San Jose-based Energous, which is developing wireless charging tech that works from three feet away, says the FCC has approved its product, set for debut at CES
Charging your mobile device wirelessly is certainly less of a hassle than plugging it in, but still requires the device …
Context & Ripple Effects
This approval is the payoff to a long regulatory wait: Energous first showed its WattUp system charging devices from 15 feet away back in 2015, but shipping anything required clearing the FCC. The clearance that arrived covers a shorter three-foot range, and the product is set to debut at CES.
The timing matters because Energous is not alone in chasing over-the-air power — Apple was reported in 2016 to be working on distance-charging tech for iOS devices — so being first through the regulator gives the San Jose company a window to turn its demo into real design wins.
First-order effects
- Device makers can now legally build products around Energous' transmitter-and-receiver hardware, and Energous heads into CES with a certified product rather than another prototype.
Second-order effects
- Rival approaches get a benchmark to beat: Wi-Charge's line-of-sight system delivering two to three watts and the NFC Forum's one-watt specification for small devices now compete against an FCC-approved product that needs no contact or direct sightline.
Third-order effects
- If certification proves repeatable for over-the-air power, wireless charging splits between proprietary systems racing to market and standards-body specs like the NFC Forum's — pushing the industry toward deciding whether distance charging becomes a licensed platform or a common standard.
The trend: Wireless power is moving from contact pads to regulated over-the-air delivery, with FCC approvals and standards bodies setting which architectures reach devices first.