Intel pushing hard to deliver wireless charging for ultrabooks/smartphones

Intel teamed up with mixed-signal fabless chip firm Integrated Device Technology to design a transmitter and receiver for Intel's resonant wireless energy transfer technology. The chip giant has been working on the wireless charging technology since before October 2008 and intends to make it one of the selling points of Intel-based ultrabooks and smartphones. Wireless charging uses magnetic induction to transmit power over a distance of a few millimeters or centimeters, it's similar to the technology used for charging electric toothbrushes. Full details at EE Times.

IDT (San Jose, Calif.) said it plans to be able to provide samples the resonance receiver IC by the end of 2012 and the year, and of the transmitter IC sometime in the first half of 2013. Intel and IDT also plan to deliver resonant wireless charging reference designs for use in Ultrabooks, PCs, smartphones, and standalone chargers.

Wireless charging over distances of a few millimeters or centimeters using magnetic induction has been seen as a promising application area for a number of years but has been difficult to find an efficient means of energy transfer and consensus on standards has been slow to build.