New Intel Ultrabooks to spray HOT JUICE into mobes Intel will build wireless charging into its svelte laptops, aka Ultrabooks, and smartphones by the middle of 2013, according to whisperings on Chinese rumour mill Digitimes Using the chip giant's own in-house technology, the mobes' batteries are topped up over the air by the Ultrabooks. Apparently the phones can be held …
I want wireless charging, but everyone should be told that it will cost them more money on their electric bill as anything using induction is always going to be less efficient than using a piece of wire.
Okay, probably not that much more on your electric bill, a few pounds a year.
What does "anywhere near the PC" mean, as per the article?
Six feet from the PC to the phone? No, the physics doesn't work.
Six inches? The physics still sounds unlikely.
Six millimeters? Perhaps, with a following wind, on a good day.
Now, when you're using your Ultrabrick, which bit of it will be convenient for you to velcro a phone to while the phone charge up ? (Because it really really really won't be just "anywhere near the PC". The physics doesn't work. Did I mention that?)
Maybe you won't be using the ultrabrick while charging the phone? Given the power economies in low power x86 systems (has x86 really got anywhere near ARM yet?) and the power demand of fast charging a modern phone both at the same time from the same power supply, maybe you have to shut down your Ultrabrick to fast charge your phone?
Still, it gets them column inches for the Ultrabrick name, and that's what they want.
>What does "anywhere near the PC" mean, as per the article?
Intel are assuming that one would keep their phone on the same table as their laptop. A few inches away from the laptop would be as convenient to most people as a few feet.
"[With resonant inductive coupling] significant power may be transmitted between the coils over a range of a few times the coil diameters at reasonable efficiency."
-Steinmetz, Dr. Charles Proteus (1914). Elementary Lectures on Electric Discharges, Waves, and Impulses, and Other Transients (2nd ed.)
I'm pretty sure that the laptop's power brick can cope with a few extra watts, especially, as any fule kno, the laptop is not operating at full whack most of the time.
As a graduate physicist and former MIET I'm well aware of resonant coupling thank you. Hopefully some other readers are too.
Thing is, also as any fule kno, as soon as you attempt to extract significant energy from the resonant system, it stops resonating in the classical manner, and behaves more like it's damped. In other words, it's more like a plain ordinary transformer, without the advantage of a transformer core to get the coupling up and the efficiency up.
See also: Splashpower. Formed 2001, bankrupt 2008. And others.
Anybody *really* seen this stuff pass a few watts on a sustained basis, as distinct from a few milliwatts for a short time (long enough to impress the clueless venture capitalists)?
I wonder how long after such tech gets into the market place before Apple decides to waive its wad of paper patents in the air claiming infringment - because apple already has drawings showing an iphone positioned a few inches away from a laptop/desktop wirelessly charging and everyone is copying them and damaging their business once again.........
this is only work on probably future x86 mobiles.
Guess gives another reason for buyers, but doubt it'll be used much since x86 phones aren't exactly commonplace yet...seems more like Intel looking for another bit of ammo to try and get people to make x86 phones than anything else though.
Why?
x86 is notoriously hungry for power compared to other arches such as arm or MIPS
Intel isn't part of either group which indicates they either think its worthless; They have their own plans (involving apple for the conspiracy theorists) or are just waiting to see which wins and run with that.
While that may have been true a couple of years ago, when Intel didn't have a commercial phone on the market, why not look at the latest Intel powered phones (Orange Santa Clara, Lava Phone in India) before busting out age old "x86 is terrible on battery life" phrase - it's by no means the best (in it's current form) but it's far from the worst in the power efficiency stakes
"If it only takes an hour to charge my phone off a 5v 1a USB cable, how long would it take wirelessly?"
What do you know about electric toothbrushes?
They charge wirelessly, and have done for years, with a range of approximately 0 (zero) mm.
They manage a fraction of a watt wirelessly, and consequently recharging a couple of 600mAhr NiMH cells (or thereabouts) takes maybe 12 hours.
So, let's just extrapolate that to charging your phone.
Or, till there's proof this SplashPower 2.0 stuff really works (more than just vendor names in two competing "wireless power alliances"), let's not.
Sounds like a 6 inch distance between source devices is just perfect to arrange an egg, some bacon and a sausage or two on some tin foil and watch it cook whilst the phone charges; whilst wearing a tin foil helmet myself of course.................
Sounds like the convergence of ultrabricks and Mobes are fast taking on the shape and form of Homer's car from the Simpsons..........
Reminds me of last weeks Chocolate Teapot debate
One genius has hit the nail firmly on the head - I reckon that's exactly what the engineers are shooting for, something that doesn't work just to annoy us all. Much like anything remotely innovative and "corporate America" related.
F**k me this place annoys me some times - such a shame the pessimists outnumber those who would just say "sounds like a good idea, I hope they can make it work, cos I sure as damn it don't have the millions to spend to invent it and it would be pretty handy"
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