This eye-catching demonstration of a flashing cereal box got my attention at the Pepcom event at CES 2011; Fulton Innovation demonstrated how their magnetic thin-film could potentially be applied to everyday products, such as dry goods. In addition to turning a cardboard box into a digital sign, their coupling device can read meta-data from the box; which could be interesting alternative to RFIDs for inventory control applications.
Fulton innovation, which sprung from Amway, has some interesting ideas how this technology might be applied in everyday life, such as frying pans that communicate cooking information to one's smartphone and electric cars that are charged by simply parking in a wireless parking space. The basic value proposition is that the efficiencies gained by reducing the number of chargers outweighs the lower efficiency of sending power through the air. Additionally, this technology makes it possible to add electronic communications capability to devices that are as dumb as a brick, a real brick, that is, and not only a power brick.
