Powermat said Monday that medical device maker NewPace will use Qi-based Powermat wireless charging technology in its cardiac rhythm management devices. Patients need a “non-invasive charging solution for their critical care medical devices and emergency equipment,” said Powermat CEO Elad Dubzinski.

Wireless power-at-a-distance developer Ossia met with aides to FCC Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Commissioners Brendan Carr and Gregory Starks to stress the U.S. needs a “level regulatory playing field” to compete with Canada, China, Japan and EU on the technology, said a filing posted Friday in docket 19-226. Regulatory authorities of U.S. competitors are “rapidly moving forward” to approve wireless power at a distance, said Ossia. Other countries have taken “significant steps to embrace wireless power transfer,” it said, and China is “particularly active” through innovations from Huawei, Lenovo and Xiaomi. “It is no exaggeration to say that 5G and IoT cannot fully develop” without technology like Ossia's, it said. Billions of new 5G and IoT devices will need power, “and there are not enough batteries or electricians in the world to make that possible,” it said.

Energous and Atmosic achieved interoperability for RF energy harvesting technology, enabling wireless charging up to 2 meters away, they said Wednesday. The companies combined Energous’ WattUp RF-based wireless charging technology and Atmosic’s M3 chipset with RF energy harvesting capability. Atmosic’s energy harvesting technology, based on Bluetooth 5, can deliver “forever battery” life and can enable devices to operate without any batteries in some applications, it said.

Energous is getting interest from device manufacturers in the consumer, IoT and other sectors after March release of its WattUp PowerHub developer kit, said Chief Financial Officer Brian Sereda on Wednesday Q1 call. The wireless charging company and partners continue to navigate COVID-19 challenges and chip shortages. Energous’ first partner product enabled with over-the-air wireless power will be launched later this year, he said. The company’s recent PowerHub certification, first of its kind in the EU, opens up the promise of RF wireless power transmission at distances beyond 1 meter and “well beyond 15 feet,” said Chief Operating Officer Cesar Johnston. “Technically, we can go up to 5.5 watts,” he said, “and there's no distance limitation” vs. the past 1-meter ceiling. The company continues to push power and transmission levels within regulatory limits and “well within safety limits,” he said. An FCC NPRM under Part 18 is under consideration to allow higher power and distance for wireless power transmission regulations, Johnston said. Revenue was $145,065 vs. $61,475 in the year-ago quarter.

Energous’ WattUp PowerHub completed a regulatory review with a European body verifying the wireless charging transmitter complies with European technical requirements for radio equipment, said Energous Tuesday. It said the PowerHub complies with international RF requirements including RF safety (SAR) and has no receiver distance limitation, Energous said. The company believes it’s the first European approval for a wireless power transfer distance charger that transmits more than 1 watt, said Vice President-Regulatory Affairs Daniel Lawless. It establishes Energous’ ability to enable over-the-air wireless 2.0 power transfer beyond 15 feet, said Chief Operating Officer Cesar Johnston. The WattUp PowerHub comprises the DA14682 (Bluetooth low energy 5.0), DA4100 (wireless power transfer), EN3913M (efficient GaN power amplifier) and EN3921 (controller) transmitters alongside the DA2223 (RF-to-DC) and DA14585 (ultralow power Bluetooth low energy) receivers.

AirFuel Alliance is launching an automated test system and certification program to support the AirFuel Resonant wireless charging standard. The program paves the way for deployment of AirFuel Resonant-certified products, said Sanjay Gupta, alliance president, Thursday. The test systems, a multiyear initiative, are the final piece of a project to have the AirFuel Resonant standard use a common set of magnetic field parameters to define interoperability between power transmit and power receiver units, said the alliance. Testing labs TTA and Gyeongbuk Technopark are equipped to validate product performance and provide interoperability certifications, it said.

It’s not clear how Energous would be affected by Dialog Semiconductor’s proposed sale to Renesas, announced this month, said Energous CEO Stephen Rizzone on the company’s Thursday earnings call. Dialog owns about 5.2% of Energous’ outstanding common shares and could potentially own 7.1% if it exercised warrants, said Energous' annual report. The acquisition is expected to be completed by year-end. The wireless charging company announced a partnership Thursday to simplify integration of its WattUp RF wireless charging with Thinfilm solid-state lithium microbattery technology in “form-factor-sensitive” applications such as hearables, wearables and connected sensors. It also announced it's working with e-peas to combine the chipmaker's power management IC technology with Energous’ RF technology to support at-a-distance wireless charging applications beyond 1 meter for smart buildings, industrial IoT sensors and retail electronic displays. E-peas’ energy-harvesting and processing are said to give “infinite battery life” to wireless devices by increasing the amount of harvested energy and by “drastically reducing” energy consumption. Eartechnic is using Energous’ wireless charging technology for a new hearing aid design, said Rizzone, and Gokhale Method received FCC approval for its WattUp-enabled PostureTracker wearable. An equine tracker for horseracing using WattUp could reach the market this quarter, "barring any delays." Products coming to market highlight benefits of WattUp including being able to hermetically seal a receiving device, "rendering it watertight," and the ability to charge multiple receiving devices simultaneously with a single transmitter, said the executive. Charging of multiple devices simultaneously "on a single mat or with a single transmitter has been a major challenge for the industry, including many well-known CE companies," said Rizzone, citing efforts with coil-based charging such as Apple's doomed AirPower. Energous' RF-based technology can charge multiple devices, he said. Semiconductor component shortages are a “broadbased issue” affecting potential product rollouts, he said. He also cited pandemic delays. Energous continues to wait for regulatory approval of its wireless charging technology in China, India and Korea. Rizzone believes India will be the first to grant approval, followed by Korea and China. He expressed hope that potentially improved trade relations with China arising from the new administration could accelerate China regulatory approvals. Shares fell 8.8% Friday to $4.36.

A 125-watt flash charger and 65-watt wireless charger were among products on display at Oppo’s booth at Mobile World Congress Shanghai Wednesday, said the company. The 125-watt flash charger can pump a 4,000 mAh phone battery to 100% in 20 minutes, Oppo said. The 65-watt AirVooc wireless flash charger can charge the same battery in 30 minutes, it said. It also showed future wireless charging technology that delivers up to 7.5 watts of charging power using magnetic resonance at distances up to 3.9 inches.

Wireless charging company WiTricity raised $18 million in funding from iPhone co-inventor Tony Fadell’s Future Shape venture capital firm and other private investors, it said Tuesday. That adds to October's $34 million infusion. WiTricity also announced that Fadell joined its recently launched advisory board. “With the global standard set for [electric vehicle] wireless charging, and automaker launches imminent, wireless charging should become a primary feature of EVs coming to market in the next design cycle,” said WiTricity CEO Alex Gruzen.

Apple didn’t comment Friday on a Bloomberg report that it’s developing a wireless, magnetically attached battery pack for the iPhone 12 series. The wireless charger would attach to the back of the phone using the MagSafe system, offering additional battery life but not full protection as a case, the report said, noting development has been “slowed by software issues such as the iPhone erroneously indicating that the pack is overheating.” Apple scrapped plans for a wireless charging mat it teased in September 2017 (see 1709120054). Energous' stock closed 94% higher Friday at $7.23, though Bloomberg didn't mention the wireless charging company in the report. Energous reports Q4 earnings Thursday. It didn’t comment.