McDonald's to offer wireless charging in more than 50 UK restaurants

A small bleep echoes from your smartphone as the battery indicator turns red. Not headed to the office and no portable battery to hand? It's going to be a long day. Just as public Wi-Fi has become the norm, McDonald's is hoping Qi wireless charging will tempt more customers through its golden arches. After a small pilot in some of its UK stores, the fast food giant has signed a deal with Aircharge to bring 600 chargers into more than 50 of its restaurants.

​Starbucks is experimenting with a similar service in the US, however there it's using Duracell Powermat's PMA technology, a less popular standard, to coax coffee fiends inside. Qi, meanwhile, is reasonably prevalent with a growing number of compatible smartphones, like the Nexus 6 and Lumia 930. Of course, not everyone has a handset with these capabilities, so Aircharge will also be offering its wireless charging receivers for those that need a microUSB or Lightning cable. So now, while you take a quick pit-stop and devour a McRib (for the next four weeks, anyway), your gadgets can be recharging their batteries too.