We've seen quite a few induction-based
"wireless power" systems make the scene, and while the idea is interesting both in theory and prototype, actually getting it to market has proven to be quite difficult, with some
casualties along the way. That's why we're a little wary of new claims by Israel's
Powermat, Ltd. that it's ready to go with tech that'll turn "any surface" into a power source. Well, that, and the PR image they sent us has the iPod charging screen Photoshopped onto every device pictured, including a first-gen RAZR and an N95. Oh, and they claim that embedding PowerMat in sheetrock eliminates the need for outlets entirely, but we're not at all sure how that's supposed to work -- do you have to hold your devices against the wall all night? Add to that the interesting claims that Powermat's tech delivers energy in "real time," and that it "completely eliminates the potential for electrical fires," and we're in full put-up-or-shut-up mode over here. Think you can top the
wireless hamburger, Powermat?
posted Jul 24th 2008 2:49AM
how would wireless energy work? I thought you needed a wired connection no matter what for power (besides that one really gimmicky thing, I forgot what it was called... Solrar?
There are all types of wireless energy floating around, the question is how to store it. In this case, the idea is basically an induction loop + capacitor.
Except it's incredibly inefficient.
But who knows, maybe they're working with a different model here.
*cough*
Tesla...
*cough*
And I'm not talking about the car, per se.
I'm talking about the famous inventor.
Crest or someone sells/sold an induction charging toothbrush for like $20 it worked great for me... That being said, it spent it's whole life on the charger save the time I used it to brush so who knows how well it charged.
On a side note, we'd all have wireless power everywhere if Tesela wouldn't of got ran out by Edison ;)
It works on induction... have a coil in the mat creating an alternating magnetic field and a receiver coil that converts the magnetic field back into electricity. The only problem is the losses are going to terrible as you'll only capture a small amount of the magnetic field in the device... I think a standard electrical contact is the way to go for now
Electrical toothbrush eh?
it does exist, passive RFID uses the energy from the transmitted device to turn itself on, broadcast its ID, then turn off.
have you ever own that sticker thing for cellphone? that flashes some LED light when someone is calling or texting the phone. that LED light has no battery, it get its power from the phone signal. thats wireless power
Uhmmm... somebody already tried this. More recent than Nikolas Tesla, the company was called splashpower and it never got further than making a really pretty website with a lot of empty promises. I think that was like 6 years ago I remember reading about that.
GRATUITOUS AMOUNTS OF ENERGY
BABIES! You'll have 400 BABIES!
CAKE!!! Eh...I mean... SNAKE EYES!!!
Man, I really wish they would get one of these working. I got one last year and it only works on certain things and very sporadic.
Israel is full of "belief." I'm not sure how much electricity you can get from that. It's certainly not apparently useful for anything.
electricity, or belief?
Israel does, in fact, have both floating around.
the latter (you could theorize) has kept that country afloat in a region that would like a nice Israel sized hole where Israel now stands.
the former...? Yeah. Not really feelin' Yahweh Power on my N95.
great job!
Maybe it does restore your battery's energy, but the indicator just won't show it, and amount of time it takes could be much longer?
Please next time a little bit better description what you have done with the thing to test it ;)
fail.
next iphone will be nuclear powered. FAIL Blackberry! :D
And what happens if it breaks...I don't think I have a nuclear disposal plant near me. I'll stick to lithium-ion's thanks.
lol...
That is ridiculous on so many levels.
you fail by 3 whole minutes!!
Tesla (the real one) could do it!
engadget should make a new rule that whoever makes "first!" posts should be automatically be banned...
so, according to their website: http://www.pwrmat.com/showcontent.php?pname=products
instead of plugging my device into the wall, i have to plug in a puck then lay the puck on that mat.
so, where's the convenience? the "real time" charging? glad i don't have to deal with my current "delayed" charging i use now.
TESLA invented this over 100 years ago, along with his AC current, AC motor, radio, the tesla-coil (used in almost every tv), and the building blocks of about everything else "cool" that we have today.
Tesla actually built a giant tower that he claimed would power the entire world via this same method - however his investors found out that free energy wouldn't make them rich, and pulled the funding.
I've got a bridge that generates its own power to sell you.
Thats the same bull everyone likes to pettel.
It wasn't the powering aspect he was selling to his investors, he was selling the wireless transmission of voice and pictures. When the first trans-Atlantic radio transmissions succeeded Tesla's investors didn't really see the point in being in "second place" and Tesla never sold them on the power-distribution aspects.
I have a hard time believing that you could power a 12 amp vacuum cleaner or a 1500W space heater without outlets.
isn't there some for Wii controllers that does this?
I've been thinking about this for a long time now; wouldn't it be nice to just set your electronic device down to self charge like magic? even though i'm not a tech geek I can't really see how it could be done, wirelessly unless the charge intake is exposed or something.
I saw these "Powermats" on infomercials years ago. They can defrost a frozen steak in like 10 minutes!
yes, but the device work only on daytime and when the device is under the sun XD
I don't see this flying, sure conduction in theory works, but with all the different devices here, I don't know. The fact they photoshoped images onto the devices suggests to me, they are just trying to raise some hype and don't have a 100 percent functioning model working. This concept would probably work, but only with a little cooperation from the device companies to include a small metal contact on the bottom of their devices that would enable such conduction. Stick to prayer Israel...
lol. How are we ignoring the blatently bad photoshopping a company is using to prove something works? Too funny.
I can't believe I had to scroll down this far to see a comment calling that out. I was expecting it WAAAAAY before this. Good call, it's the first thing I saw.
I've heard rumors that a Volkswagen plant in Germany uses Tesla's style of wireless energy to power these diagnostic computers they push around the plant on carts. Supposedly they draw their power through the floor without having to stay on any sort of track. It could just be something someone made up though.
Also, wasn't Tesla's way of doing this by using resonance and not induction? It's been about a year since I last read about him and I my memory is starting to fade.
I also find it a little weird that an Israeli company has arranged phones on the mat in the shape of a swastika. But hey, if it actually works like it's suppose to, I guess I won't mind.
With the ever growing need for power why are we developing ways to use it less efficiently?
Because it's worthwhile to explore new ideas.
been around for a couple yrs in prototyping stage:
http://www.splashpower.com/
-g-
see this for what it really is. the first step of the next dalek invasion.
The "candela" and "candeloo" electric-light candles (from vessel.com) recharge simply by placing them on a plugged-in mat -- no metal-to-metal contact. Somewhat impressive...but they use proprietary Ni-Cad batteries, and anyway don't have much of a reputation for reliability.
I hear this thing doesn't even need outlets. You just have to keep it full of Dead Sea Salt ;-)
check out this link, the technology is ready to go, wireless is here and here to stay
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/25787141/?GT1=43001
ok first of all Israel is always creating new thing and a lot of them work. plus just for u all to know Israel is alot more advanced then america technology wise.
Hey, it's another charging mat of some sort that we won't see for about twenty years! Yaayyyyyy!!!
Companies have been talking about these things forever and all the devices that will have compatible technology integrated to receive the charge. It's not that the idea doesn't appeal to me at all, but these things are vaporware to the extreme; and they bore me to tears because they never get built and device manufacturers don't seem the least bit interested in supporting the technology.
It seems if you want to charge multiple devices at once and still only take up one outlet, the closest thing to it you're gonna find for now is the Chargepod: http://www.callpod.com/products/chargepod
I was kind of thinking you could just replace the battery with a battery and the receiving coil. Maybe not.