One of the companies making a number of big announcements at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show is the wireless charging firm Powermat.
They seem to be everywhere at the moment and making deals with everyone else, so let’s have a quick recap of what they been agreeing to and designing in the last few months.
First up, they have got their technology integrated into the machines produced by Teknion and Haier. The first one is a furniture design firm while the second one has digital devices and white goods among its line of products. The use of charging devices in such everyday, mundane items as furniture has lifted a few eyebrows here and got people interested in the idea.
The next company they have hooked up with is General Motors, and Powermat’s wireless charging devices will be built into the full GM range starting off in the US in the middle of next year (don’t forget we’re in 2011 now). For European drivers this means that we can expect wireless charging in our new Vauxhalls, Saabs and Fords towards the end of 2012 at the earliest.
Another development which has been keeping the people at Powermat busy is the ongoing work they are carrying out with Qualcomm and which is aimed at giving a flexible coupling wireless power design.
As if that weren’t enough they have also announced that upcoming news will include the release of an exciting in car charger, more portable power products, a super slim laptop device and a zero standby power solution.
If the aim of Powermat’s CES blitz was to make us more aware of who they are then I think it has worked well and that most us now associate wireless charging with this firm. The question is whether these upcoming developments will be good enough and will attract enough attention to build on this. Only time will tell, won’t it?
