The uBeam FAQ

[coppice]

she'll go down kicking and screaming before she changes pivots direction on the product.

I think she'll protect her name at all costs but the new subject of "wireless data transmission" already seem like a potential pivot.

Yep, because nobody has "wireless data transmission" covered.

It's a huge gap in the market and a great opportunity for early investors. 

But this new method offers security, because you know the signal won't get very far.

[Fungus]

Yep, because nobody has "wireless data transmission" covered.

It's a huge gap in the market and a great opportunity for early investors. 

But this new method offers security, because you know the signal won't get very far.

Of course! I never thought of that. The limited range they're achieving in the laboratory is a feature!

[Buriedcode]

Don't forget the relatively slow datarate.  But then again, that gives 'gadget lovers' time to talk about all their other startups/'art'/charityeventstheyareattendingbutnotactuallygivinganymoneyto whilst they exchange selfies.  Perhaps the app could provide links to tumblr for 6 minutes it'll take to send a 15 megapixel jpg of a pug?

 

[EEVblog]

I think she'll protect her name at all costs

Her name will always be mud as long as that infamous TEDx talk video exists 

[d-smes]

I enjoyed Paul Reynolds take on uBeam and comparison to Elizabeth Holmes of Theranos.  Interesting Forbes article at http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2016/06/01/from-4-5-billion-to-nothing-forbes-revises-estimated-net-worth-of-theranos-founder-elizabeth-holmes/#523aff1f2f29  The link says it all...  Holmes and Perry seem to be crashing and burning at the same time.   "Peas in a pod" as the saying goes.

[chris_leyson]

Anyone who has worked with ultrasound will tell you it doesn't propagate any distance through air, I know this from designing medical blood flow transducers, I've got practical hands on experience. I wouldn't waste time considering power transmission though air, as for data maybe you could get a few kbits/s. From a coupling point of view, magnetic coupling is probably better and there are some crazy projects out there that claim or aim for coupling over a few meters distance. What the hell is wrong with a Qi charger. I sometimes think  that the people developing this sort of shit are really lacking in terms of intelligence just like the the free energy over unity nuts. I could shout PHYSICS 101 but stupid blinkered people would filter that out. Rant over and back to normallity.

[EEVblog]

I enjoyed Paul Reynolds take on uBeam and comparison to Elizabeth Holmes of Theranos.  Interesting Forbes article at http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2016/06/01/from-4-5-billion-to-nothing-forbes-revises-estimated-net-worth-of-theranos-founder-elizabeth-holmes/#523aff1f2f29  The link says it all...  Holmes and Perry seem to be crashing and burning at the same time.   "Peas in a pod" as the saying goes.

Perry will no doubt be watching Holme's demise with some fear.
Although Perry doesn't have to worry about the potential of criminal charges and/or jail.
The best Perry can hope for now is someone is dumb enough to buy them or their IP (possible for some niche). More investment isn't going to help, it will just prolong the agony. Although any company with any brains that would find their tech useful for something need only wait it out and pick up it all up for cents on the dollar when the receivers move in.

[Danseur]

Anyone who has worked with ultrasound will tell you it doesn't propagate any distance through air, I know this from designing medical blood flow transducers, I've got practical hands on experience. I wouldn't waste time considering power transmission though air, as for data maybe you could get a few kbits/s. From a coupling point of view, magnetic coupling is probably better and there are some crazy projects out there that claim or aim for coupling over a few meters distance. What the hell is wrong with a Qi charger. I sometimes think  that the people developing this sort of shit are really lacking in terms of intelligence just like the the free energy over unity nuts. I could shout PHYSICS 101 but stupid blinkered people would filter that out. Rant over and back to normallity.

Tightly coupled resonating induction charging can indeed go several meters with passable efficiency (50%).  The problem is that the transmitter and receiver need to be very large.  As soon as you go past a few times the diameter of the induction ring, efficiency drops rapidly.

[jurge24pez]

]

Perry will no doubt be watching Holme's demise with some fear.
Although Perry doesn't have to worry about the potential of criminal charges and/or jail.
The best Perry can hope for now is someone is dumb enough to buy them or their IP (possible for some niche). More investment isn't going to help, it will just prolong the agony. Although any company with any brains that would find their tech useful for something need only wait it out and pick up it all up for cents on the dollar when the receivers move in.
[/quote]

Perry could very well still be liable for a number of criminal charges including outright mismanagement and breach of her responsibilities to investors, not to mention misleading them with her pitch stories that could take 1000 years to ever come to fruition.   And more investment won't come their way without something that works -- how can she continue to pitch "believe me, its taken us only three years and tens of millions and someday it might actually work if you just give me a bit more funds to fuel my darling engineers with".

[helius]

How can a private company be subject to "outright mismanagement"? And where has uBeam made deals that privileged some shareholders over others? The uBeam saga is silly enough without adding ridiculous accusations.

[coppice]

How can a private company be subject to "outright mismanagement"? And where has uBeam made deals that privileged some shareholders over others? The uBeam saga is silly enough without adding ridiculous accusations.

Legally, the officers of a company are supposed to operate it expressly for the benefit of its shareholders. If they take shareholder investment and flush it down the toilet that would appear to be outright mismanagement of a private company - unless perhaps the investors want the money flushed away for some obscure tax accounting purpose.

