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TAG Heuer launches luxury phone with 'perpetual power reserve'
When it comes to outlandish technology on phones, it's the companies that make you go "what, them?" that are on the cutting edge. TAG Heuer (what, them?) is launching the Vertu-troubling Meridiist Infinite with something the company is calling a perpetual power reserve. In fact, the company is merely harnessing Wysips' transparent solar panel, which shoves a clear photovoltaic cell between the glass and LCD elements of the display. It'll automatically begin trickle-charging your phone as soon as the screen is exposed to natural and some artificial light with at least enough power to maintain the battery level in standby mode. The company is knocking out 1,911 units of the Meridiist Infinite, but considering that TAG charges nearly $7,000 for a FroYo device, you'd probably prefer to buy a solar panel for your actual house.
Wysips Connect will make your phone a solar cell that can receive data transmitted through light waves
Remember that 90% transparent solar-cell that stumbled into our CES trailer last year? It's back, and it's got some new tricks. Wysips Connect is making its official debut on the show floor this year, and while the transparent panel can still generate electricity through sun exposure, it's now equipped with LiFi - a visible light spectrum communication technique capable of transmitting data at broadband speeds. If LiFi becomes common in smartphones, shopping malls, airports or hospitals could use the technology to push local map data to a user's phone, or help them find a product's location in an oversized supermarket. All talk? Not quite: Sunpartner Technologies and Oledcomm say that they'll be announcing the first Wysips Connect equipped smartphone during the show. The jury's still out on if the technology will take the mobile world by storm, but at least the company is leading by example. We'll let you know how the solar cellphone fares under the lights of the CES 2014 show floor.
Wysips solar-cell display reaches 90% transparency milestone, we go eyes-on
Wysips popped by our trailer at the show this year to celebrate the 90% transparency of its photovoltaic display overlay achievement with us -- and therefore with you. Last time we had a chance to peek through Wysips' solar cell the transparency was sitting at 70% which was way short of today's level and manufacturer requirements if this thing is ever to see the light of day. The current setup will not generate enough power to negate the need for a charger, not even close but what it could do is power all your music playback, for example while your phone is exposed to the sun. Wysips' goal for 2014 is to reach a power return of 10 mWc per cm² as of today the output is closer to 3, though seeing as most of the effort has been focused on reaching this production-ready transparency, they've hope this will be attainable. Sampling should begin in march this year with potential for a product in the marketplace in September this year. Honestly, the demo sets available were pretty worn out looking, though the overlay spoke for itself in that it was still visible at extreme angles but barely when viewing straight on. Part of our demo was plugging an LED into the array that had been retrofit into an iPhone and seeing the LED light come on when the solar cell is exposed and go out when covered. Here's hoping we get a proper working demo in the coming months though for the here and now, consider us guardedly impressed. A few pics comparing overlay versus no overlay are in the gallery below.
Wysips wants to turn your phone's display into a solar cell (hands-on with video)
We chatted with a fascinating French startup by the name of Wysips here at CTIA today that's showing off transparent photovoltaic film -- in other words, it generates power from light... and you can see right through it. It's the only such film in the world, apparently -- and though you can probably imagine a host of possible applications for something like that, turning the entire surface of a touchscreen smartphone into a self-sufficient, solar-powered beast is clearly high on the list. Read all about it after the break! %Gallery-119600%
Could future iPhones charge with the power of the sun?
Mark Spoonauer at LAPTOP got a nice story at CTIA today when he sat down with French company Wysips. The prototype he saw puts a solar panel -- a transparent solar panel, thin enough to work with touchscreens -- directly atop the screen of a phone, and with enough oomph to charge the phone with light. The photovoltaic film (less than 100 microns deep) is only in the development phase now, but Wysips is looking forward to working with glass manufacturers (like Corning, makers of the Gorilla Glass that covers the iPhone 4) to integrate the charger film directly into screen glass. The solar layer will generate power in room light or sunlight; this version will fully charge a phone in about 6 hours of light exposure, with future generations becoming more efficient as the technology matures. Like the plug-in hybrid technology in today's cars, it might not be enough juice to get you cross-country -- but if the solar film is cheap enough, it would certainly provide a power boost when you're away from your charger. Fun stuff. Check out the post on LAPTOP's blog and the accompanying gallery of the Wysips prototype.
