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Sony Prototype Sends Electricity Through the Air

Despite the numerous technologies that exist for sending data through the air there's one cable that most gadgets can't do without at some time. The power cable remains a necessary but sometimes unsightly part of many modern electronic appliances -- but now even that might be on the way out.

Sony has developed a prototype power system that can send enough electricity to power a television set wirelessly over a short distance, it said Friday. In tests the company succeeded in sending a conventional 100 volt electricity supply over a distance of 50 centimeters to power a 22-inch LCD television.

Voozi6091d ago

Lol I remember talking to a friend about this a few years back..."hey wouldn't it be cool if we had wireless electricity lol" and wow looks like that's becoming a reality.

droid and bot6091d ago

wow

i can see that on the PS4
i mean that would be so cool
the only to things that are hooked up to my PS3 are

PS3 to TV
PS3 to POWER

maybe next gen it'll be down to only one thing

Ju6091d ago

Next thing could be nothing (or just an external receiver feeding into a normal power outlet). There is WirelessHD (kind of wireless HDMI, http://en.wikipedia.org/wik... ) already. That box could just stand in the middle of nowhere - no strings attached :)

Cwalat6091d ago

I don't want you guys to mistake this for a fanboy comme.. ah i don't give a damn what you think :P

THIS is why i always choose Sony products. For me it's all about Quality, Presentation and Innovation.

mistajeff6091d ago

Wow.. I mean I've known for a while that there were ideas and sketches about how to do wireless power, but I really didn't think it was this close to a reality. Well, I guess technically it IS a reality, since they got it to work.

My intuition tells me this has to be a major fire hazard though lol

UnSelf6091d ago

sony sony sony

i mean CMON, HOW CAN YOU NOT LOVE THESE GUYS??!

Raf1k16091d ago (Edited 6091d ago )

There's a safety concern about this too. What happens if someone was to stand in between the device receiving power and the one transmitting it?

I see this as more of a way to have less power cables and less clutter but will require a power socket close by. If the technology continues to advance then maybe we can have true wireless power but that would be a long way in the future IMO.

edit: @ Mc Fadge. Erm I duno... what would happen if you stuck your finger in a socket? It's electricity afterall. This is talking of 100 volts which won't kill you but increase that to 240 and there might be a problem. If I remember right electricity has something to do with the movement of electrons (which are always very close to one another in cables) so I'm wondering how that works through the air.
Safety is obviously going to be something Sony will need to keep an eye on.

You said nothing yet you came up with a possible problem and contradicting yourself.

Mc Fadge6091d ago

NOTHING.

Unless you have a pacemaker.

Major_Tom6091d ago

Sony isn't the first company to do this.

Golfcoachh6091d ago (Edited 6091d ago )

Maddensraiders......
MIT actually demonstrated it in 2007 and it wasn't a sony product.

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffi...

http://blog.mapawatt.com/20...

TheAntiFanboy6091d ago (Edited 6091d ago )

Hey fanboys, realize that if Sony did make this a reality, they wouldn't limit it to only their products.

Thus, "maybe in the future there'll only be one console" is probably the most godawfully retarded comment in the world. Such a tremendous scientific advancement would become the new standard for ALL electronics.

MikeGdaGod6091d ago

its not necessarily the voltage but the amperage that will kill you and it only take about 15-20 amps......

spandexxking6091d ago

yeah this is nothing new but 50 cm is pretty impressive, last time i heard of this technology it was from 25cm or something

umair_s516091d ago

Actually this isn't new, a technology existed by the name of Witricity, that was developed by MIT faculty members. It was showed earlier this year. Google 'witricity'

HolyOrangeCows6091d ago (Edited 6091d ago )

It sounds like a
FIRE ... FREAKING ... HAZARD!

callahan096091d ago (Edited 6091d ago )

I read the headline thinking it was a euphemism of some kind. Didn't think it meant Sony literally has a prototype unit sending electricity through the air! I thought it was some kind of turn of phrase saying Sony's got something that has people excited. But I mean... literally? Sending electricity through the air? Is this an extension of Nikola Tesla's work or a completely new way of transmitting electricity through airwaves? Either way... it's pretty cool.

Sitdown6091d ago

If its true that knowledge is power.then I would encourage you all to research Nikola Tesla...he had crazy stuff going on before MIT in 2007 as well.

Golfcoachh6091d ago

Which we all use everyday. He doesn't get the credit he deserves. Edison gets all the credit for electricity. But his direct current was not as good in my opinion.

Cenobia6091d ago

Sure...

