[BITList] Fwd: [From: Mike Feltham] 'Wireless power' spells end for cables

[Michael Feltham]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "guardian.co.uk" <noreply at guardian.co.uk>
Date: 4 January 2009 08:49:10 GMT
To: mj.feltham at madasafish.com
Subject: [From: Mike Feltham] 'Wireless power' spells end for cables

Mike Feltham spotted this on the guardian.co.uk site and thought you  
should see it.

To see this story with its related links on the guardian.co.uk site,  
go to http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/jan/04/wireless-power-technology-witricity

'Wireless power' spells end for cables
David Smith, technology correspondent
Sunday January 4 2009
The Observer


No more batteries, no more chargers and no more wire spaghetti. This  
is the future promised by "wireless power", a means of broadcasting  
electricity through the air to laptops, iPods and other gadgets  
without the need for cables and sockets.

Untethered lighting, audio speakers and digital picture frames are  
expected to be among the first commercial products demonstrated in Las  
Vegas this week at the International Consumer Electronics Show, the  
world's biggest gadgets tradeshow.

Experts believe this is just the beginning and that eventually  
wireless electricity - dubbed "WiTricity" by some - could do for  
battery life what WiFi did for the internet. In a world without wires,  
laptop users in cafes and airport terminals would be inside an  
"electricity hotspot" and no longer have to delve past legs, bags and  
furniture in search of an awkwardly located socket.

"You'd be able to buy a desk that charged any gadget placed on it, or  
power any PC you put on top," said James Holland, editor of gadgets  
website Electricpig.co.uk.

"If each room had wireless power, you'd know that once you walked  
through the front door your mobile would start charging up - even  
while still in your bag or pocket. You'd never need to hunt for the  
right charger again."

Among the companies showcasing the ambitious technology at CES is  
PowerBeam. Its system turns electricity into an invisible laser, then  
literally beams it, as heat, across the room to a solar cell that  
converts it back into electricity.

David Graham, the co-founder of PowerBeam, told the Observer: "We're  
going to delete the word 'recharge' from the English dictionary. If  
your cellphone is recharging on your desk all day, you won't be  
thinking about it."

The Silicon Valley company can currently use a laser to generate about  
1.5 watts of power to a solar cell 10 metres away. This would be  
enough to power an electronic speaker or small LED (light-emitting  
diode) lights, but not enough to operate a laptop, which requires an  
estimated 30 to 50 watts. However, Graham said that the technology  
could comfortably be scaled up.

PowerBeam insists its laser does not pose a risk to users' health  
because it is simply moving heat from one place to another. Graham  
said that, if someone walked through the beam, it would shut down  
within a thousandth of a second, then restart once the path was clear.

The technology also promises energy efficiency because it would only  
power products when needed.

Concerns have been raised about a possible link between  
electromagnetic waves and cancer, but scientists insist that the  
energy would only be picked up by gadgets designed to "resonate" with  
the field.

Copyright Guardian Newspapers Limited 2009

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