The uBeam FAQ

[PaulReynolds]

Nice catch,

I don't think the downround happened.
And I find it hard to imagine why would someone invest in a company without a CEO.

I think acting CEO=liquidator.

Interesting take. I'll add a note in the post regarding that.

[EEVblog]

I think acting CEO=liquidator.

Surely it must have reached that point now?

[Howardlong]

And now there's a new (Acting) CEO...

https://liesandstartuppr.blogspot.com/2019/12/ubeam-sonic-energy-gets-another-ceo.html

Oooh they’re getting into the “exploding IoT market”. 5-4-3-2-1...

[sdpkom]

https://twitter.com/mikeofcc/status/1214725891479109637?s=20

Looks like uBeam is officially not on the map anymore.

[StillTrying]

Looks like uBeam is officially not on the map anymore.

They're helping to reflect the evolving focus of the company, and helping to communicate their mission, values and brand differentiators,
...by hiding, just in case anyone asks what things they actually make.

[AlanS]

...by hiding, just in case anyone asks what things they actually make.

Cruel but fair.

[jrs45]

I guess ubeam powered forklifts didn't pan out, but maybe ubeam powered airplanes are next?

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sonicenergy-announces-development-partnership-with-airbus-301010466.html

[StillTrying]

Just what you need on an aircraft, devices powered with 0.3% efficiency.

[daqq]

I guess ubeam powered forklifts didn't pan out, but maybe ubeam powered airplanes are next?

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sonicenergy-announces-development-partnership-with-airbus-301010466.html

It's actually about harvesting passenger screams.

[Cerebus]

I guess ubeam powered forklifts didn't pan out, but maybe ubeam powered airplanes are next?

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sonicenergy-announces-development-partnership-with-airbus-301010466.html

It's actually about harvesting passenger screams.

Does that mean that they've hired Sully?



Would make more sense than some hiring decisions...

[Nominal Animal]

No, rats.

[EEVblog]

I guess ubeam powered forklifts didn't pan out, but maybe ubeam powered airplanes are next?
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sonicenergy-announces-development-partnership-with-airbus-301010466.html

[Cyberdragon]

It's from SonicShit themselves (look at the bottom), probably a lie out their ass. (They probably asked and haven't gotten a response...which will be FO). Besides...doesn't take an idiot to notice the USB ports in the damn seats (I'm assuming Airbus has those).

[Cerebus]

It's from SonicShit themselves (look at the bottom), probably a lie out their ass. (They probably asked and haven't gotten a response...which will be FO).

It's on PR Newswire, who have been around for a long time as a method of distributing press releases to Journalists. Once upon a time I used to get a 1/4" thick wodge of press releases in the post from them every day.

Every journalist on the commercial aerospace beat will be getting this in their inboxes, if SonicEnergy were stupid enough to do as you suggest then it would take about 0.2 seconds for some journo well connected with Airbus to call their bluff.

[MrMobodies]

I thought Meredith Perry and Elizabeth Holmes both had a similar passion in how much they believed in their projects to keep them going as long as they could.

https://techcrunch.com/2016/05/11/charged/

Wireless charging startup uBeam accused of being the next Theranos
Josh Constine@joshconstine / 4:50 pm BST • May 11, 2016

uBeam could be vaporware, according to a blogger claiming to be uBeam’s  former VP of engineering. They accuse the startup of being unable to fulfill promises made about its technology. [Update: Reporter Lee Gomes confirmed with the author that they are former uBeam VP of Eng Paul Reynolds. More below]

uBeam says it’s building a device that could wirelessly charge your phone or other electronics from several meters away. But in a series of blog posts about the startup, the author asserts that the product is a sham. The criticism will increase the pressure on uBeam to reveal a working prototype. TechCrunch cannot confirm these accusations or the identity of the blogger, and we’re awaiting a response from uBeam, but the blogger contends that:

uBeam has refused to publicly show a demo because the technology doesn’t work The original CTO and newly hired CFO have both left the company uBeam CEO Meredith Perry tricked co-founder Nora Dweck into an 80/20 split of the company instead of a 50/50 split, according to court documents. Dweck sued Perry, who “settled out of court with Dweck rumored to get 20% of the company” The laws of physics and scientific experts indicate that “While in theory [uBeam] may be possible in limited cases, the safety, efficiency, and economics of it mean it is not even remotely practical.”

