WiTricity and Intel team up on wireless power transfer

Intel has signed an agreement with MIT spinoff WiTricity to collaborate to integrate a wireless power transfer technology into future-generation Intel products. Laptops could thus be charged wirelessly.

WiTricity now has extensive experience with wireless energy transfer: as early as 2007, employees of MIT showed that their technology could supply a lamp with power remotely. That project was further developed in WiTricity as an independent company and WiTricity has already shown chargers for telephones and even cars. The company has now signed an agreement with Intel to embed WiTricity technology into Intel equipment. The license agreement revolves around the wireless energy standard Rezence, a method that uses magnetic induction.

Unlike the induction method of, for example, Qi, the Rezence standard on which the WiTricity technology works makes use of magnetic resonance. This brings several advantages: the coils of the transmitter and receiver do not have to be placed exactly one above the other and a charger can charge several devices at the same time. In addition, the height range is greater: Rezence can charge a telephone through a wooden table, so that the charger coils can be hidden away invisibly. Rezence chargers can also be expanded with additional coils to increase the working surface.

WiTricity’s new CEO, Alex Gruzen, has extensive experience in the laptop industry and indicates that Intel-powered laptops with wireless charging capabilities could hit the market this year. In addition, cars and medical implants would also be equipped with WiTricity’s Rezence implementation. However, cars are not expected until 2015 or 2016, while medical applications are now in the long-term FDA testing phase.