Okay. I admit up front that this is not a display story per se but it’s somewhat related, and the idea just so cool that I had to cover it.

A short story out of Japan this morning announced Toko Inc.’s new wireless cell phone charger that uses a magnetic field to wirelessly charge cell phone batteries.  The magnetic energy is transmitted to coils in the cell phone that convert the magnetic energy to electricity.   

Steve Sechrist
Senior Analyst and Editor
Projection Monthly

The idea of electricity without wires harks back to the days of Nichola Tesla and his vision of distributing electricity wirelessly to whole cities (and free of charge).  For example, in 1899 Tesla lit gas discharge lamps (similar to neon signs) 25 miles away using wireless electricity. 

Beyond the barriers of physics, particularly focused manipulation of electromagnetic energy, it was the concept of free distribution that lost out to Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse, who used DC and AC transmission lines respectively.  The wired solution efficiently transmitted (AC) power over long distances and allowed a utility to charge for electric service, generating profits for the then nascent General Electric and Westinghouse corporations.  The rest is history. 

The vision of wireless power has a rebirth in the Toko cell phone charger application, even if it is in a relatively limited form when compared to Tesla’s idea.  The immediate benefit comes in “contact-less” charging that eliminates the need for metal terminals touching each other.  This eliminates problems such as rusting and corrosion of the contacts.   

The charger supplies 400mA (for a transmitted power far less than in Tesla’s vision), enabling a full charge in about 2 hours.  The company has shipped 5M cordless phones using such chargers and is reporting it will now move into cell phones in 2007. 

But the bigger story may be the impact of such a move.  The use of wireless power supplies in a technology as ubiquitous as cell phones could spark product designers’ interest in delivering wireless power to all sorts of mainstream consumer electronic devices.  Samsung, are you listening? Think of the convenience:  no more plugging in at night to recharge the personal devices.  Cell phones, yes but also PMPs (personal media players), PDAs (personal digital assistants), digital cameras, and navigation devices.   The list goes on.  Just being near the power source will charge devices, and this can be anywhere:  restaurants, office buildings and hotel rooms come to mind.  Just look for the “proximity wireless charging station” logo and your devices are getting a power boost while waiting in line for that Starbucks caffeine boost.  

Our take: The Toko announcement demonstrates that wireless power for consumer electronic devices is a near-horizon technology that commands our attention.  As our devices grow more power efficient through the use of LED backlights in displays and large-scale-integration that reduces chip count and board-size requirements, CE technology has reached a tipping point in consumer-electronic power supplies.  And Tesla, the man whose genius some credit with ushering in the second industrial revolution, can only sit back and smile.