Peripatetic Slav-American inventor Nikola Tesla, who invented AC power and a host of other of the electronic technologies that we take for granted, envisioned a world in which power was broadcast to devices like radio (which he also invented).

A company called Fulton Innovation is trying to fulfill Tesla's wireless power vision. The Fulton folks have come up with an intelligent inductive coupling technology that essentially allows a device to be charged simply by putting them down on any surface. The catch is that the device has to have an inductive coupling coil and chip set imbedded within it, and the table- or countertop has to contain matching coil-fed spots. A table top would be built with pencil eraser-sized magnetic induction coil spots such as the one in the picture above, designed to charge and/or power a induction coupling-enabled device placed over one.

It sounds more confusing than it is. The bottom line, only the coil under the table top would have to powered. eCoupled enabled Gadgets placed on these spots would charge or run as if plugged in. Or, you can create a charging station like the one pictured below - just place your eCoupled-enabled devices on it.

There are applications in every room in the house. An A/V rack packed with Fulton's eCoupled technology means not only does your gear not have to be physically plugged in, but remote controls stay charged and ready to control as long as you're in around 75 minutes.

Plus, you could have an induction couple-ready coffee table to charge remotes or a laptop. In the kitchen, you could run a wireless blender or boil water in an eCoupled-equipped pot placed on an eCoupled plate placed on top of a eCoupled spot like the one pictured above. In the garage work room, a table build with inductive coils could charge myriad of your electronic tools. In a home office, an eCoupled solution could run everything on your desktop.

The table top coil would know what device is placed upon on and what the correct voltage would be to effectively power that device.

Unfortunately, there's no word on when systems would be ready for prime time purchase. For more info, visit www.ecoupled.com.