uBeam doesn't want to just charge your phone - it wants to send data to it too

uBeam's mission has always been to make your wireless devices truly wireless. No more plugging your "wireless" computer into a 15 foot power cord to keep it running, said its CEO Meredith Perry on stage at the Upfront Summit.

But, that's not all it wants to do.

For the first time, Perry hinted at uBeam's plans not only to charge your phone by converting data and sound into energy, but to use that power to safely transmit data.

Until today, uBeam had been focused primarily on wireless charging.

Its tech, as Perry explains it, works like this: A transmitter on a wall or hanging from a ceiling converts data and energy into ultrasound waves. The sound, which is too high-pitched to hear, is then beamed to devices like your cell phone, which need special case that can receive it. When the sound hits the receiver, it vibrates so fast you won't feel it, but that vibration creates energy which the receiver converts into power for your phone.

That sounds ground-breaking in itself, but Perry said today that it won't stop there. uBeam's objective is not just to charge devices, but also to transfer data.

"The same transmitter that we use for power transmission can also be used to transfer highly secure data," Perry said.

We don't know the details: it was one line in a 30 minute talk. But, Perry said her talk next year at the Upfront Summit might explain more. After all, it took five years before Perry even explained in detail how its wireless charging would even work. Adding data transfers to it securely is a whole new area to explore.