Apple has purchased PowerbyProxi, a small,
wireless charging technology company in New Zealand. But it's not likely
using PowerbyProxi for what you think.
Apple has purchased a New Zealand-based wireless charging
company whose technology can send power to multiple devices, from
headphones to remote controls, at the same time.
As
appealing as that may sound for mobile devices, Apple likely hopes to
use the technology for a vast array of electronics such as the Apple TV
remote control or its own computer mouse – and perhaps even for
industrial applications.
A prototype of PowerByProxi's wireless charging box, which can charge
multiple devices at the same time. Inside the box is a
remote-controlled car, a Wii controller and a TV remote control, all
using wirelessly chargeable AA batteries. Apple in September unveiled wireless charging technology in this year's iPhone 8 and iPhone X smartphones – a first for Apple. Then it purchased PowerByProxi, whose products range from 2-watt to 150-watt chargers, as well as wirelessly rechargeable AA batteries.
PowerbyProxi
was founded in 2007 by entrepreneur Fady Mishriki as a spin-out from
the University of Auckland. Much of its most recent creative efforts
have been aimed at producing boxes and bowls into which multiple devices
can be placed and charged, all at the same time.
The sale was first reported today by Stuff, a New Zealand publication; it has since been confirmed by both Apple and PowerByProxi.
"The
team and I are thrilled to join Apple," Mishriki said in a statement.
"There is tremendous alignment with our values, and we are excited to
continue our growth in Auckland and contribute to the great innovation
in wireless charging coming out of New Zealand."
The Aukland-based company got its start selling large-scale systems for
commercial industries such as construction, telecommunications, defense
and agriculture. For example, one product is a wireless control system
for wind turbines.
Apple has taken a slow,
more methodical road to wireless charging; its adoption of the
Qi-specification technology this year comes long after Samsung and other
smartphone makers offered wireless charging.
The Qi
specification – the industry's most popular – allows for power transfer
ranging from 5 watts to 15 watts in the latest v1.2 release. Apple chose
7.5 wats of power transfer for the new iPhone 8 and the iPhone X, which
goes on sale Nov. 3.
"Apple's been behind on this," said
William Stofega, IDC's program director for mobile phones. "Because
they want to keep the device nice and thin, they didn't want to go with
the crowd."
The new Apple-designed AirPower mat, slated to arrive in 2018, can charge an iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods simultaneously. PowerbyProxi is a member of the
Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) Steering Committee, which develops the
Qi standards for wireless charging.
Apple's recently
announced AirPower charging pad – slated for release in 2018 – will be
able to charge up to three Qi-enabled devices, including new versions of
the Apple Watch, iPhone and AirPod charging case. Similar devices are
already on the market; even Ikea sells them, along with furniture that has wireless charging devices embedded in it.
Ikea's wireless charger line-up includes a pad that's capable of charging three devices at once (center). The Auckland company's "loosely
coupled" magnetic resonant charging technology was also miniaturized and
placed into AA rechargeable batteries, so there is no need to embed the
technology directly into devices. The wireless technology takes up
about 10% of the AA battery height.
Carolina Milanesi,
principal analyst at Creative Strategies, believes Apple was interested
in PowerByProxi because the firm's technologies allow for ubiquitous
use.
"I think that, in the long run, in the home, we will
have more devices to charge," Milanesi said. "Think mouse, pencil,
Apple TV remote rather than iPhone. I can see the opportunity there."
The
Qi specification, Milanesi said, is also "less than ideal when it comes
to charging" because it requires more strict placement of objects on
charging pads. "If your placement of the product on the mat is not done
properly, you might be waking up to a dead phone," she said.
The
Qi standard supports both tightly-coupled or inductive wireless
charging and loosely-coupled or resonant wireless charging, which allows
an enabled mobile device to be up to 1.75-in away from a charging pad
and still receive power.
PowerByProxi's Proxi-Point is a wireless power transmitter capable of
supplying power to one wireless battery receiver module and offers
features such as foreign object detection. That distance allows mobile devices to
be more loosely placed on pads for charging rather than needing to be
placed in an exact spot to receive power.
Qi charging
devices are capable of scaling from less than 1 watt to more than 2,000
watts of power for charging large appliances. For mobile devices, the
hardware transmits up to 15 watts, enabling charging at the same speed
as wired charging.
PowerbyProxi has also created
prototype wireless charging pads for mobile devices that enables
vertical height charging of up to about one and a quarter inches.
In 2014, PowerByProxi demonstrated a 7.5-watt,
highly resonant bowl-like charging system for thin-form devices, such
as smartphones and phablets; that technology, the company said at the
time, could be expanded to 15 watts for tablets. Previously,
PowerbyProxi's wireless charging devices offered between 3.5 watts and 5
watts of power.
Using the 4-in. diameter bowl,
wirelessly chargeable devices can be placed in any position or
orientation, even on top of each other.
The newer
charging system is designed to deliver up to 15 watts of power to a
single tablet, or multiple smartphones and phablets that are placed into
an open box or bowl-like container. PowerByProxi's technology is also
backwards compatible with the Wireless Power Consortium's (WPC) Qi
standard (the one Apple adopted for use in its newest iPhones).
The
box can charge eight batteries in multiple devices at one time. "It
doesn't have to be AA batteries. They could be lithium ion or even
custom batteries," Mishriki said during an earlier interview with Computerworld.
Other wireless charging makers, such as Ossia, have also produced AA wirelessly rechargeable batteries. Ossia's Cota technology uses radio frequency (RF) to charge devices.
Cota's wirelessly rechargeable AA battery. PowerbyProxi is a component company,
so the wireless chargers it creates for demonstrations are proofs of
concept. The company has partnerships with firms such as Samsung, Texas
Instruments (TI) and Linear who choose to build hardware based on the
working prototypes.
PowerByProxi’s latest prototype is the Proxi-Com,
which can transmit both power and data. Initially the wireless device
supports three common protocols used in industrial applications: a CAN
bus, Ethernet and Digital GPIO (general purpose input/output circuit).
PowerByProxi The Proxi-Com, which can transmit both power and data. In 2013, Samsung Ventures, the electronic giant's global investment group, invested $4 million in PowerByProxi.
"Our
research identified PowerbyProxi as a leader in wireless power
technology based on its expertise, track record and comprehensive patent
portfolio," Hugh Kim, director of Wireless Charging Development for
Samsung Electro-Mechanics, said at the time. "We are excited to work
together on innovative consumer products that will raise the bar for our
industry."
The $4 million from Samsung Ventures
Investment Corp. (SVIC) came in addition to $9 million in venture
already invested, including $5 million from TE Connectivity and Movac.
PowerByProxi 
PowerByProxi
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