New zero connect TV wireless hub means no more spaghetti mounds of cables

He had won the AC/DC war with Thomas Edison; his induction motor is proclaimed today as one of the ten greatest inventions of all time; and his Tesla Coil, although limited in practical applications, was spectacular and significantly progressed our understanding of electricity.

Tesla contributed much more to our modern society but there was one idea he became obsessed with that didn't quite go according to plan.

He believed that electricity could be transmitted wirelessly through the air over long distances.

A wireless global electricity supply via a series of towers or suspended balloons.

Theoretically something like this would be possible but it would require an extraordinary amount of power as so much would be wasted.

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Fast forward to today and we see a society obsessed with wireless technologies.

Landline telephones have decreased from an 80 per cent penetration in the household in 2008, to 28 per cent in 2022.

Not just our phones and tablets are connected wirelessly but our computers are as well. We even charge our phones and watches without plugging them in.

The obsession is not about to stop.

LG has recognised a significant first-world problem.

When we bring home our shiny new flat-screen TV, we sit it on a TV cabinet or mount it on a wall and then we have those terrible ugly cables that we connect to our streaming devices, Pay TV provider, external antenna, stereo and more.

Why not send all of those signals via wireles connectivity?

The LG Zero Connect TV does exactly that. The heart of the solution is the Zero Connect box.

It contains the normal array of HDMI and USB ports and the ability to connect a stereo in a similar configuration of ports that you would expect to see on your TV.

The difference is that the Zero Connect box can be up to 10 metres away from your TV and it wirelessly transmits the video and audio signals to the TV with 4K resolution at 120Hz.

No more cluttered collection of cables to hide in a wall or wrap behind the stand.

One power cable to connect to the TV and the rest is subtly positioned elsewhere in your room.

While this isn't the wireless power dream that Tesla had, it is an impressive amount of data being transmitted over a short distance.

Researchers are also working on wireless transmission of power - albeit at very low levels.

Smart deadbolts are nothing entirely new.

I have several different varieties in my house and more people are taking advantage of these smart devices.

The problem, of course, is that they need power.

Hard-wiring power in to the door is a major hassle and using replaceable or rechargeable batteries is a little cumbersome.

Say hello to the Alfred DB2S and its Wi-Charge charging kit.

The DB2S is a typical modern smart deadbolt with one major advantage - the smart lock can stay constantly charged via an infrared beam transmitted from the Wi-Charge device.

Once again it needs to be within 10 metres of your door but, once setup, you can forget about having to swap or recharge batteries.

Sounds almost too good to be true!

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the device from a health perspective - but I know that won't make everyone feel comfortable when they walk through an infrared beam powering their smart lock.

Many said that Tesla was a genius ahead of his time; the way we continue to develop our wireless technologies is something that he could only dream of.