Energous Collaborating with Vivo on Smartphone Wireless Charging-at-a-Distance

Energous Corporation, the developer of WattUp, a wireless charging 2.0 technology, announced a collaboration with Vivo Global of China, to explore integrating WattUp into smartphone designs that charge wirelessly over-the-air.

Energous' WattUp wireless charging technology uses radio frequency (RF) to charge a wide variety of electronic devices. The company licenses its WattUp technology to manufacturers for integration into transmitting and receiving products of various shapes and sizes.

WattUp technology supports fast, efficient contact-based charging, as well as charging over-the-air. According to the company, WattUp is a scalable, RF-based wireless charging technology that offers substantial improvements in contact-based charging efficiency, foreign object detection, orientation freedom and thermal performance compared to older, coil-based charging technologies.

The company says that the technology can be integrated into many different sized electronic devices for the home and office, as well as the medical, industrial, retail and automotive industries.

The technology ensures interoperability across products.

Benefits of WattUp Over First Gen Wireless Charging

• Over-the-air charging delivers maximum freedom for users and reduces battery anxiety.
• Small footprint allows WattUp to be integrated into products of all shapes and sizes
• WattUp ensures interoperability across all WattUp-enabled devices
• Foreign object detection eliminates thermal issues with metal and other materials
• It offers orientation freedom and 90-degree angle support

"We are excited to announce a collaboration with vivo, a top 6 global smartphone manufacturer, to explore the use of our WattUp wireless charging 2.0 technology," said Stephen R. Rizzone, president and CEO of Energous Corporation. "As a society, we rely so heavily on our smartphones every day, and their draining batteries are a constant pain point for consumers. Vivo is looking for WattUp to provide a solution that alleviates the battery anxiety problem that exists today, as it offers a variety of benefits over first-generation technologies, while giving consumers much greater utility with their devices."

"As one of the world's largest emerging smartphone manufacturers and a preferred brand among young consumers globally, vivo is an extraordinary company that takes an innovative approach to solving user pain points by leveraging leading technologies," said Mark Tyndall, senior vice president, corporate development and strategy, and general manager, emerging products business group at Dialog Semiconductor. "There is an incredible market opportunity that exists in the smartphone industry, and we believe Energous' collaboration with vivo has the ability to introduce the revolutionary WattUp technology to the masses and drive forward wireless charging 2.0 in a significant way."