We have been busy getting ready for our debut at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January. It has been a fun, creative process, and we have just finished the design for our booth – see below. We are really looking forward to this show and hope that if you are there, you will stop by booth number 15409 in the central hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center and say hello!
Today’s story begins with an unintentional lie to an unsuspecting person.
The other day I was purchasing a few more 60″ plasma TVs for my living room and I couldn’t help but notice Powermat’s new flashy display at Best Buy. The product looked fantastic in the display case and even the packaging looked sexy and fresh. Fascinated, I grabbed the box and began reading everything about the system and how it worked. A Best Buy employee approached me while I was admiring the product and upon my inquiry, told me two units had already been sold.
“A great start!” I exclaimed as the employee and I exchanged an awesome, deafening high-five. We shared a few more laughs while he helped me carry the plasma TVs to the parking lot, and I told him I’d return tomorrow to purchase my own Powermat charging unit.
I never did.
Little did I know, as I uttered that false promise, the two sold units were already sitting comfortably in WiPower’s office.
When I walked into WiPower the following day and noticed the two Powermat units laying on the table, I lit up like a child on Christmas morning. I hastily picked through the packaging, plugged in the Powermat, and locked my iPhone into the charging case. I carefully placed the phone near one of the charging zones and it snapped into place like magic. Before I could register what had happened, an LED flashed on, and the phone was already charging! It’s so simple, a caveman could do it!
The sleek looking pad has three charging zones that can deliver power to three different loads (electronics) simultaneously. The company has already released receiver skins that allow the iPhone, Blackberry’s, Nintendo DS, and other various electronics to become Powermat compatible. They even designed a smaller, but equally effective travel version of the Powermat that folds up for convenient packing.
Powermat has made a great step toward bringing wireless power solutions to consumers…their system is easy to use and they’ve demonstrated to the world a unique vision of what the future will look like with wireless charging. But before you start to wonder who paid for my plasma TVs, let me point out some compelling differences between Powermat’s and WiPower’s technologies:
With WiPower’s wireless power system, devices will charge anywhere on top of the charging pad, whereas on a Powermat, a device will only charge if it is placed in a specific position, hence the magnetic alignment system Powermat has had to employ. A second point of differentiation is though it appears you can charge multiple devices on a Powermat, you are actually charging one device on one transmitter at a time. Each charging zone on a Powermat represents a single transmitter – so there are actually three transmitters required in one Powermat to charge three devices, whereas in a WiPower pad, there is just one transmitter that is capable of charging up to four devices. Also, as I appreciate the benefit Powermat offers by eliminating the hassle of carrying different power adapters for different devices, now you have to carry a Powermat… WiPower envisions a world where its wireless power system is built into desks, tables, kitchen countertops, airports, and hotels so that carrying any sort of power supply will be completely unnecessary.
As I said before, Powermat’s products are a great introduction to wireless power and I would like to congratulate them on an impressive product launch! But please stay tuned for further developments on the wireless power frontier, courtesy of my hard-working teammates at WiPower…
Thanks,
Nick
(the intern)
