MIT Spins Second Wireless Charger Start-up

　　The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has spun off a second wireless recharging start-up. Pi Inc. (San Bruno, Calif.), which made its formal debut this week, is readying a beam-forming magnetic induction wireless recharging station that will charge multiple devices within a range of about a foot from the charger in any direction.

　　Pi’s rollout comes roughly a decade after MIT spin-off WiTricity Corp. (Watertown, Mass.) first promised a magnetically coupled resonant wireless recharger that would work over a distance of up to 3 feet. Neither technology has appeared in a product yet, although both spin-offs are promising announcements by Christmas.

　　There are already more than 700 wireless rechargeable devices and chargers available that adhere to the Wireless Power Consortium’s licensable Qi standard, which works over a distance of about an inch. All of these chargers and wirelessly rechargeable devices — such as Apple’s new iPhone-8 — use a pad on which the user places the device for wireless charging via resonant inductive coupling. There are also 14 Qi-compatible chargers designed to be built into furniture for a planar profile.

　　Pi says its solution is also Qi-compatible but will extend the charging reach from 1 inch to 12 inches for roughly a $200 price tag (compared with $80 for Apple’s pad and as little as $35 for a Chinese knockoff).

　　Other start-ups, such as Energous Corp. (San Jose, Calif.) and Ossia Inc. (Bellevue, Wash.), are promising resonant rechargers with up to a 30-foot range, albeit at a higher cost than for solutions conforming to the Qi standard. Those companies have yet to deliver products, however.

　　The open question is whether consumers will be willing to install a beaming device of any kind — especially at a price of $200 — simply to extend the range of a wireless charger, particularly as furniture pieces with built-in, zero-profile chargers become increasingly available. Investors have been bullish on the concept, however. Intel Capital and Foxconn invested $25 million in WiTricity a few years ago to ensure that company’s success, which might soon be in the offing. Only time will tell.