NFC Forum Board OKs Low-Power Wireless Charging Spec

The NFC Forum’s board approved and adopted Wireless Charging Specification (WLC) 2.0, said the organization Wednesday. The spec allows charging low-power devices such as wireless earbuds, smartwatches, digital pens and fitness trackers at a power transfer rate of up to 1 watt, it said. WLC versions 1.0 and 2.0 enable a single antenna in an NFC-enabled device to manage communications and charging. The most recent version supports smaller antenna sizes, which expands the range of consumer and IoT devices that can be charged wirelessly using smartphones and other NFC-enabled devices by enabling the design of smaller, lighter and more affordable wireless products. The forum estimates most cellphones are interoperable with the extra small antennas covered in WLC 2.0. The NFC Forum didn’t respond to questions. Energous announced Tuesday it received an FCC Part 15 grant of equipment authorization for a wireless power transmitter at any distance using its 1-watt Active Energy Harvesting transmitter (see report, Oct. 20 issue of this publication). Energous shares dropped 7.3% Wednesday to close at $2.03.