Controlling when and where electric cars charge is now in the hand of the drive, saving time and money while opening up key opportunities for many companies. Any parking spot can now be a gas station. When the driver parks they can use a pre-set ‘charging-meter’ or an app on their smartphone to choose not only whether or not to charge but also how much to spend to fill their battery. It’s now as simple as choosing to fill a half tank, full tank or just to fill one gallon at the local station: except it’s far more convenient.

If you didn’t know, the 2011 CES show is out in Vegas. It’s not cold out here compared to Michigan. Fulton Innovation is proud to be based in the USA and West Michigan but we’re used to some cold winters! One way we like to think of this technology is as an ‘ultimate remote car-starter’. Now though, starting your car via your smartphone app or remote starter will also offer integration with Charge for Charge, saving power in the consumer’s home. It’s amazing to think that under the hood there’s technology intelligent enough to know to start charging when the battery is full, even when it’s running to warm up our morning commute.

Hopefully, now you understand Fulton Innovations dream of ‘complete connectivity’ in the consumer’s life. If not, stay tuned and our next posts will show you our dream of a truly, wireless future. The future won’t be plug in charging stations, it will be wireless charging pads – just park and walk away.

Key Takeaways (Continued)

• High power EV charging – transferred wirelessly over distances.
• Introduces wireless charging to parked vehicles, both consumer and industrial.
• Convenient charging of mobile devices.
• Streamlined side-by-side integration.
• New business opportunities: parking spots can now be monetized for charging vehicles.

We’re sorry to see CES end, we look forward to sharing more information with you next year! Check out Dave Baarman below, showing our vision for a world without wires with EVs.

Electric cars appeal to most consumers due to their efficiency, high technology and the ability to offset pollution. As sexy as a sport car is, an electric sports car takes the cake. The eCoupled enabled electric sportscar represents a truly wireless lifestyle that solves many gaps that current automotive technology has yet to solve. Daily, Fulton Innovation is exploring new ways to work with existing manufacturers to assure seamless integration; just wait, it won’t be long before all cars are enabled with wireless power. Charging wirelessly, that’s a dream come true.

Really though, what we consider ‘gaps’ most people just take for granted; but we know better, we want to change that thinking. How?   Well how about wired car chargers? Bulky, they clutter our daily commutes. Now, cell phones, mobile devices, etc. charge wireless in the car when enabled with eCoupled technology and placed in the vehicles hotspots. You may remember this from our demonstrations at the last years 2010 CES.

Have a long commute? Your phone is charged when you get to work. Even better: the drive home. No more wires tangling up your front seat while sitting bumper to bumper. Plus, when you pull into the garage at home, all your technology is charged. No more running into the house to make sure that smartphone doesn’t die on you, that’s cool.

This eCoupled enabled Tesla Roadster also represents something that’s going to solve way more gaps in our lives as consumers; it’s being called Charge for Charge™ – and we’re driving it. (That’s another post though, so stay tuned!).

Key Takeaways:

• High power EV charging – transferred wirelessly over distances.
• Introduces wireless charging to parked vehicles, both consumer and industrial.
• Convenient charging of mobile devices.
• Streamlined side-by-side integration.

Enjoy a gallery of photos from the floor:

Check out  Dave Baarman below talking about the Tesla.

If you’re interested in partnering with Fulton Innovation to be a fellow leader of wireless charging visit www.ecoupled.com/contact and a rep will contact your company shortly.

For now, check out the latest video inside our post.

The same technology in your kitchen is also in the store at the point of purchase/sale. Not only will consumers now be able to know expiration dates on eCoupled enabled packaging at home but the store will now assure fresh product that makes ‘first in first out’ (FIFO) all the more easier. It’s a win for all parties!

Managing inventory is easier with eCoupled printed coils, enabled packaging will communicate to the store’s central database assuring on time product orders, fresh food. We’ve also done cool things to the promotional side of things.

Here’s a taste of what we did for packaging promotions, we took consumer packaging and added printed coils to provide power from the shelf, which not only keeps the toys fully charged but allows the cereal boxes to use on package printed lighting to grab attention! (There’s some pictures below!) Not only is the packaging fun and engaging, it’s also enabled to track inventory and quantities, again an example of seamless integration that’s a win for all parties.

Using eCoupled enabled printing coils in consumer’s packaging with food will also help track nutritional information. Imagine having nutritional information synced to your smartphone and/or PC. Depending on what your New Year’s resolution was, you’re probably interested in this technology.

Key Takeaways:

• Highly advanced, easy to implement inventory control
• Alerts for expiration dates
• Easily customized nutrition data
• Seamless integration into daily kitchen life

If you missed Gizmodo’s post be sure to check it out. That post inspired Beyond the Kitchen Sink to write about eCoupled, be sure to check this out also!

If you’re interested in partnering with eCoupled, you can reach the parent company Fulton Innovation here.

Our team didn’t stop there. Imagine having eCoupled technology printed and integrated with packaging. That same smartphone and personal computer are also getting information wirelessly that tells you how much orange juice is left or telling you that the cream you want to use tomorrow to make a crème brûlée is about to expire. That’s an intelligent kitchen. That’s an eCoupled enabled kitchen.

With eCoupled technology integrated into the consumer’s kitchen there is a truly seamless experience where someone can cook fresh bacon, without burning themselves on a burner, while telling your phone to buy more bacon before brunch this Saturday. All the while, the kitchen is living into the recipes being used. Time to start cooking!

Key Takeaways:

• eCoupled-enabled cookware intelligently communicates with laptops or smart phones
• ecrecipes.com can link to cookware and control or record recipe preparation
• ecrecipes.com can recommend and prepare recipes based on available food on hand
• Food can be prepared inside eCoupled-enabled smart packaging

If you would like to Contact eCoupled for more information on becoming a partner, you can reach Fulton Innovation at here.

Gizmodo has some coverage on our soup can, it allows the consumer to cook soup right in the can! (Featured image, credit to Gawker Media)

Also, Michael over at Technogorilla took a video of our LED packaging. We’ll have another post on that for you soon, for now enjoy the flashing lights! Maybe you’ll feel like you’re here in Vegas with us.

Fulton Innovation: CES 2011 Booth from Technogorilla on Vimeo.

Click to Return Home

It’s been a busy year for us over here at Fulton Innovation. In the summer, we supported the Wireless Power Consortium in its launch of the Qi 1.0 Standard for wireless power in low power devices. Already since then, the world of wireless charging has been changing dramatically. We’re excited to bring some great stories to CES as well. It’s only a few days away now!

You may have already seen our teaser video that we put up about two weeks ago. If you haven’t, check it out, we embedded it below..  In case this is the first thing you’re reading since visiting the blog check out the stories below. We’ll be back when we’re in Las Vegas for the 2011 CES!

~The Fulton Innovation Team