Why wireless charging is about to take over
Thanks to Apple’s push with the AirPower wireless charging pad and an increase in competition, wireless charging is about to become faster and even more convenient to use. So say goodbye to losing your cables and having to plug your phone into a wall to charge it.
Because Wi-Charge uses infrared light, it must have a line of sight not only to the object being charged, but to whatever side of it has the receiver within an allowable angle. Thus, Wi-Charge won’t charge a phone while it’s in your pocket. In fact, the company is passing on smartphones altogether for now since it recognizes the tremendous chicken-and-egg problem that must be overcome to get its receivers into high-volume handsets. The company notes that its approach, however, results in longer range and more power transmitted than other options, and that its reliance on light avoids any interference with other radio signals such as Wi-Fi.
Rather, in the consumer market, it is focused on a being a kind of electricity bridge to smaller stationary objects that need a steady supply of power but are often in inconvenient places to plug in. Examples include wall-mounted security cameras, smart locks, and digital photo frames. Another smart home opportunity is motorized shades. While they currently exceed the power requirements that Wi-Charge can directly address, transmitters could charge a battery that could output enough juice to operate them throughout the day.
Wireless power has been positioned as an evolution beyond technologies such as the inductive pads of Qi, but Wi-Charge sees the technologies as highly complementary. Indeed, years before Apple went all-in on Qi wireless charging, the company’s head of marketing, Phil Schiller, accurately noted that wireless charging pads merely shifts the location of the plug. A Qi pad that acted as a Wi-Charge receiver could be placed in a wider variety of settings around the room and might even help spur the nascent concept of Qi-enabled furniture.
Wi-Charge says the first devices to use its technology should be on the market later this year.
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