Here’s a photo of our through-desk wireless charger – you simply attach it to the underside of a desk or table to create a WiPower enabled surface on top of which devices can be placed for charging!

WiPower and Gill Industries have won the best of NeoCon Silver Award for innovative technology!

WiPower, the leader in wireless power technology, debuts their technology in the world’s first production through-desk, wireless charging system at NeoCon 2010.  Gill Industries, an innovation leader for the furniture industry, will be introducing their embedded through-desk transmitter utilizing WiPower technology.  The combination provides a system which offers a glimpse of the extended range products that WiPower and Gill will be launching later this year.  This through-desk system represents the latest advancement in wireless power technology, enabling consumers to create clean, wirelessly-enabled spaces at home or the office by simply attaching a wireless power transmitter to the underside of a table or desk.  In addition, at NeoCon, WiPower and Gill will show the scaling of the technology to charge anything from traditional smart phones to laptop computers.

“Consistent with WiPower’s generation three technology platform, the through-desk system offers users similar advantage to its table top charging pad, notably multiple devices support and alignment insensitivity, but also the users can experience the benefits of extended range power transmission.  Consumers can simply place their laptops on top of a WiPower enabled desk in any position within the charging area for efficient, convenient charging.  The through-desk system is completely seamless – it can be embedded in new surfaces without any difficult routing requirement and can be retrofitted to existing surfaces,” says WiPower’s CEO, Rahul Razdan.

“We envision this technology becoming the standard in every home, office, and automobile.  Consumers, and our customers, are excited about WiPower technology because of its potential to enhance the way we move through our day.  Without the burden of power cords and the worry of having to find an outlet, a person’s mobility is dramatically improved,” says Richard Perreault, President of Gill Industries.

WiPower is launching its table top charging pad and handset skins for the Apple iPhone, Blackberry Tour, and Blackberry 8900 at the end of July.  The skins from the table top version will work seamlessly with the through-desk version coming out later in the year.

Check out WiPower’s new packaging and let us know your thoughts!

WiPower was recently featured in the House of the Future, which was sponsored by Philips, at the Grand Designs Live show in London! The House of the Future showcases the latest technology, design and innovation for the home. Please visit our Facebook page to see more photos!

If you own a Blackberry 8900 and would like to charge it wirelessly, this is a great opportunity to be one of the first to try out the latest in wireless power technology! We are offering product testers a discounted price, and a free upgrade to the final product in exchange for some helpful feedback.

The combined price of the charging pad and the Blackberry 8900 skin is $80 (the expected retail value is $110). We ask simply that you use it, tell us what you like and don’t like, and then exchange it (for free!) for the final version.

If you are interested, please send us an email: team@wipower.com

With the proliferation of wireless power technology and devices (http://www.pddnet.com/article-wireless-power-technology-generational-073009/), some concerns have been raised as to the green impact of a wirelessly powered world.  Notably, the introduction of these products has raised concern about the environmental impact of wireless power in high volume applications such as cell phones.  The central thrust of these concerns is that even in highly efficient (80%), generation three systems (loosely-coupled), the efficiency is less than compared to a wired connection (100%).  If considered in the aggregate, this loss in efficiency multiplied over a large volume creates an impact that is decidedly anti-green.  However, a deeper analysis renders the surprising conclusion that in fact a wirelessly powered world may be greener as compared to today’s solution.

Because every mobile phone used today includes an attached AC/DC power convertor as a non-differentiated part of the device, the power accessories are optimized for low cost, while minimally supporting the other attributes.  This packaging structure has several significant green implications.  First, there is an enormous problem of disposing millions of adaptors within the world’s solid waste systems.  Second, the standby current of these adaptors is significant (250 mA), so the aggregated cost for millions of adaptors plugged into the wall at all times is significant.  Third, the active charging function of these adapters has poor efficiency (approximately 60 % for the low-end).  The seriousness of these concerns is seen in the regulatory efforts currently pursued by the European Union and US Department of Energy.  Unfortunately, the effect of these regulations is limited by the fundamental architecture of these systems, which require a one-for-one relationship between the phone and the charger, thus demanding that adapter costs be minimized.

If wireless solutions were limited to the same one-for-one model as wired adapters, the conventional concerns about wireless power’s green impact would be justified.  However, wireless power products (particularly loosely-coupled generation three systems) enable a platform architecture which has very different green dynamics.  The wireless platform approach provides the consumer the significant value of convenience in the form of a single, one-time explicit expense for the charging function.  Thus, a much higher efficiency AC/DC power convertor (90%) can be justified and utilized.  Further, universal convertors can be utilized (from companies such as GreenPlug) which allow for dynamic power management, further reducing system level losses.

The green implication of this shift in architecture is significant.  First, the active use of small AC/DC bricks can be eliminated, so the multiple, large parasitic energy losses can be reduced to a single, optimized charging device.  Second, given sufficient access to wireless charging or portable wireless charging solutions, mobile phone vendors can eliminate an implicit packaging of AC/DC bricks (or offer an option to buy an adapter as opposed to providing one as the default) diminishing the huge disposal issues with these adapters.  Third, the efficiency of multiple wireless charging devices is quite competitive with that of low efficiency AC/DC chargers, despite the efficiency loss in the actual wireless power transfer.  For example, a wireless system with 90% efficiency for the AC/DC convertor (70% DC-to-DC efficiency for the wireless transfer) has an overall efficiency of 63% compared to wired alternatives that have efficiency of 60% (60% for AC/DC and 100% for wire transfer).  In addition, this shift in architecture from one-to-one to a platform approach, allows for a more robust and dynamic power management system, which will continue to improve over time.  Finally, the convenience afforded by wireless power solutions enables a much wider usage of rechargeable batteries and thus can reduce the green impact of the disposal of primary batteries.  All of this evidence suggests that the perception of wireless power as an anti-green technology is indeed misplaced; and wireless power will play a significant role in reducing the environmental impact of current power technologies.

Thanks,

Rahul