They say about Elizabeth Holmes had some kind of dark voice and I have listened to Meredith's and doesn't sound the same to me.

https://www.thecut.com/2019/03/why-did-elizabeth-holmes-use-a-fake-deep-voice.html

... If you hunt around online, you can sometimes find YouTube videos in which Holmes can be heard using that real voice before catching herself and deepening it, but these videos have a tendency to be taken down after a day or two....

[coppice]

I thought Meredith Perry and Elizabeth Holmes both had a similar passion in how much they believed in their projects to keep them going as long as they could.

Surely Holmes knew from the start that she was running a scam? I can't imagine how she thought things were going to play out with her being rich and free.

They say about Elizabeth Holmes had some kind of dark voice and I have listened to Meredith's and doesn't sound the same to me.

https://www.thecut.com/2019/03/why-did-elizabeth-holmes-use-a-fake-deep-voice.html

... If you hunt around online, you can sometimes find YouTube videos in which Holmes can be heard using that real voice before catching herself and deepening it, but these videos have a tendency to be taken down after a day or two....

Holmes' voice sounds obviously fake. You can find recordings of Margaret Thatcher using her natural high voice. She was still using it when she reached a ministerial position. Then she was groomed to use a fake deep voice, but the groomers did a much better job with her than Holmes' groomers did. Thatcher's fake voice generally sounded fairly plausible,

[Cerebus]

... Thatcher's fake voice generally sounded fairly plausible,

Not to me. It always sounded deliberately affected to me and consequently sounded deeply insincere at times.

[EEVblog]

I thought Meredith Perry and Elizabeth Holmes both had a similar passion in how much they believed in their projects to keep them going as long as they could.

Surely Holmes knew from the start that she was running a scam? I can't imagine how she thought things were going to play out with her being rich and free.

These people are deeply delusional, a psychologist would have a field day.

[EEVblog]

It's from SonicShit themselves (look at the bottom), probably a lie out their ass. (They probably asked and haven't gotten a response...which will be FO).

It's on PR Newswire, who have been around for a long time as a method of distributing press releases to Journalists. Once upon a time I used to get a 1/4" thick wodge of press releases in the post from them every day.
Every journalist on the commercial aerospace beat will be getting this in their inboxes, if SonicEnergy were stupid enough to do as you suggest then it would take about 0.2 seconds for some journo well connected with Airbus to call their bluff.

It's likely talked up, just like uBeam talked up all the potential companies they were supposedly partnered with or "in discussions with" like Starbucks. All you have to do is send a company an email and technically you are "in discussions with".

[coppice]

... Thatcher's fake voice generally sounded fairly plausible,

Not to me. It always sounded deliberately affected to me and consequently sounded deeply insincere at times.

Well, she never fooled anyone, because she was already well known with a high voice before developing the low one. Also, she was famous for interviewers interrupting her because she would let her tone drift up. As she realised this and pulled it back down, usually near the end of a sentance, the drop was perceived to be the punctuation mark handing over to the interviewer, who immediately start talking.

[sdpkom]

Larry Starr is the FORMER VP of engineering https://www.linkedin.com/in/larry-starr-2328706/

Still on the "team" page though....

[EEVblog]

Larry Starr is the FORMER VP of engineering https://www.linkedin.com/in/larry-starr-2328706/

2 yrs 9 months - impressive! 

[MrMobodies]

Larry Starr is the FORMER VP of engineering https://www.linkedin.com/in/larry-starr-2328706/

2 yrs 9 months - impressive! 

A typo that looks like it went unnoticed to him for four years despite being at the top of his experience list.

[drussell]

A typo that looks like it went unnoticed to him for four years despite being at the top of his experience list.

It's that kind of attention to detail that probably made him a perfect fit at uBeam. 

Are we off by an order of magnitude or two on the level of possible power delivery?  Meh.  Keep goin'.

[EEVblog]

Speaking of uBeam, whatever happened to our good friend Meredith? What happened to that Doc Brown brain machine?
And what about that cardboard bike helmet?