Powermat promises wireless power for the masses, delivers nothing

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?

[Richie @ Jul 24th 2008 3:05AM]

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?

[fh @ Jul 24th 2008 3:16AM]

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.

[Andrew @ Jul 24th 2008 3:44AM]

*cough*
Tesla...
*cough*

And I'm not talking about the car, per se.
I'm talking about the famous inventor.

[Justin @ Jul 24th 2008 4:41AM]

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 ;)

[DakStaka @ Jul 24th 2008 4:55AM]

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

[no, thanks @ Jul 24th 2008 4:57AM]

Electrical toothbrush eh?

[JMMGoalster @ Jul 24th 2008 12:28PM]

it does exist, passive RFID uses the energy from the transmitted device to turn itself on, broadcast its ID, then turn off.

[BratPAQ @ Jul 24th 2008 2:51PM]

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

[hoodie_man @ Jul 26th 2008 2:06PM]

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.

[cesium @ Jul 24th 2008 3:05AM]

GRATUITOUS AMOUNTS OF ENERGY

[Charlie Calhoun @ Jul 24th 2008 4:51AM]

BABIES! You'll have 400 BABIES!

[Derry Quinn @ Jul 24th 2008 5:41AM]

CAKE!!! Eh...I mean... SNAKE EYES!!!

[Orris @ Jul 24th 2008 3:10AM]

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.

[BigD145 @ Jul 24th 2008 3:13AM]

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.

[teh_dahl @ Jul 24th 2008 3:44AM]

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.

[sip @ Jul 24th 2008 3:25AM]

great job!

[Mic2000 @ Jul 24th 2008 3:33AM]

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 ;)

[teh_dahl @ Jul 24th 2008 3:40AM]

fail.

[SuperSexyErik (^_^) @ Jul 24th 2008 3:37AM]

next iphone will be nuclear powered. FAIL Blackberry! :D

[Cody @ Jul 24th 2008 4:28AM]

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.

[SuperSexyErik (^_^) @ Jul 24th 2008 4:51AM]

lol...

[Goatee Man @ Jul 24th 2008 3:55AM]

That is ridiculous on so many levels.

[ed. @ Jul 24th 2008 3:55AM]

you fail by 3 whole minutes!!

[Wiigee @ Jul 24th 2008 4:09AM]

Tesla (the real one) could do it!

[Justin @ Jul 24th 2008 4:42AM]

engadget should make a new rule that whoever makes "first!" posts should be automatically be banned...

[oakie @ Jul 24th 2008 4:47AM]

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.

[dan @ Jul 24th 2008 5:27AM]

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.

[erislover @ Jul 24th 2008 9:08AM]

I've got a bridge that generates its own power to sell you.

[Justin42 @ Jul 26th 2008 8:21PM]

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.

[halkonlar @ Jul 24th 2008 6:27AM]

isn't there some for Wii controllers that does this?

[Markarian @ Jul 24th 2008 6:56AM]

I have a hard time believing that you could power a 12 amp vacuum cleaner or a 1500W space heater without outlets.

[NHAnimator @ Jul 24th 2008 8:08AM]

I saw these "Powermats" on infomercials years ago. They can defrost a frozen steak in like 10 minutes!

[BratPAQ @ Jul 24th 2008 2:57PM]

yes, but the device work only on daytime and when the device is under the sun XD

[ShadowKain @ Jul 24th 2008 8:18AM]

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...

[natels @ Jul 24th 2008 8:53AM]

lol. How are we ignoring the blatently bad photoshopping a company is using to prove something works? Too funny.

[imatt @ Jul 24th 2008 10:18PM]

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.

[M @ Jul 24th 2008 9:12AM]

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.

[Matt @ Jul 24th 2008 10:08AM]

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.

[Anthony @ Jul 24th 2008 11:31AM]

With the ever growing need for power why are we developing ways to use it less efficiently?

[Justin42 @ Jul 26th 2008 8:23PM]

Because it's worthwhile to explore new ideas.

[Gagan Luthra @ Jul 24th 2008 12:06PM]

been around for a couple yrs in prototyping stage:
http://www.splashpower.com/

-g-

[XenoSilvano @ Jul 24th 2008 12:30PM]

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.

[firesign @ Jul 24th 2008 1:15PM]

see this for what it really is. the first step of the next dalek invasion.

[cwm @ Jul 24th 2008 1:26PM]

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.

[allenvanhellen @ Jul 24th 2008 2:52PM]

I hear this thing doesn't even need outlets. You just have to keep it full of Dead Sea Salt ;-)

[nelson @ Jul 24th 2008 3:16PM]

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

[Mic @ Jul 25th 2008 2:19AM]

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.

[Cassini @ Jul 25th 2008 6:14AM]

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

[Justin42 @ Jul 26th 2008 8:24PM]

I was kind of thinking you could just replace the battery with a battery and the receiving coil. Maybe not.