Industrial Wireless Power Company Targets Wearables Companies at CES

Wearables could offer an opportunity for wireless power company Powercast, which has been supplying FCC-certified power transmitters, chips and modules to the industrial market for 14 years, Jason Gill, electrical engineer, told us at the company’s CES booth. The company showcased its technology, along with a development kit, with keyboards, sensors, clothing, key fobs and a smartwatch, looking to sign wearables makers looking for radio-frequency-based wireless charging. Most devices using the company’s Powerharvester chip charge at distances of 1-3 feet, said Gill. Powercast doesn’t have designs on RF charging for smartphones or PCs, he said, calling RF charging for higher-power devices “not practical.”