Energous Says Its Truly Wireless Charging Technology Will Ship Later This Year — In Next iPhone?

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

If Energous's tech is so amazing, why doesn't Apple just buy the company?

Apple being the only one to offer such tech isn't good for Apple. If this charging is only available in Apple products, it will be far less likely to catch on. If it becomes available for iPhone and Android, it's far more likely to become the popular thing. If that happens then Apple will benefit far more.

I'm an investor in Energous. Looking forward to what happens in the next year.

 

[jscooper22]

Wireless charging makes sense (if you can do it without melting the brain of anyone in the room), more sense than removing the headphone jack, imho.

 

[Jakexb]

Sound great in theory...

but honestly I would be worried about safety. Do I want electromagnetic radiation strong enough to charge a phone flying through my house or car that I am exposed to continuously? I don't think so personally.

People carry around a radio transmitter in their pockets capable of sending cellular signals many MILES away. This is much less energy than that.

The thing that concerns me is Apple being able to communicate to users that this is ok. It took a long time for people to accept microwave ovens as being safe. Things that "sound" like radiation are going to be viewed with suspicion.

 

[citysnaps]

Excellent news! That's quite a step up.

From some of the comments on this thread, it appears there aren't many engineers here.

 

[mw360]

Another wireless signal to worry about. I wonder if at some point all these signals will interfere with each other.

Yes and no. Interference between radio appliances is perfectly easily predicted and controlled. That's why, among others, the FCC exists to allocate radio frequencies to particular usages. These charging devices will have to obey the rules like everyone else.

 

[GoodWheaties]

This needs built into the base of a new iMac. Do it

 

[rohanparekh]

That is the most awaited and excited technology for me in 2017

 

[_mdavenport]

This is pretty exciting. Really hoping this tech makes it into this year's iPhone.

 

[wigby]

Why would you be exposed to it continuously? That'd just be a waste of energy. It should detect when a compatible battery is nearby and adequately depleted, it should charge it back to full, and then it should go back to passively waiting for another battery to charge.

---

Maybe I'll upgrade my iPhone this year. My 6+ is still going strong... but I'm such a sucker for neat things, and this sounds neat enough. I had been planning on holding out for another year or two.

All trickle charging is a waste of energy but it's a very small amount. I don't think this technology is not that much different. These transmitters need to be active all the time because it will take many hours to partially charge a phone. They already announced ability to detect and charge up to 12 devices simultaneously so there are some smarts in there. We will probably see many devices being charged at Starbucks for instance so they will have to deal with the energy bill which will probably be negligible compared to the patronage they will receive.

I think we're going to be looking at stages of release over the next 3-5 years kind of like thunderbolt speeds. The 2017 version of this technology is only rated for a few inches. The next version is a few feet and the evolution after that is 15 feet maximum. I doubt will we will see a 15 foot range in 2017 but maybe Apple's secrecy is rubbing off on Energous.

 

[BreadofWonder]

If Energous's tech is so amazing, why doesn't Apple just buy the company?

Maybe Energous doesn't want to be sold.

 

[sudo1996]

now this is why apple waited to bring in wireless charging.

it will be wireless charging basically without need wires to charge from the sounds.

And why did Apple have to wait instead of keeping up with the others? I'd still like to have the pseudo-wireless charging on my 6. It would be nice to have a pad I can throw my and my guest's iPhones on to charge without having to plug anything in, mostly because the Lightning cable is a PoS and always breaks.

 

[Elijen]

If Energous's tech is so amazing, why doesn't Apple just buy the company?

If it's that amazing why would they sell it?

 

[sudo1996]

People carry around a radio transmitter in their pockets capable of sending cellular signals many MILES away. This is much less energy than that.

It can't be more energy. Otherwise, your cellphone would use energy more quickly than it could charge. But yeah, I'm not worried about health hazards anyway. It's low frequency. Edit: Actually, yeah I am since it would require a lot of energy, and they don't even know if they can get FCC approval yet.