Everyone's walking around, enjoying their wireless electricity, thinking nothing could go wrong...and then it starts raining.

So many people would die we could start burning bodies for energy.

It's a corporate conspiracy! Also, I'm 100% sure that ghosts are involved somehow.

cryymoar6091d ago (Edited 6091d ago )

why don't you look up wireless electricity on wikipedia?

It is pretty much based on resonance.

A transmitter makes electrons flow through a coil at a certain frequency
and the reciever picks up the resonating frequency and the electrons in its recieving coil start flowing, creating power.

Think of tuning forks. When one tuning fork is struck, the tuning fork of the same natural frequency nearby starts vibrating too, without direct contact, simply because they share the same natural frequency.

There are real products out there that work, i'm not kidding.

One cannot get electricuted by the wireless electricity.

And at least Sony is working on the technology on their own.
If Sony could get their own wireless electricity technology and decide to implement them in their products, they won't have to pay royalties or get into legal disputes, they have their own technology.

Ju6091d ago

Its a magnetic resonance, though. Not some wave technology (like all other wireless transmitters). This requires a very strong magnetic field, and it needs to resonate with a certain frequency. The frequency, as they said in the article, avoid "interference" with metallic objects within the field of transmit ion. So this is pretty safe. Not sure if I want to have all kind of magnetic fields in my home in the future, though. This needs to be researched a bit more properly, IMO. Kind a interesting how the can "focus" the magnetic field (even when they say, the coils don't need to be aligned exactly). But if they can't, then the field looses efficiency. 80% is interesting, but its very low (against 100% for a cable).

mfwahwah6091d ago

People saying this ISN'T innovation:

Remember when Edison improved the light bulb (I know, I know; he didn't invent electricity and he isn't Tesla. But I'm talking light bulbs)?

He did not invent it. He saw someone else do it and *improved* it. He made it *practical*.

SONY may not be the first, but from what I see they're the ones that will be bringing it directly into my house. If I'm wrong and someone else beats them then I don't care. It's still innovation in a sense of the word.

TheReaper426091d ago (Edited 6091d ago )

Here you go guys some months ago

VIDEO DEMO Provided, screw PC WORLD with no VIDS :)

http://www.ted.com/talks/er...

http://www.witricity.com/

This explains how it works step by step with no hazard.

once it's perfected, you can recharge your electric car by just driving over the mat.. pretty cool

You can tell the people who are basically clueless on N4g when they say, "NO we're not going to accept this technology because it causes harm to us."

Move forward not backwards.

Gas powered vehicles were considered dangerous, now they're making hydrogen fuel cells.

So you cavemen just go crawl back to your lil cave and stop clicking these articles if you're just going to troll.

Consoldtobots6091d ago

this is nothing new as it has been around for a few years already. That said I wouldn't touch this with a ten ft pole. We know what people living near high voltage powerlines go through with their kids developing cancer because of the high magnetic fields created and now they want to bring this into your home? no thanks.

This will end up more in industrial applications or the military.

shawnsl656091d ago

you're an idiot aren't you? How bout you learn about the technology before condemning it moron. Thanks for the links Reaper42, shiiit is crazy.

frjoethesecond6091d ago

So I can think of two orginisations other than sony to try this MIT and intel both powered light bulbs using very controlled methods.

Seems sony is nearer to developing it to consumer standards.

The race is on between them and Intel.

callahan096091d ago

I'm much more impressed with Sony's ability to power a TV than Intel's ability to power a light bulb. People downplaying this achievement just because it's not the first time somebody powered something via wireless electricity need to get with the program. Next thing you know there will be people saying trophies are worthless and stupid and achievements are addictive and awesome just because Microsoft did it first. Oh, wait...

http://www.gamedaily.com/ar...

Consoldtobots6091d ago

"you're an idiot aren't you? How bout you learn about the technology before condemning it moron. Thanks for the links Reaper42, shiiit is crazy."

somebody must miss the open zone, that being said im an engineer for the 7th largest techonology integrator in the country.WHAT are you? other than some obviously snot nosed punk?

pixelsword6091d ago

Nikolai Tesla invented this around the time of Edison.

xboxlj6091d ago (Edited 6091d ago )

Tesla actually did this nearly over 50 years ago.

OOPS, I didn't see the post before me.

