Sony, the Japanese electronics giant, has filed a new patent that allows you to wirelessly transfer power from one device to another. The patent filing titled ‘Configuration of Data and Power Transfer in Near Field Communications’, published earlier this month, was uncovered by tech site What Future, which describes a system by which two smartphones could wirelessly trade power via Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. However, the patent doesn’t specify that these devices would necessarily be phones, instead using the term “portable consumer electronic device.
Sony wants phones of the future to ‘share’ battery power wirelessly
According to a new patent by Sony, published earlier this month, the Japanese giant wants you to be able to mooch battery power wirelessly from nearby devices. The patent, filed in 2016, suggests that Sony is envisioning a future where consumer electronic can transfer power between one another without cords.
This would eliminate the need to always carry around power banks, provided your friends are willing to share or if you have multiple devices that can boost one another’s charge to last the day. The patent focuses mostly around ways devices could search for nearby antennas that could help power it, the same way a device could search for available Wi-Fi hotspots.
The patent, filed in 2016, suggests that Sony is envisioning a future where consumer electronics can transfer power between one another without cords. This would eliminate the need to always carry around power banks, provided your friends are willing to share or if you have multiple devices that can boost one another’s charge to last the day.
The patent focuses mostly around ways devices could search for nearby antennas that could help power it, the same way a device could search for available Wi-Fi hotspots.
It’s however, worth noting that this system prevents a smartphone from transmitting electricity wirelessly when it itself is running low on battery. Additionally, the transmitting device needs to plug into a charging socket in order to transmit electricity.
While this technology is still in its basic stages, it indeed appears to be quite promising. What’s more interesting is the fact that Sony has been working on this for the last three years. The Japanese OEM apparently filed its first patent for this antenna system back on May 29, 2014, and this latest application is merely a continuation of the same.
