Wireless Charging

Wireless charging of mobile devices is all the rage if the number of wireless chargers hitting the market is anything to go by. Until now, most of the units on offer follow the flat slab design ushered in by the Powermat and WildCharge that sees recharging devices laid down flat on the charger. LG followed that form factor with its WCP-700 Wireless Charging Pad but has come up with something slightly different for its successor, the WCD-800. The new unit is designed to hold the mobile device upright so you can watch a video or make a video call while the charger goes about its business. Read More

If you live in a traffic-nightmare city like New York or London or Bangkok, an ultra-compact urban electric car is great. They're so tiny that they fit in the smallest parking space, they're quiet, they're often exempt from congestion charges and they're tailpipe emission free, which is important if you live where the air is so dirty that it's visible. Unfortunately, they also have all the boot space of a glove box and the travel radius of a tortoise in a hurry. Unless you have the ideal lifestyle that allows you to work within the vehicle's limitations, there will come the time when you'll need to carry more than a messenger bag or drive farther than a single battery charge. When that happens, you'll probably wish you had some way to magically add an extra boot or a bigger battery. Rinspeed's Dock+Go concept car looks forward to a day when that may be possible. Read More

The greatest obstacle standing in the way of electric-vehicle adoption - besides crafty, deceitful right wingers - is limited range. Electric vehicles can only travel 100 miles (161 km) on their best day. Because of the lack of electric charging stations and the amount of time involved in charging a battery, they just can't go as far as gas vehicles. A team of researchers at Stanford University recently made an important discovery in wireless charging technology. Their work could one day help solve the limited-range dilemma. Read More

Inductive charging devices are already making their way into the home as a cable-free option to keep the batteries of everything from mice and keyboards to mobile phones and toothbrushes juiced up. The increasing availability of practical electric vehicles has also seen the technology attract the attention of those looking for for a cable-free way to charge EV batteries. German automakers are taking the opportunity to put inductive charging of EVs to a real-world test as part of the "Effizienzhaus-Plus mit Elektromobilität" project. Read More

Oral hygiene has come a long way from the twigs, bird feathers and animal bones our ancestors used to clean their teeth. The first recorded toothbrush in history consisting of a twig with a frayed end called a chew stick dates back to 3,000 BC but toothbrushes have since evolved to include electric toothbrushes that move the brush head more rapidly than our puny wrists can manage. Such devices of course require charging, which usually means a charge station taking up valuable real estate on the bathroom counter alongside a rinsing glass. Now Philips has released a toothbrush that charges when placed in a glass that can still be used to rinse your mouth after brushing. Read More

As some Gizmag readers will already know, the new technical regulations for Formula One racing state that cars must move under electrical power only when in the pit lanes. Eyebrow-raising though that may be, two companies are currently collaborating on technology that would see cars being powered by electric motors for the entire race. Instead of looking at ultra-powerful batteries or three-hour recharging pit stops, however, they're taking another approach - they propose that the cars could wirelessly receive power from transmitters embedded in the track. Read More

While implantable heart pumps may buy some time for people waiting to undergo heart transplants, such implants have at least one serious drawback – because they receive their power from an external source, a power cord must protrude through the skin of the patient’s belly. About 40 percent of patients experience infections of that opening, which often require rehospitalization, and in extreme cases can even cause death. The presence of that cord also makes it impossible for patients to swim or take baths. Researchers from the University of Washington and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center are attempting to put an end to the troublesome cords, however, by developing a system that wirelessly transmits power to heart pumps. Read More

The weird properties of artificially engineered metamaterials are at the core of research into invisibility cloaking, but engineers from Duke University in North Carolina suggest that these materials could also provide a boost to another of technology's quests - wireless power transmission. In this latest hard-to-get-your-head-around metamaterial scenario, it's not the cloaked object that "disappears" - it's the space between the charger and the chargee. Read More

Going wireless with your keyboard and mouse might unleash you from the shackles of cables, but at the price of having to constantly shell out for batteries or swap rechargeables in and out. Inductive chargers like the Powermat have provided a convenient, cable-free way to keep mobile phones, portable games consoles and PMPs powered up, and now Mobee has launched the first inductive charger developed specifically for the Apple Bluetooth Keyboard and Magic Trackpad. Read More