 

[diddl14]

Here's a good link with some more info, especially on expected efficiency:

http://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise...n-energous-deliver-on-wireless-power-promises

A year old but would be surprised if they got a lot further than what they expected to achieve then..

 

[Analog Kid]

Energous CEO Steve Rizzone also dropped yet another hint suggesting its partner is indeed Apple. "One of the largest consumer electronic companies in the world," he said. "I cannot tell you who it is, but I can virtual guarantee that you have products from this company on your person, sitting on your desk, or at home."

I still don't think it's Apple. It's not their style to do something this uncertain. Besides, I know the new Apple is going soft, but the old Apple would have cancelled any project with a company that started trying to steal their thunder. Google, MS, Samsung and Sony are all more ubiquitous and all seem more likely.

Given that Apple has removed the headphone jack on iPhone 7 models, leaving the Lightning connector with the double duty of charging and connecting wired headphones, the move towards wireless charging would be appropriate.

I used to think that the goal was to go port and button free, but after the AW series 2s needed to get shipped back to Apple after a bad software update, I'm not so sure... It seems they should be able to recover a device without wires, but maybe I'm wrong.

 

[Sampple]

It's a bit silly to be living in fear.

Thats what they said about the giant early mobile phones.
I think these are legitimate concerns, especially for parents of the very young,
and IMO, just for me personally, we already have enough bouncing around us with no real solid long term study for obvious reasons.
I am ok to plug in my phones way in the corner of my house like an old man.

 

[LordQ]

Exciting! Who cares about health "issues"? We all have to die anyway.

 

[avanpelt]

If Energous's tech is so amazing, why doesn't Apple just buy the company?

Maybe the company is not for sale? Just because you have billions in the bank doesn't mean you can buy anything you want.

 

[bitslap47]

Maybe its sono-mechanical. Like old school TV remotes the transmitter sends an audio sound the human ear (supposedly) can't hear, and a tiny microphone picks up the sound waves and converts it to mechanical energy that drives a mini generator.

I mean, downside is your dog runs away and possibly urinates on your floor every time your phone starts charging, but hey.. progress.

 

[MistrSynistr]

It's a bit silly to be living in fear.

We have a longer life expectancy now than we did back in the day and that's despite the fact that we have much more "hazards" coming at us everywhere we go.

People make issues out of anything and unfortunately with the internet, you can find an article backing any agenda you're trying to push.

I can find you articles that say water is bad for you and some idiots probably believe it.

Drinking too much water can actually kill you. lol.

 

[avanpelt]

Assuming the technology poses no legitimate health concerns to people, I suspect that within 10 years, this technology will be ubiquitous in public places around the world the same way Wi-Fi is today. Walk into an airport and your devices start charging. They'll probably end up putting these things on planes eventually (after the FAA goes over it with a fine-tooth comb, of course).

 

[dezeinstein]

If I'm wearing my tin foil hat in that room, will I get free electro-shock therapy?

 

[djcerla]

Being Apple, this will evoke Senate inquiries, national TV concern, OEMs mocking and general doom and gloom.

One year later, the same OEMs will rush out an inferior version of the same technology.

 

[a.gomez]

My problem with this is how do you prevent battery decay - If Everytime i walk into a room the pjone will just start charging. I try to charge my phone just once a day.

 

[NoNothing]

Wireless charging sounds cool. But will it take longer to charge a device? And what if any health concerns are there?

Longer to charge a device? Let's say it does. So what? It's not that fast charge isn't cool but will it really matter? If you can be charging when you sit at your desk, waiting in the Airport Lounge, walking between desks, the local coffee shop all without thinking about, a good trickle charge will be all you need.
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My problem with this is how do you prevent battery decay - If Everytime i walk into a room the pjone will just start charging. I try to charge my phone just once a day.

These aren't NiCd batteries? Doing deep discharges on Li-Ion has a detrimental impact on the charge cycle life so this should actually improve the life of the batter 10-20% or so.