Sunday, October 04, 2009

Look, No Power Cables

Ever sat in front of TV and took a long hard look at the myriad of cable at the back? As we sit ay our desk we look underneath and see a sea of spagaetti and hope we will never sort it out! ell Sony has announced that help could be at hand in the form of WiFi a new "highly efficient" wireless power transfer system which it claims will eliminate the use of power cables from electronic products such as PCs and televisions. We want it NOW! Well maybe.

The distance that they currently achieve don’t seem great some 60 watts transferred over a distance of up to 50cm with 80 per cent efficiency, but most technology is located extremely near to a mains power socket. Distance can be also increased up to 80cm when combined with 'passive extender units'. Sony’s system is based on high-frequency “magnetic resonance” technology, which produces a magnetic field by feeding power into a 40cm-wide square coil of wires. When another coil is brought within the magnetic field, a current is induced in the second coil, feeding power to the TV.

The question is not when it will be reality but whether such an environment is safe? It is probably this factor that is going to delay its deployment as the last thing we all need is another health risk based puely on saving a bit of inconvienance. Others have already moved with alternative technology such as the contact based charging systems as seen with the Palm Pre and Dell Latitude Z . We don’t think that we will see a cordless Sony Bravia soon.

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