Cutting the Power Cord: The Next Frontier?

Now that nearly everything has gone wireless, power cords for everything from television sets to desktop computers really stand out. They look so 20th century nowadays, don't they? I'm being facetious, as always, but powering devices over wireless connections is an important new frontier for electronics developers.

Sony's latest efforts have produced a prototype that successfully powers household appliances, but it's still too early to actually be practical, according to an article published by Computerworld.

The still-evolving technology was able to provide a standard, 100-volt power supply to a 22-inch TV minus wires, which is encouraging, but it must be no further than 19 inches away and it's only 80 percent efficient. In other words, the current iteration of a wireless power supply wastes one-fifth of the power coming out of the wall and only gives users 19 inches of space.

Sony researchers no doubt are scribbling new formulas on whiteboards and firing up the soldering iron for new solutions, but you have to start somewhere. Let's not forget about the first "mobile" phone from Motorola, which was a genuine breakthrough but the size and weight of a brick.

Imagine a future without wall plugs or tripping over cords. Yeah, I'm not particularly impressed either. But I also yawned with an utter lack of enthusiasm when my college, in 1995, finally connected to the Internet.

Photo courtesy of ArnoldReinhold, via Wikimedia Commons