wirelesscharging
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Apple lists the cars that can wirelessly charge your iPhone
Sure, you know that most wireless charging pads will top up the iPhone 8 or iPhone X, but what about the pad in your car? That's a little more complicated, but Apple is willing to help out. It just posted a list of manufacturers whose vehicles can charge the latest crop of iPhones, and it's mostly good news... mostly. Audi, BMW, Chrysler, Ford, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Volkswagen, Volvo and the PSA group (Citroen, DS, Peugeot, Opel and Vauxhall) all have cars that will charge at least the iPhone 8 (and likely X), and can charge the 8 Plus if there's enough room. Be careful if you're a GM fan, though, as you'll have to be extra-picky about your driving machine.
Wireless charging will make drones always ready to fly
Drones are great until you realize running all those propellers, a camera, GPS and other assorted technology bits are a real drain on the battery. If you're just using one for images it's not too big of a deal. But if you're using one for surveying, security or delivering burritos, swapping out batteries all the time can be a huge pain and time suck. Fortunately, there's a new wireless charging landing pad on its way.
Belkin and Mophie offer wireless charging pads for the new iPhones
Now that Apple is suddenly a fan of wireless phone charging, iPhone-oriented charging pads are coming out of the woodwork: Belkin and Mophie have announced their own peripherals, the Boost Up and Wireless Charging Base. Both use Qi to top up your iPhone 8 or iPhone X minus wires, supplying up to 7.5W whether or not you have a case on your handset. The differences really come down to personal preference. The Belkin device (on the left) is larger and has an LED indicator to let you know when charging starts, while the Mophie model is more compact.
Apple's AirPower tech wirelessly charges multiple devices at once
Apple isn't just adding Qi wireless charging to its latest iPhones; it's trotting out a charging standard of its own. AirPower is built in partnership with Qi, but can top up multiple devices at once. At the September 12th presentation, Apple illustrated AirPower topping up an iPhone X, an Apple Watch and AirPods (with a new charging case) all at once. That's more than a little handy if you're traveling and would rather not lug around multiple adapters and cables. However, you'll have to wait to try it out.
Of course EE's hyping wireless chargers on new iPhone day
EE all but confirming new iPhone features before Apple's had a chance to announce them is turning into a bit of a yearly tradition. This morning, the carrier announced it's now selling Belkin's Qi Wireless Charging Pad for £30 (this is the standard retail price, by the way). Also, EE says other chargers and accessories will, in the coming weeks, be joining the provider's Add to Plan scheme. This lets customers on two-year handset contracts buy accessories and spread the cost over several months by adding a few quid to their monthly bill. Rumor has long had it that wireless charging would make its debut on this year's iPhones, so EE's announcement is no coincidence.
The iPhone 8 may launch in September after all
Earlier this year it was rumored that the iPhone 8 wouldn't get the what's come to be standard September release date, but instead would launch later in the year. However, KGI Securities has a new set of predictions and it looks like the upcoming model might get its September reveal after all. A new report from the company, which is usually pretty spot on with its predictions, says that the iPhone 8 will likely launch alongside the 7s and 7s Plus models.
The key to better wireless charging lies in quantum mechanics
Wireless charging is a great idea in theory: You can just place your device on a charging mat without having to mess with any wires. But it still doesn't solve the main hassle of charging in the first place, which is the requirement to leave your device in one place. But now, scientists may have found the answer to that problem using principles from quantum mechanics.
Qualcomm can charge EVs while they're moving
Forget about better batteries, what if you could just drive your EV forever? Qualcomm just showed off technology called dynamic electric vehicle charging (DEVC) that juices an EV via road-embedded wireless charging hardware while you're driving. During the demonstration, two Renault Kangoo vehicles equipped with Qualcomm's "Halo" DEVC receivers were charged simultaneously while moving down a 100 meter test track.
iPhone 8 renders point to glass back and wireless charging (updated)
Rumor has it that we won't be seeing the next flagship iPhone until much later this year, but we may have just the right thing to keep y'all entertained for the time being. Earlier this week, a reliable source in the accessory industry showed Engadget a highly detailed CAD file of the "iPhone 8's" chassis, which allowed us to generate several renders for publishing. The most obvious takeaway here is the dual camera's new orientation, and that both the microphone plus the flash will be part of the camera bump.
ICYMI: SpaceX's rocket re-launch and a universal wireless charger
Today on In Case You Missed It: We take a look at SpaceX's plan to see if its rockets are really reusable. Tomorrow the company plans to send the first Falcon 9 rocket that successfully landed on its floating barge back into orbit where it will deploy a telecommunications satellite. Be sure to bring some popcorn. It's also time to get (milli)amped! The Juiced battery system uses wirelessly-charged 1500mAh power packs and a universal, tethered base station to charge up to 6 mobile devices at once. Squad goals! As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @terrortola.
