Fujitsu working on touch charging system

WIRELESS CHARGER accessories for mobile devices are expected by Fujitsu lab's boffins to appear on the high street by 2012.

Designed to charge handheld devices, Fujitsu's technology uses "magnetic resonance". The company states that this enables more compact and more efficient power transmitters and receivers.

"The drawbacks [of other tech] are that the method only works over short distances, and the power transmitter and power receiver need to be in alignment, so it is effectively no different than using a charging station with a wired connection," Fujitsu said, adding that its technology had the potential to power something as large as a car.

The company also held out the prospect of transmitting energy over several meters. The magnetic resonance method uses a coil and capacitor as a resonator. It's the resonator that enables the transmission of electricity over a range of up to several meters.

With this distance charging a single transmitter can power multiple receiving devices. Developments are under way for a broad range of potential applications, charging everything from portable electronics to electric cars. µ