at TEDGlobal  2009.

Common electronic equipments are supported through 8 “tips” currently provided. Tips support common charging options such as Mini USB, Micro USB, DS Lite, Apple tip etc. You can purchase additional tips to hook up more devices. Company does not make it clear if all kinds of devices are supported, although most commonly used devices such as iPod, iPhone and mobile phones are supported.

The Powermat wireless charger costs about 100 dollars. You also need to buy charging cases for each your gadget so the power Mat can transmit electricity to your devices. Cases for phones, MP3 players typically cost 30 to 40 dollars each.

Power Mat is now sold at Amazon

How does it work? A transmitter, such as a tray or pedestal, is plugged into a wall outlet. A receiver (charging case) attaches to the back of your gadget, such as a silicone case for your iPod. When the transmitter and receiver are near each other, a small magnetic field is created, which the receiver turns into power to charge a battery.

It works through the technique of magnetic induction. Each device requires a separate charging case receiver that is connected to the device and rested on the mat. The magnetic induction process takes care of all the charging while the receiver regulates the process. Currently, it looks as though the wireless receivers–which double as protective cases or backing–are limited to a few select devices such as iPhones, Blackberries and Nintendo DS units. Other devices can be connected with the included Universal Powercube, which includes 8 separate tips.

Power mat charging tips

Following tips are currently supported

Mini USB (default receiver tip)

• BlackBerry (all models that use Mini USB)
• Many Motorola® phones
• Many HTC® phones
• Many Bluetooth® headsets
• Many GPS devices

Micro USB Tip

• Many Motorola® phones
• Many LG® phones
• Many Palm® phones
• Many Bluetooth® headsets

Apple Tip

• iPod® (all generations)
• iPhone™ (all generations)

DS Lite Tip

• Nintendo DS® Lite

DSi Tip

• Nintendo DSi™

LG 1 Tip

• Many LG® phones

Samsung 2 Tip

• Many Samsung™ phones

Sony PSP Tip

• Playstation Portable®
• Some Kodak® cameras

The Wireless electricity technology is new and there are relatively fewer companies in the market. As the competition heats up to sell wireless power cords, consumers can expect more choices with lower prices.

Sony has developed a prototype power system that can send enough electricity to power a television set wirelessly over a short distance, it said Friday. In tests the company succeeded in sending a conventional 100 volt electricity supply over a distance of 50 centimeters to power a 22-inch LCD television.

Sony makes the point with data transfer rapidly becoming a wireless endeavour; demand for wireless power is also growing. Dell showed off its wireless charging dock last week, but the power has a very short distance to travel. What Sony is trying to do is another thing entirely.

There were no indications given about when this technology might make an appearance in the wild, but Sony attempted to whet appetites with this image of a claimed prototype. Sony hasn’t set a release date for gadgets containing the new technology, but it it expected to be released to the market in the next 6 months.

The system achieves this feat through magnetic resonance. A power supply feeds electricity into a square coil of wires 40 cm across, called the primary coil, to produce a magnetic field. When a secondary coil is brought within the magnetic field this causes a current to be induced and so the electricity transfer is completed

BBC News reports that -

“For a few years now the idea of wireless power has been a shining light in the lives of gadgeteers, whose homes resemble cable repositories. At the TED Global 2009 conference this week, it got one step closer. Eric Giler, chief executive of Witricity unveiled the concept which is based on an idea by MIT’s Marin Soljacic and exploits the resonance of low frequency electromagnetic waves.

The system uses two coils, one at the mains and one on the gadget, both of which have been engineered with the same resonant frequency. When connected up to an electricity supply, the mains coil produces a magnetic field that resonates with the second coil, allowing voltage to build up to power the gadget. The technology could even be used for electric cars, which could be charged up from a mat placed beneath its wheels in the garage.

Giler showed off a TV and two phones — a Google G1 and an iPhone — which had been adapted to use the technology. He did, however, admit that the Cupertino product had been a harder nut to crack. “They don’t make it easy at Apple to get inside their phones so we put a little sleeve on the back,” he said. There had even, he added, been a proposal for an electrically-heated dog bowl. “You go from the sublime to the ridiculous.”

The complete report which has video demo and detailed analysis about wireless electricity can be accessed from here

UPDATE: Powermats are now available in US. Please check our Powermat review page for product features

Wireless Power Mats Providers
Powermat USA

It says the fierce competition between manufacturers of mobile devices is also accelerating the introduction of wireless charging. The star of this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, an annual jamboree held in Las Vegas, was the Pre, a snazzy smart-phone from Palm (pictured left). As well as the standard arsenal of technical features—touch-screen, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth and built-in camera—the Pre also has an optional charging pad, called the Touchstone, which uses electromagnetic induction to charge the device wirelessly. When the device is placed on the pad, the two recognise each other through built-in sensors. Magnets embedded in the pad align the handset and hold it in place during charging.

According to the article, Palm was not the only exhibitor in Las Vegas promoting wireless charging. Fulton Innovation, another member of the Wireless Power Consortium and the eventual owner of Splashpower’s assets, used the show to unveil a number of products including an in-car console equipped with inductive coils that can wirelessly charge mobile devices while on the road. (BMW says it will offer its 7 Series cars in South Korea with a wireless-recharging dock for one of Samsung’s handsets.) A modified toolbox from Bosch demonstrated the potential for wirelessly charging power tools.

Other domestic applications in the works include embedding charging pads into kitchen counters to enable the wireless use of blenders and other appliances. Bret Lewis of Fulton Innovation says his firm’s technology could also be used for industrial applications, or to charge electric cars. For the time being, however, the focus is on mobile phones, laptops and other consumer devices, and he sees 2009 as “the year for wireless”. That is probably too ambitious, but a third recent development suggests that the commercialisation of inductive charging may not be far off.

In November 2008 TI announced that it had joined forces with Fulton Innovations “to accelerate development of efficient wireless power solutions”. TI, which provides components to many of the world’s leading mobile-phone makers said it was exploring the production of integrated circuits that supported the technology developed by Fulton Innovations, with the aim of reducing the cost and size of the components needed for wireless charging and making it easier for device-makers to incorporate them into their products quickly.

As wireless-charging equipment based on electromagnetic induction heads towards the market, a number of alternative technologies are also being developed to transmit power over both short and long distances. WildCharge, a start-up based in Colorado, has already started selling a number of wireless-charging devices that take a cheaper but simpler approach in which mobile devices make electrical contact with a special charging pad via four small conductive metal studs

Link to the article: http://www.economist.com/science/tq/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13174387