Ready to Bid Good Riddance to Charging Cords?
A new breed of base stations will reduce wires, decluttering homes and saving sanity everywhere
Funny thing about wireless gadgets: They don't work unless you charge them. You know, with wires.
This paradoxical state of affairs will soon go the way of the wireless television — it will become obsolete. A whole bunch of really smart engineers are working on new and better ways to charge battery-operated devices without ever plugging them in. Base stations with wireless connections are in fact already common. For example, many electric toothbrushes are charged wirelessly through the plastic. The new engineering effort is designed to solve all the problems associated with ever-larger and more power-hungry devices, including mobile phones, laptops and even cars.
Over the next few years, one category of gadget after another will become wirelessly charged via a new breed of base stations, which will often be built into furniture, and this change will transform our homes. The technology of wireless charging will improve in five ways:
Wireless charging will reduce clutter and make homes safer. Without exposed metal conductors, there's no risk of electrocution. They'll also make life more convenient. Rather than having to remember to plug in your phone, tablet, laptop and other devices every night, you can just drop them on a table and the charging will happen automatically.
The wireless charging revolution has already begun, with some innovative products coming out for major-brand smart phones.
This paradoxical state of affairs will soon go the way of the wireless television — it will become obsolete. A whole bunch of really smart engineers are working on new and better ways to charge battery-operated devices without ever plugging them in. Base stations with wireless connections are in fact already common. For example, many electric toothbrushes are charged wirelessly through the plastic. The new engineering effort is designed to solve all the problems associated with ever-larger and more power-hungry devices, including mobile phones, laptops and even cars.
Over the next few years, one category of gadget after another will become wirelessly charged via a new breed of base stations, which will often be built into furniture, and this change will transform our homes. The technology of wireless charging will improve in five ways:
- It will become available to charge more powerful devices than current products can.
- The charging base station will be able to charge any supported device (right now base stations and devices have to be matched).
- Charging will become "smart," meaning that the base stations will detect whether and where a device is located on the surface, and send current only when and where it's needed.
- Furniture will come with charging stations built in.
- The distance over which charging can take place will increase — up to a few feet or more.
Wireless charging will reduce clutter and make homes safer. Without exposed metal conductors, there's no risk of electrocution. They'll also make life more convenient. Rather than having to remember to plug in your phone, tablet, laptop and other devices every night, you can just drop them on a table and the charging will happen automatically.
The wireless charging revolution has already begun, with some innovative products coming out for major-brand smart phones.
Getpowerpad
The Getpowerpad station is the state of the art as of about a year ago. It works well and looks nice. But the base station itself has a cluttery cable. And the phones it charges need to be slipped into a special case, which adds bulk.
Duracell Powermat 24-Hour Power System
Duracell Powermat's new 24-hour Power System charges both an iPhone and a portable charging battery, giving you a full 24 hours of continuous use on a single charge.
It requires a somewhat bulky case for the iPhone, unfortunately.
It requires a somewhat bulky case for the iPhone, unfortunately.
Samsung Galaxy S-III Wireless Charging Base Station
The Samsung Galaxy S-III represents the future of all major smart phones in that someday it will come with wireless charging capability built in. Unlike the Getpowerpad and the Duracell Powermat products, it won't require a special case or sleeve.
Samsung recently announced, along with partner Qualcomm, something called the Alliance for Wireless Power to develop better and more flexible wireless charging technologies.
And Apple has recently applied for patents for the wireless charging of mobile devices, leading to speculation that the next iPhone will be wirelessly charged. Other phone makers are rumored to be developing wireless charging phones as well, including Nokia.
Once major-brand smart phones ship at scale with wireless charging electronics built in, the furniture makers will be incentivized to sell tables, also with wireless charging base stations built in.
More:
How Bluetooth 4.0 Will Change Remote Control
Samsung recently announced, along with partner Qualcomm, something called the Alliance for Wireless Power to develop better and more flexible wireless charging technologies.
And Apple has recently applied for patents for the wireless charging of mobile devices, leading to speculation that the next iPhone will be wirelessly charged. Other phone makers are rumored to be developing wireless charging phones as well, including Nokia.
Once major-brand smart phones ship at scale with wireless charging electronics built in, the furniture makers will be incentivized to sell tables, also with wireless charging base stations built in.
More:
How Bluetooth 4.0 Will Change Remote Control