We're not sure whether to chalk this up to the fact that every good brand name is already taken, or to some folks' delight in torturing us with obscure pronunciation -- but whatever the case may be, it looks like the
Wireless Power Consortium have finally come up with a spec for
Wireless Power, and for it they're using a name (and logo) probably dreamt up after repeat viewings of
Big Trouble in Little China: Qi. Pronounced Ch'i (you know, as in "prana" or "life force"), the first universal wireless standard has achieved 0.95 for interoperability testing a mere seven months after setting their eyes on the goal, paving the way for an "accelerated" acceptance of 1.0, according to a company spokesperson. The Qi standard applies to devices 5 watts and below, and members of the consortium include Duracell, National Semiconductor, Olympus, Philips, Samsung, Sanyo, ST-Ericsson, and Shenzhen Sangfei Consumer Communications. At any rate, it's nice to hear about something happening ahead of schedule for once.
[Via
SlashGear]
posted August 18th 2009 11:23AM
@L That's because you've been studying the traditional "way of doing things". Computer controller circuity controlling a pulse-frequency electromagnetic field is very efficient. The same if not more so than the restrictive circuitry they put in most of the cheap Chinese-made DC power supplies. Research Tesla's patents.
Mother Nature shouldn't have had kids.
If they can get this to an acceptable and affordable efficiency level, we could have charging stations built into roads, buildings and public places within our lifetime, that would be paid with taxes and we would never have to charge our devices again.
Chargeless charging. You are dreaming.
And we would all get cancer and die.
that happens anyway, so go get cancer and die.
Unless this is true Wireless and it will charge from my pocket, then it's stupid. There is not real difference in plugging a device in and setting it on some special charging pad.
Well... that's not entirely true. There's the couple of seconds it takes to plug it in and ditto with unplugging. There's also a drastically reduced chance of it falling off a table and being swung by the cord so it smashes into something(such as seems to happen a lot with iPhones) or tripping over the cord that plugs it in.
What you describe as true wireless power is sci fi. The point as far as I'm concerned is simplicity and interoperability between devices and type.
Walk in the house and drop you Zune HD, iPhone, bluetooth headset, whatever on the pad and they all charge. No cables to lose. It would be worth it for just for the elimination of cable clutter.
there is another difference, you don't need to have a plug in the device, the plug itself is either open and risk being filled with dusts or other contaminent or has a flimsy flap which will break other time.
Now this could be interesting!
I like the logo. It looks like a depressed proletariat carrying a heavy burden for the state. Howzit pronounced? Chi?
Yes. And it also looks like the thinking man.
I support wireless power, I dislike wires and the multitude of adapters needed, one for every device.
Energy efficiency is too important now and this should be an efficient and 'green' product when available publicly.
It could perhaps even have a variant which is solar-charged.
Can't we give it a name that doesn't promote pseudo-scientific nonsense?
Until I hit Wiki, I thought you were talking about QI with Stephen Fry. I love that show.
I doubt very many people will make that connection.
Woops, I mean about the life force idea, not the show mentioned just above.
that reminds me of jackie chan adventures... anyone remember wasting summer vacation watching that and yu-gi-oh?
Don't forget DragonBall Z and Shaman King. Oh, and a bit of Sailor Moon, too.
About the standard: It is pretty nice to hear about something being on track, and wireless power is pretty cool to say the least.
About the name: I don't understand why the article makes the name out as odd... I guess people will just get used to it like, "Feng Shui".
>I guess people will just consistently mispronounce it like, "Feng Shui".
fixed
Wireless charging is a welcomed addition for these devices. The image displayed is a bit blurry, but you can see the iPhone clearly and unobstructed. Interesting how the logo overlays that "me too" device, violating its image, while leaving the iPhone pristine. ;-)
I prefer to see it as the iPhone is left in the dark and the Zune is shown the light. :)
*sigh* We were all posting on-topic comments about the issue at hand and then, of course, you have to come in here and try to start an off-topic flame-war. Go away.
My bad for keeping it up.
You guys should read up on this technology. This is not like the Palm TouchStone charger or the "pad" types. This is a recreation of Nikola Tesla's wireless power technology! They are talking about a wireless "sphere" of power eminating from a central point, transmitted at extremely high frequencies to a device (last time I read an article about it) up to 30 feet away! Yes, it will charge your phone in your pocket...or anywhere else in the room your gadget happens to be.
The possiblities for this are immense! Imagine never having to plug in your phone AT ALL. Or your laptop computer, or your GPS device, or your iPod...etc. Your device simply charges when you get home or to the office, and you never have to worry about it. Likewise, we could start seeing wireless power "hotspots" that you could use at coffee shops or airports.
As for efficiency, we already know that cell phone chargers (or any AC/DC transformer) wastes a small amount of energy when not in use. I am sure these systems will automatically turn off when not needed. We will have to see what the hard numbers are, but I am hopeful that this will be more efficient than people are fearing.
Every once in a while you see a product or technology that will literally transform our society. Wireless power has that potential. Every day there is a new gadget on the market, and each one has its own charger that gets lost, damaged, or tangled in a bloody knot that would frustrate Alexander the Great! I for one, long the day all of these infernal power adaptors can be recycled for good!
Do you have a link to the proposed specs? I'd love to take a look. Otherwise the article reads as though its good old fashioned electric toothbrush inductive charging. If this has anything to do with Tesla's ideas I would be much more impressed.
Based on the slashgear link and the official press release, this is a pad you set your device down upon. I'm sure they're working towards the kind of thing you're describing, but that's not what this is.
Ya, that's precisely what frightens me about this. If this takes off, I'll be waiting a couple years before adopting this tech and watching for reports of massive rises in cancer/tumors. Having a electro-magnetic field powerful enough to actually charge your phone in your pocket being around you for several hours a day, every day, is bound to have some major negative effects on your health.
Mark,
So you never go outside and live in a Faraday cage right?
Where's Tesla when you need him?
According to government records, the only names not yet trademarked are "Popplers" and "Zittzers".
YES! I was waiting for a Futurama reference!
The name needs to go in my opinion. They should take a lesson from Microsoft. Bing may not be a "cool" name, but it's VERY easy for people to pronounce and spread. Call it "Beam" or "Flux" or something cool yet simple.
OK, I guess this is not the tech I have been reading about. If thats the case, I am going to pass on Qi and wait for the real deal.
Tesla would be a better name
Most of these comments make me feel even stronger that we should have physics be required in high school for a diploma.
We are probably decades away from wireless charging devices in your pocket without throwing away 95% of the energy. I am curious to know the efficiency of the "pad" chargers, but suspect they are below 75% as efficient as wired charging.
i believe it's pronounced "key", actually
nice try though
Definitely pronounced "chee" like "cheese", if we're talking about Mandarin.
Umm, that would be the Japanese pronounciation of it.
"Qi" also means "air". Not everything in China is about kung fu and mysticism, you know.
Actually it means gas.....
Can't wait for version 2.
Qi-Toe
Free chips for everyone!
In my language, Ch'i (the pronounciation) actually means "Tea" :D
very in on this, hope its a success
Shu Qi!
I guess it's better than "HD DVD", but likewise, sounds better on paper.