I am an electrical engineer and while this tech is neat its not really efficient. The only real world use I can really see for it is to recharge low power consumption devices (i.e. as a cellphone charger replacement).

xbox360migs6091d ago

Check out Nikola Tesla born 1856, he's the man responsible for AC current as we know it, in the 1890's he worked on powering lamps with wireless electricity and demonstrated it numerous times. Really cool stuff.

ryuyasho6091d ago (Edited 6091d ago )

Tesla.... finally the World honor you... shame you didn't live long enough to see it happen...

remember

Nikola Tesla FOREVER!!!!

@edit it's good to see some people are well informed about a little history of truth. I didn't read any post before mine and I'm surprised that there are still people who "Think". and for the Record: EDISION DIDN'T INVENTED THE LIGHT BULB FIRST. Check Joseph Wilson Swan, the first to invent the Light Bulb( just a year before Edison file the light bulb Patent...)

cryymoar6091d ago

but are you the world's #1 electrical engineer?
i doubt it.
just because you have that title doesn't mean you always know what's possible and what's not.
This is the human race we are talking about.
We went from fire and the wheel to heavier-than-air aircraft and wireless telephones to communicate with someone across the globe.

The Lazy One6091d ago

It was made by some guys at MIT and witricity.

http://www.fastcompany.com/...
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

It's perfectly safe to stand between the sender and the receiver btw.

EvilBlackCat6090d ago

NO more like

- Dangerous Innovation -

shawnsl656090d ago (Edited 6090d ago )

you must be one DUMB engineer. Learn the technology caveman then come back. Who's people going to trust, MIT's research data and demo or some 3rd rate fake engineer that vents on N4G.

ZootHornRollo6090d ago

if any one here knows any thing about history Tesla had this right about the time of edison making DC. so this isnt sumthing new.

kinda really dated if you ask me

likedamaster6090d ago

That's a pretty big break through. Now if only Sony could make the PS3 sell.

+ Show (37) more repliesLast reply 6090d ago
54percent6091d ago

Interesting... Nikola Tesla was working on this when he was alive, is good to see a good company to use this for the technological advance.

That's it bots, you gonna a brick that will RRoD in your next gen consoles while the next PlayStation will be a thing that will open dimensional portals.

droid and bot6091d ago

next gen well be really interesting

Sony and Microsoft wont make the same mistakes they did this time
we well have to wait and see

i really cant wait to see what Sony well have on the PS4

Sir Ken_Kutaragi6091d ago

"Sony Prototype Sends Electricity Through ChatBots" ;-D

ChrisW6091d ago

Brother 54percent,

Your omnimpotent ideology sends shutters through the Reich of the Sony Socialist Republic! Fuhrer Kaz Hirai will be most enthused to hear of your advocacy!

kagon016091d ago (Edited 6091d ago )

Totally agree, Nikolai Tesla tried to make free energy for all the world with this technology, if it wasn't for that greedy Morgan...

It seems SONY is following some of his steps, unlike Microsoft that is trying to hold the technology back with its greediness...

derseb6091d ago

This technology is nothing new. Last year I saw several groups at a bioengineering conference that were recharging batteries of implants through this technology. It made sense, since you don't have to operate the patient.

For home cinema it's not really a good idea, since you loose too much power doing this. It only makes sense if you can't use a cable for whatever reason.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 6091d ago
RememberThe3576091d ago

No wonder the PS3 is rock solid :)

Redempteur6091d ago

COLE , COLE are you there ?

No it's not cole , it' just me ...

In infamous 2 we learn that the ray sphere was a sony product all along ...

Feral Gamer6091d ago (Edited 6091d ago )

I heard about this techology in school a year ago. I don't think it was Sony though. It's an interesting concept but if you live in an apartment building, people could steal your electricity through the walls. I don't see this going mainstream for a long time.

Also magnetic induction is used (I believe) in those electric toothbrush rechagers. My roommate had one years ago.

droid and bot6091d ago (Edited 6091d ago )

"I heard about this techology in school a year ago"
yah me too
but in this time
there is actually something that actually dose that

this is really cool

Serg6091d ago

"people could steal your electricity through the walls"

We have car remotes, wlan, bluetooth, all kinds of signals. Well there are ways to hack them, but if they would be so well known, nobody would use any of the methods mentioned above. But they do, so wireless electricity would work, from that standpoint.

I remember seeing this tech being explained on TV, but at that time they had a major health issue, if you are near the stream for too long you will suffer serious damage to your body, I am curious how they managed to get it done.

Feral Gamer6091d ago

What about magnetic interference. Would this work well with thunderstorms? What about the magnetic field wiping hard drives?

DeadlyFire6091d ago

I mean can you stick your hand next to it and wave it around and not feel a shocking feeling?

