Wireless Power Companies Merge, But No Real-Life Devices Yet

A hopeful anonymous reader writes "It looks like Splashpower (Or what is left of it anyway) was purchased by the company behind eCoupled. Hopefully this means that interoperable wireless power is one step closer to reality as two of the companies trying to comercialize the technology are now the same." (US readers, read "administration" as "bankruptcy.")

please add

[Anonymous Coward]

vaporware tag to this story

Re:

[Hal_Porter]

Fools! I will destroy you all with my Beamed Power Ray!!!

{Manic laughter}

Re:

[Damase]

I disagree that Amway or Quixtar (Amway Online) are shady businesses. I would however agree that there are those who misuse their business model and give them a bad rap.

The part I don't like that has to do with this particular topic is that if Amway is to be the sole distributor of any future products then distribution will be limited to Amway Distributors, which limits access to those products.

If they came out with viable product, it would suck to have to go through Amway to get it. They charge too much

Re:

[MightyMartian]

Of course it's a sham. It destroyed Tesla's reputation. There is no way to transmit electricity and hope to get anything approaching a meaningful level of efficiency. Maybe something like high intensity lasers, but I doubt anyone would want that in their neighborhood.

It's a fucking scam, for chrissakes.

Re:

[kesuki]

"Of course it's a sham. It destroyed Tesla's reputation. There is no way to transmit electricity and hope to get anything approaching a meaningful level of efficiency."

Of course, there is might not be a way nitrogen or oxygen are ever going to efficiently conduct electricity as a gas, but Neon and Xenon.. those are another matter...

for instance: the long time used neon lamp http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neon_lamp [wikipedia.org]

But wait, what about Plasma, the 4th state of matter!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_(physic [wikipedia.org]

Re:

[kesuki]

All i was trying to point out is that the 4th state of matter, plasma, can conduct electricity like wires can. I mean being able to safely or otherwise beam energy at targets with precision is harder, but i was pointing out that you can move power around for short distances without wires, and with just a little knowledge. if there really are 1.5 million of those 'amway espring' devices most likely are only 'wireless' in the aspect that they've got a big, glass tube of neon inside them to generate suitable

Re:

[Eivind]

Actually there is, but only if it's direct line-of-sight, AND you use a directed antenna and receiver.

Somehow "broadcasting" energy and have a significant portion of it picked up by devices in the viscinity will never work. (unless you're happy with 0.01% efficiency or something)

Transmitting say microwaves using a parabolic antenna and aiming it at a rectenna tuned for the frequency used can give you upwards of 80% efficiency, and may some day be used to transmit power from solar power sattelites and down t

Surgeon General's Warning

[daveime]

Putting your head between your portable kettle and your microwave emitting kettle charger can seriously damage your health.

Re:

[Yvanhoe]

Well, of course. An oven is optimized to fry things.

administration isn't chapter 7

[igb]

In UK law, administration is closer to US Chapter 11 than Chapter 7; the company is assumed to be capable of being returned to the status of a going concern, rather than a set of assets and liabilities pending liquidation. But in the US the management of the company would normally remain as debtors in possession; in the UK an administrator is more hands-on than a US trustee, has to be agreed by the court, and works for the creditors rather than the shareholders. ian

Re:

[dintech]

Thanks for explaining that more tactfully than I was about to.

Michael Faraday being dead and all...

[$RANDOMLUSER]

The acquisition reinforces Fulton's industry-leading position in the rapidly growing wireless power industry by expanding both the breadth and depth of Fulton's substantial patent portfolio, comprised of over 250 patents granted or pending worldwide.

Whaaaa? 250 patents on electromagnetic induction [wikipedia.org]?

In-flight charging ...

[psergiu]

And around the year 2100 FAA will give the OK for this technology to be used in the planes (but not during landing & take-off).

Now all they have to do...

[L4t3r4lu5]

... is prevent my fillings from lighting up when I turn on my toaster.

Interoperable wireless power

[Wargames]

Having a brick in my pocket with my iPhone will attract the babes. (referring to pic on one of the sites in the article).

I was expecting something else, like...

Tesla was focused in his research for the practical development of a system for wireless transmission of power and a utilization system. Tesla said, in "On electricity", Electrical Review (Jan. 27, 1897):

"In fact, progress in this field has given me fresh hope that I shall see the fulfillment of one of my fondest dreams; namely, the transmission of p

Re:

[BiggerIsBetter]

Dunno about Tesla, but ThinkGeek already has this for sale [thinkgeek.com].

Re:

[compro01]

that's an old april fool's joke. try hitting the "add to cart" button.

don't feel too stupid. i got fooled by it too.

Re:

[rtilghman]

That's called "microwaves"

-rt

I thought tesla already did all this??

[FictionPimp]

I thought tesla already perfected wireless power and the US government covered it all up. Didn't he once drive a electric car using a wireless power source he made from a few bucks in parts from a radio shop?

Re:

[wattrlz]

Wasn't that a duplication machine that The Great Danton modified to operate as such?

