
Although we've seen some interesting demos,
wireless power systems have mostly been a novelty -- apart from a couple
gaming accessories, the most notable thing a wireless company has done so far is
declare bankruptcy. That's hopefully about to change, however: a new group called the Wireless Power Consortium plans to introduce a series of charging standards aimed at making sure all this magical tech plays nice with each other. The eight-company group includes Logitech, Philips, Sanyo (and
now Panasonic, we'd suppose), TI, National Semiconductor, ConvenientPower, and Fulton Innovation -- which demoed that
wireless hamburger for us, you'll recall. The group plans to first release a five-watt standard targeted at mobile phones, after which it'll take aim at laptops and other more power-hungry devices. Based on the flood of wireless-related PR we've been getting as CES gets closer, we're expecting some big things to happen in this space -- it sounds like Energizer is also going to get involved, which could be interesting. We'll see how it plays out -- hopefully this is the year we finally cut that power cord.
Read - PC World article
Read - WIreless Power Consortium website