Wireless Power Systems - Intel WiTricity (VIDEO)

Wireless power is one the Holy Grails of technology and something that has been searched for since Nikola Tesla fired up his giant coils in the 1890s. Now tech giant Intel has demonstrated WiTricity, a wireless power system. Intel was able to light a 60 watt bulb that uses more power than a typical laptop computer, at the California firm’s annual developers forum in San Francisco.

The ability to broadcast power would be a technological paradigm shift, enabling manufacturers to bring battery-free portable devices (laptops, mobile telephones, MP3s, and others) to market. By eliminating the battery, wireless power would also allow the devices to be smaller and have limitless power, something that would make consumers very happy.

Intel has a number of competitors including WildCharge, based in Boulder, Colo., and WiPower, based in Altamonte Springs, Fla., that have already announced related wireless charging technologies but they don’t have Intel’s resources and industry clout.