Re:

[L4t3r4lu5]

If we continue this conversation, we'll be moddedd off-topic and lose karma.

However, yes. Hence, Copyright infringement.

Re:

[L4t3r4lu5]

It's ok... I guess the sense-of-humour Dyson has been past these parts already.

Re:

[Yvanhoe]

A radio shop...

Re:I thought tesla already did all this??

[drinkypoo]

There is a claim that Tesla drove an electric car powered only by a small device that he made from simple parts purchased from a retail store, yes.

However, there is no verification of this claim (like many of the other claims of Tesla's supposedly-amazing inventions.)

While there is a great tendency to credit these claims (I have it too) there is no supporting evidence except one supposed-eyewitness account. The best I would say is that if I would believe it of anyone, I would believe it of Tesla, who saw the design for efficiently producing AC fully-formed in his head while reciting (or was it listening to?) a poem.

Re:

[A_Non_Moose]

I thought tesla already perfected wireless power and the US government covered it all up.

Yeah, but when it comes to wireless power, lightning (and gov't coverups) never strikes twice.

Didn't he once drive a electric car using a wireless power source he made from a few bucks in parts from a radio shop?

Ok, now you're telling me the flux capacitor is real?

Re:

[FictionPimp]

My attempts at being fun on slashdot always fail apparently.

Ummm

[sm62704]

Holy dipshit, batman, wirelesss power? Is this Tesla [wikipedia.org] or PT Barnum? [wikipedia.org] I'd REALLY feel foolish if I actually R this FA, is there some Rube Goldberg explanation of how, exactly, "wireless power" would work?

I think perhaps you're either a little over a month late [wikipedia.org] or almost a week late [uncyclopedia.org].

Re:

[liak12345]

I like that you post the Wikipedia link which explains that PT Barnum never said that.

Re:

[sm62704]

Dude, you spoiled the joke ;)

Re:

[vertinox]

I'd REALLY feel foolish if I actually R this FA, is there some Rube Goldberg explanation of how, exactly, "wireless power" would work?

It does work.

Here is a Popular Science explanation on how it does:

http://www.popsci.com/scitech/gallery/2008-01/electricity-air [popsci.com]

And also from another article [popsci.com]:

The key to wireless power is resonance. Think of a wineglass that shatters when an opera singer hits just the right note. When the voice matches the glass's resonant frequency--the tone you hear when you tap the glass--th

Re:

[sm62704]

So basically it's a transformer with the coils seven feet apart? How much power has to be supplied to the transmitting coils to light the sixty watt bulb?

And it seems that for resonance to work, the bulb's recieving coil would have to be EXACTLY in the right spot, to at least a half wave of the power source.

Now, if they were talking about an LCD calculator that was powered by a coil that was inducted by the house current in the walls I might swallow that, but the kind of power they're talking about?

I'm scep

Re:

[dwibby]

Well, considering it uses something along the lines of magnetic induction--"inductively coupled power circuit that dynamically seeks resonance," as they [ecoupled.com] put it--neither Mr. Barnum nor Mr. Goldberg are very much involved here. They have a few cool prototype they demoed at CES2008 [gizmosforgeeks.com]. It seems that they're aiming at battery chargers more than the power grid. You could probably also read [ecoupled.com] a few of their patent if you'd like a more in depth explanation. It also sounds like [ecoupled.com] it automagically handles charging multiple

Re:

[kesuki]

Wireless power has been used as long as I've been alive. Granted, this has been in lighting devices, such as neon and fluorescent lights... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorescent_lamp [wikipedia.org]

I mean I'm surprised that you didn't know, that like neon signs don't have a filament, and neither do fluorescent lights... haven't you ever broken one? haven't you ever looked at one up close when it was off?

And for you lucky Plasma TV owners, didn't you ever wonder, where the wires ended, and where the pixelated happiness

Re:

[sm62704]

The gas is ionized by the electricity, which gets to the gas to be ionized THROUGH WIRES. Haven't you noticed that your forty inch flourescents have WIRES coming from them? No, there are no wires inside the tube, the tube contains the gas that is ionized by the electricalk current. There's no magic there.

I see patterns...

[Yvanhoe]

... of vapor

Look at the vaporware tag..

[hansraj]

Hopefully this means that interoperable wireless power is one step closer to reality..

So you mean "one step closer" in a Zeno sense?

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

I Hate to be a Nazi...

[Anthony Rosequist]

but how close are they to wireless spell checking?

companies trying to comercialize the technology

Do you HAVE to lose efficiency?

[clonan]

What about a microwave frequency laser? Low enough power that it doesn't cook things. But that should allow you to target devices and deliver a much higher efficiency.

Any thoughts?

Pfft, I've had wireless power for years

[multipartmixed]

Really, it's pretty bloody simple. Hook a POE adapter into a wireless ethernet bridge.

Voila! Power over wireless ethernet.

Editing

[StarKruzr]

He can editorialize about Britishisms, but he can't correct the spelling of "commercialize?"