FYA,

"Tes-La Charges Laptops Wirelessly"
TidBITS
http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=07620

: Building on the success of short-range induction charging, such as
: is used in the MobileWise wire-free electric power technology,
: Posicharge, Inc. has introduced the latest advance to wireless
: networking technology: the Tes-La passive energy charging system.
: When a Wi-Fi hotspot adds Tes-La coils to their wireless gateways,
: your laptop pulls voltage from the air using a system similar to
: that which allows drivers to debit charge accounts as they zip
: through special toll gates.

: <http://www.mobilewise.com/>
: <http://www.tes- la.us/>

: A laptop requires a special antenna-like adaptor that replaces the
: power adapter that comes with the machine. Although power can be
: transmitted over thousands of feet, its strength dissipates as you
: move away from the Tes-La coils. It's highly recommended that you
: wear a grounding strap or constantly touch metal while using the
: Tes-La system to avoid static discharge (Posicharge offers a pair of
: grounding straps designed to look like fashionable wrist apparel
: instead of cheap Velcro straps).

: What's fascinating about Tes-La is that it's not a dumb system: it
: uses a power delivery protocol called TCP/EP, or TCP over Electrical
: Power. TCP/EP can be metered by measuring the outgoing amperage
: contained in each packet. A laptop negotiates its power needs
: through the protocol. For example, when you first connect the
: battery is quick-charged to about 70 percent of capacity; then the
: amperage is throttled back to a slow trickle to top off the
: remaining capacity. Another advantage to this approach is area-wide
: power consumption: the system doles out power based on the number of
: users in the vicinity, averaging the outgoing power among multiple
: users.

<http://www.tes- la.us/ technology/>

: However, the Tes-La system is not without its flaws. Sending power
: through the air has been a dream of the modern age since the 1920s,
: but the dangers associated with it can't be understated. One of
: Posicharge's competitors, Noside Connections, alleges that if one
: were to place a dog in the direct path of a Tes-La transmitter, the
: animal would be fried in a manner of minutes (Noside assured us that
: the example is theoretical, and that no animals have been tested in
: this manner).

: Posicharge, in response, notes that the Tes-La system is designed to
: step down its power when it senses interruptions, and that dogs are
: rarely found in the cafes and other public establishments in which
: Wi-Fi is traditionally offered.

: Tes-La should be available in the United States once the FCC, FDA,
: FAA, USDA, NSA, DHS, and other governmental agencies provide their
: approval.

Mark Reiff