Computers have more than just Hard drives that fear magnets. They are death to hard drive, can mess up some monitors as well. There are other components as well that can have problems like about everything in the computer case.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 6091d ago
electricgta6091d ago

pfft and they say living close to power lines is supposed to give you cancer..

Show all comments (150)
30°

Top Racers Need Top Gear – Introducing the Forza Horizon 6 Limited Edition Controller and Headset

Omar writes: "With the Horizon Festival coming to breathtaking Japan, you’ll need the essential gear to prove you’ve got what it takes to become a Horizon Legend as you cruise, drift and explore an open world full of spectacular driving experiences. That’s why we’re happy to announce the newest Limited Edition Xbox Wireless Controller and Wireless Headset collection, featuring inspired designs from Forza Horizon 6. The bright cyan and lime colorways celebrate the Horizon Festival’s recognition of iconic cars and hit music, with special features that are sure to impress any collector."

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Killer2020UK46d ago

Oh my, that is one gaudy design

40°

EasySMX D05 review

You can get Hall effect controllers slightly cheaper, but you'd struggle to find as feature-rich a package without some heavy, heavy sales.

70°

"It's Just So Lame" - RTGI Modder Thinks DLSS 5 Is Impressive But Shares AI Slop Sentiment

Pascal Gilcher calls DLSS 5 impressive but shares the "AI slop" sentiment, explaining the likely tech behind it and why he dislikes it.

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CrimsonWing6973d ago

I fail to see how this is AI shhhhlllloooop. Looking at the different games they showed, this has made many of them look far better.

isarai_lee73d ago (Edited 73d ago )

It's AI slop because it ignores the artists intent and changes the details ESPECIALLY when it comes to character faces. The scariest part of it is introducing it as the next stage of DLSS, a feature where the current iteration already has controversy surrounding it and for quite a lot of games cannot be fully disabled. So reasonably the precident is already set for what path this could take, and it's not good

blacktiger72d ago

In case you didn't watch the video then let me point just one part. It overrides the lighting. Then the question of what is the point of ray tracing cost and so on. Many of the lighting deletes shadow, including shadow on the face like eyes even chin.

Chard72d ago

Why stop at art when it comes to human input - why not just have AI play the game for us, remove human input altogether

theshizer73d ago

If you don’t like it, just don’t enable it. Personally I think it looks great from the videos I have seen.

isarai_lee73d ago

And what about when you can't? Cause there's plenty of games where you cannot fully disable dlss already, i mean we're well into an era where it's a major crutch for developers to cover up their cut corners, why would this be any different?

blacktiger72d ago

You are playing with people's money and allow Nvidia to scam you.

In case you didn't watch the video then let me point just one part. It overrides the lighting. Then the question of what is the point of ray tracing cost. This is all lie to raise the cost of the graphic card.

Andrew33673d ago

Making characters look more realistic not ok because we want the developer to decide on how the game was intended to look. - Internet

Change entire game through mods thus changing how the developers intended the game to be is ok. - Internet

isarai_lee73d ago

Something consumers can do to a product after they have purchased it, entirely optional and can always be undone with a fresh install

VS

The leading gaming hardware manufacturer making this the next iteration of the main AA/Upscaling technique that is heavily relied upod by modern devs and is not optional in most games.

Not at all the same but nice try

jwillj2k472d ago

At the moment you need 2 5090’s just to get an image on the screen so this is all vaporware until proven otherwise.

Andrew33672d ago

The good news is you can just not use it as well.

Christopher72d ago

It's all about choice in the end. But, I would say that calling it 'more realistic' is quite a stretch. It looks like AI art, and that's rarely realistic.

Urrakia3472d ago

All the comments I see are reminding me of how we got to the current state of gaming when microtransactions were first introduced: "It's completely optional guys, we promise! If you don't like it just don't buy it!"

I think we all know how that ended up.

Popsicle72d ago (Edited 72d ago )

I had the same exact thought the first time this was brought up in a separate article about a week ago. Took me straight back to the conversations surrounding “horse armor.” Just don’t buy it they said. Years later, many IPs I previously enjoyed are so infected with monetization schemes that I don’t even consider purchasing them anymore.

DLSS 5 and the like are the same thing wrapped in a different package. History rhymes but many of us never learn from it.

blacktiger72d ago

Biggest Scam. Overrides lighting and shadow. So why keep Ray tracing? It's all a scam to raise graphic card. We now see Nvidia with Microsoft downturn anything against them. Sony is next!