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New Transmitter to Recharge Electronic Devices Wirelessly

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New Transmitter to Recharge Electronic Devices Wirelessly

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.

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Pakistan Will Not Restrict Mountaineering Expeditions despite the Recent Deaths of Climbers

(FILES) This picture taken from a commercial aircraft shows an aerial view of the Himalayan mountain range near Kathmandu on February 7, 2020. (Photo by Jewel SAMAD / AFP)
(FILES) This picture taken from a commercial aircraft shows an aerial view of the Himalayan mountain range near Kathmandu on February 7, 2020. (Photo by Jewel SAMAD / AFP)
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20
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Pakistan Will Not Restrict Mountaineering Expeditions despite the Recent Deaths of Climbers

(FILES) This picture taken from a commercial aircraft shows an aerial view of the Himalayan mountain range near Kathmandu on February 7, 2020. (Photo by Jewel SAMAD / AFP)
(FILES) This picture taken from a commercial aircraft shows an aerial view of the Himalayan mountain range near Kathmandu on February 7, 2020. (Photo by Jewel SAMAD / AFP)

Pakistan has issued no warnings or restrictions for mountaineering expeditions in the north, an official said Sunday, despite the recent deaths of climbers.

Climbers were well aware of the harsh weather and all the other risks and challenges, said Faizullah Faraq, a spokesman for the government of Gilgit-Baltistan, the northern region home to some of the world’s highest mountains. “Despite that, they willingly accept these challenges and come here to attempt these summits.”

Chinese climber Guan Jing, 37, was the latest person to perish on one of Pakistan’s mountains. She died last Tuesday after being hit by falling rocks on K2, the world’s second-highest peak known for its treacherous slopes and extreme weather conditions. Rescue teams recovered her body on Saturday.

Her body was still in the mortuary of the Combined Military Hospital in Skardu on Sunday. Contact has been made with Chinese authorities in Islamabad, and “now it is up to them to make further decisions in this regard,” said Faraq.

Jing’s death occurred several weeks after German mountaineer and Olympic gold medalist Laura Dahlmeier died while attempting Laila Peak in the Karakoram mountain range.

Bodies of foreign climbers who die attempting to summit mountains in Pakistan are typically recovered at the request of their families. But if the family declines a rescue, the remains are left at the spot where the climber died.

Faraq said authorities were trying to provide climbers with better infrastructure, rescue facilities, security and a friendly environment. Mountaineering expeditions are the backbone of the local economy, bringing in millions of dollars in direct revenue.

A large number of people work on these expeditions from May to September, feeding their families for the whole year with these earnings, he added.

Hundreds of climbers try to scale mountains in northern Pakistan every year.

Accidents are common because of avalanches and sudden weather changes. Last August, two Russians spent six days stranded on a remote peak before they were rescued.

Gilgit-Baltistan, in Kashmir, has been battered by higher-than-normal monsoon rains this year, triggering flash floods and landslides.