Ossia is close to making it so your phone can start charging just by walking into your home. Today at CES it announced a version of its Cota wireless, over-the-air charging technology that’s fit for using in your house.
Cota Home is a 30 x 30 cm transmitter working on a 5.8 GHz frequency that can send power to a number of devices simultaneously. Once you plug in the transmitter, which Ossia is working on slimming down even more, you can manage it via Cota’s mobile app. And you won’t waste a lot of power because the transmitter only sends out power if a receiver is present.
But to use this incredibly convenient tech, you’ll need something with a Cota receiver. Ossia’s been working with popular smartphone case maker Spigen for Android and Apple smartphone cases that will charge the devices once they’re in the presence of an Ossia transmitter.
Keep in mind, your phone can be in your pocket or even locked away in a drawer. Unlike competitors, the receiver doesn't have to be within line-of-sight of the transmitter for it to work . But for the fastest charge, you must be within 3 meters (9.8 feet) of the transmitter.
Cota works with RF technology. When asked if this was safe, CEO Mario Obeidat pointed to FCC certification the Cota transmitter and receiver acquired in June for working at 2.4 GHz at a distance of up 1m and using the highest level of radio frequency power of any other certified system. Currently it’s certified for almost 1W, Obeidat said, but the transmitter could go up to 2-3W.
Before Cota Home can get into, well, homes, Ossia needs certification for 5.8 GHz, which it said it’s hoping to get this year. The company’s also looking for the Spigen cases, which we’ve been told are expected to cost around $100, to arrive this year too. We just hope the two vendors make things easy and bundle the transmitter and case together.
