Intel, the chip-maker, is working on a technology that would
enable electronic devices such as PCs and mobile phones to be
powered simply by placing them on a desk or table top. The
company said it had successfully used a magnetic field to
transmit 60 watts of power a distance of two to three feet, and
that it ultimately envisaged wireless chargers being built into
household surfaces. In experiments involving a wirelessly
powered lightbulb, only 25 per cent of the power was lost in the
transmission, Intel said. "Something like this technology could
be embedded in tables and work surfaces," Justin Rattner,
Intel's chief technology officer, told The New York Times, "so
as soon as you put down an appropriately equipped device it
would immediately begin drawing power." Mr Rattner said a team
would present the findings of their research at the Intel
Developer Forum in San Francisco this week. Wireless power works
by using magnetic fields to transfer power via process known as
resonant induction. Typically, a coil