PoWi-Fi
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Scientists beam power to a fitness tracker via WiFi
Wireless electricity transmission sounds... dangerous, but the ability to do it could transform the internet of things. Researchers from the University of Washington have charged a JawBone UP24 fitness tracker with nothing but ordinary WiFi. They noticed that regular, ambient WiFi was strong enough to power a variety of tiny devices, but only in micro-bursts. So, they inserted "noise" into the signals to keep the power levels steady without disrupting data transmission. Using the technique, which they dubbed "PoWi-Fi" (we vote for just "Pow-Fi") they ran a low-power surveillance camera and temperature sensor from up to 6 meters (20 feet) away from the WiFi antenna.
