Your Desk Will Be Able to Charge Mobile Devices

Do you have tons of portable electronic devices lying all around your desk? Mobile phones, PDAs, laptops, portable music players, Bluetooth headsets and whatever you can shake a stick at could possibly be charged by your office desk wirelessly one day thanks to a tech company called Fulton Innovation and office furniture maker Herman Miller Inc.
Herman Miller Inc. is working with Fulton to develop an office desk that's integrated with a technology caleld eCoupled. Using eCoupled, a person can simply place their device, be it a mobile phone or a laptop, on to the desk and it will charge -- all without attaching power bricks or cables or even having the original chargers around. Fulton does this by using magnetic fields to wireless charge devices. The technology is already being used by several other companies such as Philips, which uses a similar technology to charge its Sonicare line of tooth brushes. According to Fulton's description of eCoupled:
eCoupled technology includes an inductive coupled power circuit that dynamically seeks resonance, allowing the primary circuit to adapt its operation to match the characteristics of the load. The power supply circuit automatically optimizes efficiency by seeking resonance at ultra-high frequencies between the primary and secondary coils for any given load.
The technology is intriguing say analysts and could save companies and users a ton of money in the future. "Those things are 30 bucks each and if you have 50 people in your office the cost really adds up," said Jim Lynch, director of the Association of Professional Office Managers. Fulton's device would be the only device that would require a direct electrical connection to operate. Users plug their desks into a wall outlet and leave it at that.
According to Herman Miller, it is working on developing a line of desks with eCoupled technology integrated into them but did not provide details on cost or market release date. Other manufacturers are jumping on eCoupled too. Visteon Corporation, which manufactures parts for auto makers and Motorola, plans to release devices that will work with Motorola phones and Apple's line of iPods.

Via DailyTech