Wireless charging has been growing in popularity over the past few years, but it is still quite limited. The main convenience offered is no longer having to plug a cable into the device that needs charging, but you still need to position each device accurately on a charging pad and a bigger or multiple pads are required for charging more devices. Energous is hoping to relax the rules of wireless charging with the WattUp Mid Field transmitter.
As Liliputing reports, the transmitter just received FCC certification and promises to wirelessly charge multiple devices from up to three feet away. It supports both contact and non-contact charging and uses radio frequency (RF) energy to recharge batteries. That means multiple devices could be left on a desk and automatically recharge, which is very convenient. Think of it like Wi-Fi, but for charging.
Energous states that FCC certification involved “rigorous, multi-month testing to verify it met consumer safety and regulatory requirements.” I take that to mean, if you want to sit a WattUp transmitter under your monitor and have it constantly recharging your wireless keyboard, mouse, smartwatch, earbuds, fitness tracker, and nearby smartphone, you’ll be fine. Of course, you’ll need to buy gadgets containing a WattUp receiver for the charging to work.
The last time we talked about so-called truly wireless charging was back in January this year when Energous featured. The company will be present at CES 2018 next month and eager to demonstrate the WattUp technology to attendees. Two bits of information we hope to learn at CES are: how does WattUp charging compare to wired and existing wireless charging in terms of energy transfer? And when will the first WattUp products be available to purchase?