[helius]

Legally, the officers of a company are supposed to operate it expressly for the benefit of its shareholders. If they take shareholder investment and flush it down the toilet that would appear to be outright mismanagement of a private company - unless perhaps the investors want the money flushed away for some obscure tax accounting purpose.

The key here is that private companies make their own rules and decide the powers and duties they will operate under. Unlike publicly traded companies, they aren't subject to regulations that require them to do business in a particular way (such as making financial reports). That's because "the public" isn't involved in the business and cannot be affected by changes in the price of the stock. Any misdeeds of management can only be remedied in private civil claims, which can be very difficult to bring. In particular for Delaware corporations, which uBeam is.

[Fungus]

Legally, the officers of a company are supposed to operate it expressly for the benefit of its shareholders. If they take shareholder investment and flush it down the toilet that would appear to be outright mismanagement of a private company.

So? Companies are allowed to go broke through management stupidity.

It's also not against the law for you to go out on the town and spend all your money. Go figure.

The only rule that applies to people who invest in a private company is "caveat emptor".

[l0rd_hex]

For all her self-promotion and "success" she's only managed to re-tweet two stories since Reynolds uncovered her greasy scheme...

https://twitter.com/meredithperry

[jurge24pez]

apparently the little miss has been busy traveling to some islands with her COO from a staff report.  self promoting in a different way now?  the company exodus continues as two more engineers ready to resign according to same individual.  they have gone silent because there is nothing more to say. investors were duped and now have to wait for the miracle.

[mikeselectricstuff]

apparently the little miss has been busy traveling to some islands with her COO from a staff report.  self promoting in a different way now?  the company exodus continues as two more engineers ready to resign according to same individual.  they have gone silent because there is nothing more to say. investors were duped and now have to wait for the miracle.

I'm amazed they still have any engineers left. Maybe some lame-asses hanging on for the paycheck because they can't get work elsewhere

[Fungus]

I'm amazed they still have any engineers left. Maybe some lame-asses hanging on for the paycheck because they can't get work elsewhere

It's probably a cushy job with plenty of benefits. Why would you leave?

[Howardlong]

It's been pretty quiet around here.

Has anyone else noticed the delicious irony of the uBeam home page, regarding the practicalities of operating ultrasonic devices in the vacuum of space?

[Cerebus]

It's been pretty quiet around here.

Has anyone else noticed the delicious irony of the uBeam home page, regarding the practicalities of operating ultrasonic devices in the vacuum of space?

In space, no one can hear your investors scream.

[EEVblog]

I'm amazed they still have any engineers left. Maybe some lame-asses hanging on for the paycheck because they can't get work elsewhere

It's probably a cushy job with plenty of benefits. Why would you leave?

And maybe cushy jobs that pay really well aren't that common in the ultrasonic space? Just keep cruising until the ideal job comes along.

[EEVblog]

An update from Perry
https://medium.com/@meredithperry/former-hp-and-tektronix-engineering-executive-larry-pendergrass-joins-ubeam-b08597f45a24#.f33v4otnq

Former HP and Tektronix Engineering Executive, Larry Pendergrass, joins uBeam - What a sucker! I hope he's being paid well.

[Bud]

"Engineering Executive" , not an Engineer.   

[EEVblog]

uBeam isn't happy about this article apparently
http://epicmagazine.com/silicon-is-just-sand/
Start at Part 8 "The Genius".

Choice quotes:

Meredith tells me, “I think the reason I can tackle complex technology is because I’m good at breaking down complex problems and explaining them to other people.”

I nod, but I still don’t actually understand how an ultrasonic transducer works.

“My approach has always been top-down,” Meredith says. “I get interested in crazy complex scientific problems, then I learn everything I need to know in order to solve them. Part of that is ADD. I don’t want to have to go to four years of electrical engineering school.”

Meredith takes me for a tour of the office. For a hot company with tons of funding, it’s surprisingly underpopulated. In the hallway there are a handful of employees tapping on laptops at a long table, but most of the rooms are empty. She gives me a tour of workshops full of hardware, but there are no engineers. She shows me the progressions of prototypes, with tiny silver caps inside. These are the new, smaller ultrasonic transducers, less like bullets and more like flat birdshot. In the largest workshop, back near the entrance, we stand around the workbench, just me, Meredith, and the publicist.

And just like that, the publicist’s phone call changed me from a believer to a skeptic. Meredith surely seems brilliant. And believes in what she’s doing. But reading further through the transcripts, I’m struck by an absurd optimism, a pathological confidence that’s brought people west for more than a hundred years, first for gold, then for fame. Maybe that’s why Silicon Beach landed here in Los Angeles, where the motto has always been “Fake it till you make it.”

[EEVblog]

And rumor has it that Paul Chandler who replaced Paul Reynolds as VP of Acoustics is now gone after 7 months or so. Not even on his LinkedIn profile.
https://ubeam.com/ultrasonic_experts_join_beam/
Seems they don't have a single acoustics expert left at the company?

You've got to ask why a top acoustics person would not put the hottest and most high profile acoustics company on the planet on their LinkedIn profile?
A tad embarrassed maybe?

[StillTrying]

You've got to ask why a top acoustics person would not put the hottest and most high profile acoustics company on the planet on their LinkedIn profile?
A tad embarrassed maybe?

He's having a  moment.

They've been heads down gearing up for mass production for nearly a year now. Surely they've got one prototype working by now, just how long does it take to rewrite the laws of physics.