Photo by Ashley Carman / The Verge
If it works well, a new smart lock may prove there’s a real use for the long-range wireless charging tech the industry has been striving toward for years.
Wi-Charge and Alfred Locks showed off the new Alfred ML2 lock at CES 2020. It’s a mortise-class design, that is, the kind found mostly in industrial and older buildings in the US, which are built into a long groove in the door, and one you can tap a phone or NFC card to open. More intriguingly, Wi-Charge says its technology can be used to beam power to the lock, letting it lock and unlock on cue without ever needing to replace the batteries inside. Wi-Charge says the tech can “safely and efficiently deliver…