Wireless Power Startup “GuRu” Promises to End the Era of Cables

• ‘GuRu’, will present a pioneering wireless charging system in the upcoming CES 2020.
• The company has created over the air chargers that automatically send power beams to our devices.
• This could alleviate the need for charging cables, mats, pads, docks, and even batteries themselves.

A wireless power startup named “GuRu” is promising a cable-free future, as it claims to have built a charging system that sends power through the air. That’s what Tesla has been envisioning back in his day, and what absolutely no one has managed to successfully implement in consumer products. Yet, GuRu is making the bold claim and is inviting everyone on its booth 41558 in CES, where they will demonstrate how “power through air” works on three of their prototype devices.

The way GuRu achieves to send charging power to a phone over a distance of a couple of meters is by sending a highly focused beam of non-ionizing radio waves, which are down to the wavelength level of millimeters. These are considered “extremely high frequency” waves and are similar to what we use for 5G internet technologies. These energy beams are sent in an effective and controlled manner, making them safe for the user and any people in the room. Other startups have tried to achieve the same with ultrasonic waves (level of cm), but they failed to deliver a working product, so this attempt is hopeful and done on a fresh approach.

So what’s the difference from the wireless charging pads and docks that are already available in the market? GuRu’s chargers will identify where the device is and send a highly precise and localized beam to it. That said, you may, for example, leave your phone on the table, meters away from GuRu’s charger, and it will start charging. If something gets in between the two the charging stops. The user may also control the process or disable auto-charging via an app. Moreover, GuRu’s system claims to have the ability to charge multiple devices simultaneously, even sending different charging currents for smartphones, small IoTs, speakers, Roomba hoovers, etc.

Source: The Verge

The Verge had the chance to witness a pre-CES demonstration of the prototype, and they confirm that the system works as advertised. Now, the company is going through a process of regulatory approval, as the safety of the device will have to be checked and confirmed. At the same time, GuRu's engineers are working in making their receivers tiny enough to fit any device, as we will still need a receiver to pick up the charging beam. All that said, this looks both promising and exciting, as it may actually be the first time we see a system of this type so close to getting launched. GuRu’s vision is not just the elimination of cords, but also batteries, or at least cells of today’s size. If such chargers are everywhere, the phones of tomorrow could have "tiny" 50-200 mAh batteries.

Are you confident about the future of charging technology? Let us know what you think about GuRu in the comments down below, or on our socials, on Facebook and Twitter.