Apple takes a big step toward wireless charging on iPhones
Rumors have swirled for a while that Apple might embrace wireless charging beyond smartwatches (including for the next iPhone), and the company only seems to be stoking those expectations. Apple has quietly joined the Wireless Power Consortium, which governs the Qi standard you see on most devices with wireless charging. This doesn't guarantee that this year's iPhone will tout wireless charging, or even that Apple will use the Qi standard at all (the Apple Watch uses a modified take on Qi). However, it does say a lot about Apple's broader wireless charging strategy.
Secure wireless charging stops pads from frying your phone
It's not just dodgy wired phone chargers that you have to worry about -- a poorly-made wireless charging pad could easily toast your phone. But how do you prevent that from happening when there are no cables or ports involved? MIT has an idea. Its researchers have unveiled a security chip that would prevent a wireless charger from topping up your phone unless it authenticates through a cryptographic handshake. It revolves around a smaller, more efficient charging circuit where there's a main coil (for the actual charging) and a secondary coil that can produce a strong magnetic field. If your phone and the charger don't exchange the right public cryptographic keys, that secondary coil will "scramble" the primary coil by changing its frequency.
Apple's 10th anniversary iPhone could cost over $1,000
To mark 10 years of metal and glass slabs, Apple is expected to debut an ultra high-end version of the iPhone alongside its next scheduled update. According to a report from Fast Company, Tim Cook and company will likely roll out three new phones this year: the incremental iPhone 7S in the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch sizes, as well as a slightly larger, even more expensive 5.8-inch iPhone 8 with an edgeless OLED display and a few completely new features.
ASUS' new displays include one with a wireless charging pad
ASUS didn't show all its cards at its CES event. The computing giant has unveiled a pair of high-end desktop displays that each have their own clever tricks. The Designo Curve MX38VQ (above) is arguably the star if you're an everyday user: the 37.5-inch, 3,840 x 1,600 monitor packs a Qi wireless charging pad to top up your smartphone. We've seen charging before, but not on a screen this big and wide. It also packs a "frameless" panel and Harmon Kardon-boosted speakers (albeit a modest 8W) if you're tight on space.
Dell's 2-in-1 Latitude 7285 ditches the charging cable
After packing 10 speakers into a desktop all-in-one, Dell has another cord-cutting trick up its sleeve. The Latitude 7285 2-in-1 is a hybrid laptop and detachable tablet that also happens to be the first such device to offer a wireless-charging keyboard base. Of course, you'll need to buy Dell's new desktop wireless charging pad to actually make use of the feature, but that peripheral is also compatible with the latest Airfuel Alliance standard, which should broaden its usefulness a bit.
Wireless charging tech harvests your phone's wasted radio waves
When you think of wireless charging, you probably think of special charging pads for your phone. But what if your phone could partly charge itself? Radient Micro-Tech claims to have managed just that. It just received two patents for technology that reportedly captures energy from a device's wasted radio waves (those that would merely dissipate in the air) for the sake of charging. While it's not specific about how the technology works, it would harvest those RF waves through antennas built into your phone's screen. Radient is claiming that you'd get up to 30 percent longer battery life, which could be enough to get you through a particularly active day.
BauBax puts wireless charging ports in your clothes
Life would be so much easier if we could keep our phones charged just by slipping them into our pockets or purses. Startup BauBax thought so too, and went about crafting a set of garments that offer wireless charging on the go. The project launched on Kickstarter today, and I had a chance to preview prototypes of the new line to see how well it looked, felt and worked.
ICYMI: Pollution concrete, EV wireless charging and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-431877{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-431877, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-431877{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-431877").style.display="none";}catch(e){} Today on In Case You Missed It: Scientists at UCLA have made concrete by first extracting greenhouse gases from power plant smokestacks. An EV prototype to wirelessly charge cars is making the rounds, and the group's big plan is to design a 50 kilowatt charger that can juice up cars as they drive. You could put that future charger inside your garage where a new opener comes with extra modules that can detect obstacles and about 10 other things. Finally, we were tickled by the idea of a robot that can best you at Settlers of Catan, so please check that out. As always, please share any great tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Wireless charging system for EVs is nearly as good as plugging in
Wireless charging for electric cars is already affordable, but it's still pretty limited: it isn't the quickest option, and it's not even on the radar if you're driving large vehicles like trucks. Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are close to licking those problems once and for all, though. They've developed a 20-kilowatt wireless charging system that, at 90 percent efficiency, should be much more practical than existing pads -- it should not only charge at reasonable speeds, but avoid wasting gobs of electricity in the process. The new design is safe despite all the extra power, since its magnetic fields drop off rapidly and won't run through the whole vehicle.
Google is exploring wireless charging for self-driving cars
Self-driving cars are poised to be an incredible tool of the future, but they won't be much use if they can't hold a charge. It looks like Google wants to solve this problem via resonant magnetic induction, a form of wireless charging that could use manhole-style transmitters embedded in pavement to juice up driverless vehicles, IEEE Spectrum reports.
