Energous got approval from a European notified body for its 1W WattUp PowerBridge transmitter for over-the-air charging at any distance, it said Friday, following recent FCC approval (see 2110190036). This opens opportunities in Europe for battery-less IoT devices and wearables, said Sanjay Gupta, AirFuel Alliance president.

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.

Energous partnered with Wiliot, a sensing-as-a-service company with a self-powered computer, on a sensor that can be used in retail and warehousing, said the wireless charging platform Tuesday. The companies integrated Energous’ WattUp 1-watt active energy harvesting technology with Wiliot’s Pixel tags that can be attached “to nearly anything” to monitor light humidity, proximity and temperature, the companies said. Wiliot’s tags harvest energy from Bluetooth and LoRa signals; adding range and low power consumption from Energous technology along with intelligent edge processing allows Wiliot to scale deployment in a single venue and leverage Wi-Fi access points as gateways to the cloud, said Steve Statler, Wiliot senior vice president-marketing. Far-field wireless power, known as distance charging, “is another important step forward in removing the need for wires and cords from IoT-centric devices as it extends the utility of batteries in smaller form factors,” said IDC Group Vice President Mario Morales. As wireless power extends from near to far field, it will enable design of new “batteryless” sensor types, low power intelligent endpoints, smart tracking tags and cloud-based data services in retail and asset tracking, Morales said. The Wiliot and Energous combination “will change the behavior of what consumers come to expect from being always connected, with wearables, smart tags, and mobile devices,” he said.

OttLite announced a desk lamp with light disinfection technology from Hubbell Lighting, it emailed Tuesday. Hubbell's SpectraClean technology works with OttLite ClearSun LEDs to create white light that’s optimized for reading, working and studying, the company said. SpectraClean is said to break down harmful microorganisms such as bacteria, fungus and mold at the cellular level; OttLite's Achieve lamp sanitizes objects within the illuminated area when turned on, it said. Additional features of the Achieve ($49) include Qi wireless charging, touch dimming, a flexible neck for redirecting light, a digital clock, calendar and USB charging ports.

Dialog terminated a strategic alliance agreement with Energous, the RF wireless power company said Thursday. Dialog invested $10 million in November 2016 and another $15 million in June 2017 (see 1706290019) and was the exclusive component supplier of Energous’ WattUp technology. Energous had agreed to use Dialog as the exclusive supplier of its wire-free charging technology for specified fields of use, subject to certain exceptions, it said. Both agreed on revenue sharing and to collaborate on commercialization of licensed products with each retaining its intellectual property. Terms of the seven-year agreement will continue through a wind-down ending in September 2024, and exclusivity ended, it said. Renesas acquired Dialog last month for about $5.6 billion. They didn't comment Friday.

Wireless charging company Energous will exhibit at CES (Sands-51965), demoing its wireless charging 2.0 technology along with WattUp-powered products from partners, it said Monday. The company has had private demo rooms at CES previously.

Energous is working with TAGnology RFID, a European wireless technology company, on protocols to support at-a-distance wireless charging, it said Tuesday. Under the partnership, TAGnology will work as an industrial design house for Energous customers, helping to implement wireless power solutions and proofs of concepts and manage development projects. It will also provide training and technical support in the region and will be a provider of Energous’ wireless power solutions and developer kits in Europe through its e-commerce website and distribution channel, Energous said.

The FCC needs to “diligently move forward” on RF exposure rules “specific” to wireless power transfer devices, or the U.S. risks “losing its leadership role in the WPT industry,” said an Energous filing posted Monday in docket 19-226. “Commission action is needed to enable U.S. companies and consumers to realize the substantial benefits that can be derived in the near term from the further deployment of WPT technologies.” Energous electronics manufacturer customers are “clamoring for access to its technology for deployment in the U.S. market” for enabling wireless charging of devices over distances of more than 1 meter (39 inches), it said. But until the FCC acts on the WPT issues raised in its 2019 RF NPRM, U.S. WPT developers such as Energous “will be unable to satisfy the needs of the U.S. electronics industry,” it said.

Klipsch T5 II ANC true wireless earphones are the first wireless headphones to achieve inductive power transfer through a case, said NuCurrent, which supplies the charging technology in five models of the T5 II series earphones. Wireless charging speeds are twice as fast as those of other Qi-based hearable products, said NuCurrent Monday.

Accell bowed an electronic sanitizer for small devices that doubles as a wireless charger. The $69 Power UV sanitizer uses ultraviolet light to kill germs in five minutes and is designed for objects including masks and smartphones, said the company Thursday. It’s Environmental Protection Agency certified, it said. Users can add a drop of essential oil to have an aromatherapy effect, said the company.