Now we know why they pushed G5 so hard, have to get those robotic surveillance commands to the robots some how.

5G doing more than just communications before too much longer, if not already doing it.

What we call wireless charging today isn't truly wireless. Take a look at what plugs the charging pad into the wall. The charging pads can be fiddly, too, requiring you to put your device in just the right place and maybe worry that notification buzzes will vibrate the device off center and stop the charge.

That's why some companies like Energous and Ossia want to do away with the wires altogether by beaming power over radio waves through a whole room.

"We want to have our first deployment sometime in the second half of 2018," Ossia Chief Executive Mario Obeidat said. That'll start with accessories like a battery case for your phone, but later will be directly integrated into phones and other devices like Wi-Fi routers that could send charging energy as well as data, he said.

Ossia's technology, called Cota, is powerful enough to charge a phone or two, even in use with the screen on, but not a laptop. "When we think about wireless power, it's in the home, in retail space, the office, in the car – the places people congregate," he said.

Energous expects wireless charging transmitters with its WattUp technology toward the end of 2018 with a range of about three feet, though the first devices using WattUp charging pads should come early next year. In 2019, WattUp transmitters with a 15-foot range should arrive, CEO Steve Rizzone said.

One early WattUp market will be hearing aids that can charge while you're wearing them, Rizzone said. You'll also be able to set WattUp priorities, so, for example, it'll charge your wireless headphones while you're away then switch to your phone when you get home from work. Just don't expect a transmitter to keep a whole roomful of gadgets juiced.

Certification from the Federal Communications Commission is the last obstacle. "We believe we'll have this before the end of this year," Rizzone said.

So sure, wires will still have a place in our lives in 2018. But year by year, wireless technologies will keep making that place smaller.

https://www.cnet.com/news/2018-wireless-charging-bluetooth-mean-life-without-cables/

Mixing the capabilities of 5G with this and what do you have?

A drone might be your next guard dog.

Sunflower Labs, a San Francisco-based startup, is combining motion detectors, a quadcopter and a phone app into a home security system. The Sunflower system could go on sale in 2020, according to CEO Alex Patchikov, who expects to charge wealthy customers several hundred dollars a month for the peace of mind – and replacement hardware if anything breaks. For comparison, premium security systems can cost more than $100 a month.

Drones for home protection might seem like overkill, especially if you first heard of unmanned aerial vehicles through the armed forces. But Patchikov said Sunflower's technology is actually meant to head off the bunker mentality. In some areas, 99 percent of all home security calls are false alarms, so you probably don't need to freak out when you hear the backyard bushes rustling.

"Our brand is built around dispelling the notion that you need a panic room," Patchikov said during a meeting at his Sunflower-protected home in a suburb south of San Francisco. Sunflower's drone system, he said, will set your mind to ease by confirming it's a possum, not a prowler, in your backyard.

Drones have captured popular attention as they've become commercialized. Farmers monitor crops with drones, real estate agents photograph homes with them and movie makers use them to shoot overhead scenes. Some pests using drones have shut down traffic at major airports, including London's busy Heathrow and Gatwick.

Sunflower, which has 20 employees located in both California and Switzerland and demonstrated its tech at CES this year, isn't the only company to use drones for security. Alarm.com demonstrated some in 2017, and Drone Guarder is taking pre-orders for its products.

"Two-thirds of families in America live in homes suitable for this," Patchikov said, so when costs come down, he expects drone security to be commonplace. "They'll be as common as Ubers in San Francisco. An average home will be able to afford this."

How it works

Sunflower drones are the most obvious part of the company's system, but it actually begins with what look like sidewalk lights – "sunflowers" – that will dot your property. The lights illuminate the ground and are equipped with motion and vibration detectors.

pictures/see-sunflower-labs-home-security-drones

The sunflowers send alerts to a computer in the drone's base station, which Sunflower calls "the Hive." The computer processes the signals to distinguish footfalls from car traffic and other benign sources. The motion sensors can also tell if something is tall and narrow like a human, or short and wide like a dog.

If the base station computer is worried, it sends an alert to an app on your phone. That will let you deploy a drone, which Sunflower calls "the Bee." The base station cover opens and the drone heads out, piloting itself automatically around obstacles and staying about 20 feet in the air as it heads to the trouble spot. You can watch the video live on your phone.

There's no direct connection to the police, but Sunflower Labs' setup can pull together a data package if you need to file a report. Patchikov says the startup could use others' computing interfaces to automate reports in the future.

Plenty of challenges

Getting Sunflower's quadcopters in the air won't be without its challenges. Air space is heavily regulated, and a waiver from the Federal Aviation Administration is necessary to fly a drone at night or beyond your own line of sight. If you're near an airport, you'll need to jump through more hoops.

The Sunflower Labs drone emerges from its "Hive" base station. It's part of a home security system set to go on sale in 2020.

Stephen Shankland/CNET

But Sunflower Labs expects those regulations to ease. Indeed, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao unveiled plans last month to liberalize some federal drone rules, in part to boost the economy and create jobs.

Sunflower and its competitors will also face concerns from broader society. Is a mail carrier going to be happy when a quadcopter swoops by? And how about neighbors who don't want the noise or privacy intrusion?

I found the drones weren't bothersome when I attended a company demonstration. I could hear the UAV through an open back door, but it was far quieter than gas-powered leaf blowers or lawnmowers.

As for privacy, the drone flies only on the perimeter of your property and the cameras point toward your house. That means they won't peer into other homes.

Of course, you'll have to explain that to an edgy neighbor.

You people are too affixed on bullshit.

Open your eyes and look at what they are doing in other industries while your too busy shilling each other.

Look at the future you have barreling straight for you, like it or not.

They are passing this stuff while your being distracted by politics.

It'll be too late once you finally look around and see what they are doing on the side.