WiTricity Coming?

By Digital Trends Staff August 25, 2008

WiTricity Coming?

CNN has reported that Intel has shown it can wirelessly transmit power, making a 60-watt bulb glowing using a source that was three feet away, at 75% efficiency.

Their work builds on a foundation laid at MIT, which has christened the technology WiTricity.

It all means that wireless power transmission could be slowly creeping closer, but don’t expect to be able to recharge your laptop battery without plugging the machine in anytime soon.

Intel’s chief technology officer, Justin Rattner, told the news channel:

"The power pack for your laptop isn’t that efficient. … It’s one of those things that’s almost too good to be true."

For now, not only are the coils used to transmit the power too large for homes, there’s an additional problem – working out how to stop the electromagnetic field of the power transmission from interfering with other parts within the computer.

At present, researchers posit householders having large transmitters on or on walls, with small receivers scattered around the house, such as inside furniture, meaning that wherever you take your laptop, you can recharge it.

Editors' Recommendations

Digital Trends Staff

Digital Trends has a simple mission: to help readers easily understand how tech affects the way they live. We are your…

Computing

Wi-Fi 6 has finally launched. Here’s what that means for you

Linksys WRT3200 ACM router review

The long wait is over. Wi-Fi 6 has finally launched. But what is Wi-Fi 6 and what does its arrival mean for the average consumer?

According to the Wi-Fi Alliance, the Wi-Fi Certified 6 program is now available for devices “based on IEEE 802.11ax.” The Wi-Fi Alliance’s press release on the matter sheds some light on what customers can expect from Wi-Fi 6:

Mobile

American Airlines expands its fast in-flight Wi-Fi, but it will still cost you

computer glitch american airlines christmas plane

Major airlines are slowly but surely responding to customer calls for better in-flight Wi-Fi.

The biggest change has come with the introduction of satellite-based systems that offer better coverage and faster speeds than the older ground-based alternatives.

Computing

Opera GX is a browser for gamers, but the actual gaming is still to come

opera gx browser for gamers but not gaming browser2

Opera is one of the better browsers out there, even if it might not be most people's first choice. But the developers at Opera Software believe that gamers are one segment of the web-browsing population that might be interested in switching from their current browser (it's probably Chrome) to something new and built entirely for them. Opera GX.

This new branch of the Opera browser isn't decidedly different from the mainstream one it's built on. It's not a “gaming browser" in that will let you stream games using Google Stadia or something similar – although that is a door Opera is leaving firmly wedged open in case it becomes possible in the future. This is a browser for gamers, which means it not only looks and even sounds like the RGB peripherals most gaming systems come equipped with in 2019, but has some extra features designed with gamers in mind too.
It's got the gamer look
“All browsers at the moment are meant to be general purpose tools. They should be as accessible, as fast, as beautiful, for anybody,” Opera's product manager, Maciej Kocemba told Digital Trends. “If something is good for everybody, then sometimes you say it is good for nobody. If you want a hammer, it has to be a hammer and not also a screwdriver.”