Powercast announced that it won the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval for its PowerSpot transmitter.
According to CNET website, the idea of the new device is that charging certain devices could work a little like Wi-Fi does: The devices just have to be in the vicinity, rather than plugged in or plopped down in a particular spot.
The biggest beneficiaries for now will likely be keyboards, remote controls and certain wearables.
The company plans to show off prototypes of its 3-watt PowerSpot at CES, the consumer electronics extravaganza in Las Vegas in January.
Up to this point, wireless charging has been a very short-range thing, based on two main standards, Qi and Powermat, for the home and places like McDonald's and Starbucks.
Pittsburgh-based Powercast wants to give you more room to roam.
Here's how its technology works. A transmitter broadcasts radio frequency energy on the 915MHz ISM band to a receiver embedded in a device, and the receiver converts that energy to direct current to power the device or charge the battery.
Powercast said it expects that up to 30 devices within range of a PowerSpot will be able to charge overnight, depending on the distance, as well as the type and power consumption of the individual device.
Powercast expects production units to be ready in the third quarter of 2018.
