by Jacob Kastrenakes 

Jan 4, 2017, 8:00am EST

Energous has been promising to deliver truly wireless charging to all the gadgets in our lives for a few years now, but the company still isn't ready to deliver it.

In a phone call ahead of CES, Energous CEO Steve Rizzone said that wireless charging transmitters, which can charge devices wirelessly from several feet away, are now supposed to begin shipping by the end of 2017.

The last time Energous was at CES, in 2015, transmitters were supposed to ship by the end of that year, too. But Rizzone says the plan changed after Energous signed a "key strategic partnership" just a month after the convention, leading to a renewed focus on miniaturizing the technology before shipping it. The deal Energous made also gave its partner the right to be the first to ship its charging technology inside of phones, laptops, tablets, and certain wearables and accessories, so Energous' initial plan for battery phone cases had to be put on hold.

hat "key" partner is suspected to be Apple, and Energous — though declining to state its partner's name — is certainly happy to fuel the speculation. Rizzone says the partnership is with "one of the largest consumer electronic companies in the world. I cannot tell you who it is, but I can virtual guarantee that you have products from this company on your person, sitting on your desk, or at home."

The identity of Energous' partner is critically important to assessing the company’s chances of success. That's because Energous is offering yet another charging technology — called WattUp — and it faces the chicken and egg problem of needing wide support in order to catch on. Gadgets that support WattUp charging will be able to charge off of any Energous-powered transmitter. 

So if Apple tries to put a WattUp transmitter in every home, then Energous is golden. But if, say, Dell tries to do the same thing, Energous is facing a much steeper uphill battle.

Essentially, it's a way for Energous to start building out an ecosystem early, before its tech is ready for primetime. That way, when wireless transmitters do begin to ship, there'll already be a handful of gadgets ready to be used with them.

REMARK:

We want to ride the growth too. If Energous select Aemulus, will Otto & Huawei & Samsung want Aemulus 7600?

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/aemulus-amb7600-selected-by-energous-corporation-to-test-its-wattup-wireless-charging-technology-2017-02-15.