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Major wireless charging groups team up for the technology's future
The three biggest wireless charging standard groups are now down by one, because two of them have decided to join forces. Power Matters Alliance (PMA) and The Alliance For Wireless Power (A4WP) have just made signed a Letter of Intent to merge on the dotted line. The merger, which will operate under a new name, will be finalized by mid-2015, and the two groups hope it can give the technology a boost. "Consumers will gain access to an exciting and enhanced battery charging and power management experience sooner across the full spectrum of devices in daily use," the groups' press release said. "Mobile network operators and commercial and retail brands can commit to the necessary investment confident of stable, long-term evolution and management of innovative wireless charging technologies."
WiTricity's CEO paints a picture of a wirelessly powered future
If WiTricity CEO Alex Gruzen gets his way, the company's tech will soon wind up in your phone, your car and even inside your body. That's because the Massachusetts-based company deals in magnetic resonance technology, and if those words don't mean anything to you now, they probably will before long. You see, WiTricity has been working for the past five years on a way to wirelessly transfer power between devices, and Gruzen told our audience at Engadget Expand NY that the wireless future is basically right around the corner.
Five questions for the man making contactless wireless power a reality
With wireless power demos and proposals going as far back as 2006, what's taking so long? And, most importantly, is it safe? At Engadget Expand, we'll be addressing these questions with WiTricity CEO Alex Gruzen, who will also share his thoughts on the industry.
Marriott hotels will soon offer wireless charging in lobbies
If you find yourself staying in a Marriott hotel later this month, you may encounter wireless charging in the lobby. The lodging outfit is set to install Qi-equipped tech from Kube Systems in the greatroom lobbies of 29 locations in October. Stations can power up to six devices at the same time while replenishing that smartphone and tablet duo without a tether. Support for iOS, Android and Windows is included, so you'll be able to leave those cords in the room when heading down for a drink at the bar. Of course, Marriott has 500 hotels around the world, so this seems to be a limited trial before widespread deployment or significant investment.
Nokia's new wireless charger glows for missed calls or a low battery
Nokia is keen on Qi wireless chargers, and its latest model doesn't just sit there like a lump when not juicing your phone. Instead, the Wireless Charging Plate (DT-903) is a glowing lump, thanks to lights and Bluetooth connectivity. You can pair it to your phone when it's off the charger, and it'll glow for missed calls and texts, or a low battery below 30 percent. The lights are tinted to match the green, orange or white color options, and will pulse in different patterns depending on the notification. Of course, it also charges your phone or tablet wirelessly, provided it's a Qi-enabled Lumia model with Windows Phone 8.1.1 and Bluetooth 4.0. If you can tick all those boxes and have $59 to spare, it should arrive next month.
Future Cadillacs to come with dual-standard wireless chargers
If you're thinking of buying a new Cadillac soon (congrats!) and you're also big on gadgets, you may want to keep an eye out for some specific models. Visteon, a car electronics supplier that conjured up a smart infotainment system in 2013, is set to debut its wireless charger in the 2015 ATS luxury sedan. It will also be installed on the CTS Sports Sedan this fall, though, as well as the Escalade SUV and other General Motors cars by the end of 2014. Unlike most wireless chargers, Visteon's works with two standards -- Qi and Power Matters Alliance (PMA) -- similar to the ChargeSpot Pocket out of Canada. The dual-standard capability future-proofs your in-car charger... unless manufacturers decide to stick to another standard instead.
ChargeSpot Pocket will wirelessly charge both Qi- and PMA-compatible devices
If a wireless charger doesn't work with a phone or tablet with the capability, it's likely because they adhere to two different wireless charging standards. See, there's more than one out there, and that's making it hard for businesses, venues, offices and even OEMs to adopt the technology. One product that could potentially help with those issues is a new wireless charger called ChargeSpot Pocket, which works with both Qi Wireless and PMA or Power Matters Alliance. Sure, that's just two standards out of three (leaving out the third one called A4WP), but the product can certainly cater to more customers than an alternative that works with only one standard can.
Wireless charger uses ultrasound to power your phone from across the room
We first came across uBeam's unusual wireless charging technology three years ago, at the All Things D Science Fair, where the fledgling company was only just introducing its creation to the public. Today, the company's finally ready for a big move forward -- uBeam co-founder Meredith Perry just announced that the team has created a fully functional prototype, one that will be used as a model for upcoming consumer versions. So, what makes uBeam so "unusual" anyway? Unlike other wireless charging standards that require you to place gadgets in contact with mats, uBeam's ultrasound-based technology allow you to move freely while charging. We're not talking about being able to charge phones merely two feet away from the mat: if the technology works as intended, you can actually move around the room while your device's battery gauge fills up.
With Qi wireless charging, you'll soon be able to charge your device from a short distance
It's becoming more and more common to find mobile devices with wireless charging capability, either as a built-in feature or integrated into third-party cases. Progress has been somewhat hampered, however, by the fact that no universally adopted standard is available. Of the three major groups trying to corner the market, Qi -- a standard created by the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) -- has arguably been the most successful at courting manufacturers and carriers (over 200 have signed up so far). The problem is, its abilities have been limited because it only uses a method called inductive charging; in other words, you can power up your smartphone as long as it's sitting on a charging pad. Wireless, sure, but it's still only marginally more convenient than simply plugging the handset in. Fortunately, Qi's adding some crucial functionality later this year that will allow you to charge your device from nearly two inches away.
GM is bringing wireless phone charging to some Cadillac cars
General Motors may be going through a rough patch at the moment, but that's not stopping the company from setting its sights on the future. Today, the Detroit-based automaker revealed that it plans to put wireless charging pads inside a number of Cadillac vehicles, starting with the launch of the 2015 ATS sport sedan and coupe later in the fall. Although the announcement highlights the compatibility with Powermat, a General Motors representative has confirmed to Engadget that the feature also supports Qi and "other in-phone wireless charging technologies." What's more, GM says this is coming to more vehicles soon (as had been previously reported), with the Cadillac CTS, Cadillac Escalade, GMC Sierra and Chevy Silverado expected to be added to the list in Q4 of this year.
Starbucks is rolling out wireless charging spots that you probably won't use
Public wireless charging stations for mobile devices may not have caught on in earnest, but what the heck -- Starbucks is giving it a go. Following a trial run, the coffee giant (and its sister brand Teavana) has started rolling out wireless charging spots that embed Duracell Powermat's PMA technology into counters and tables, letting you top up your compatible mobile devices while you sip from your grande latte. You'll only see these surfaces in shops throughout the San Francisco Bay Area at first, but they should reach other major urban centers (including places in Asia and Europe) within the next year.
Intel's cable-free future will use WiTricity's advanced wireless charging
WiTricity will be implementing its resonance-based charging technology onto future Intel-powered devices, as according to the Rezence specification. Conveniently, WiTricity's newly appointed CEO, Alex Gruzen, is a veteran in the laptop industry.
Lenovo and Dell back effort to bring wireless charging to laptops and tablets
Wireless charging is a technology often reserved for smaller devices -- smartphones, watches and electronic toothbrushes -- but that's about to change. The Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP) just updated its Rezence charging standard to support laptops, tablets and devices requiring up to 50 watts. The Alliance only just made this change official, but it's been coming for awhile: when Dell joined the group back in February, the A4WP promised to introduce a higher-power specification that would enable Ultrabooks to charge untethered.
Broadcom's new chip lets your phone use any wireless charging standard
Wonder why only a handful of mobile devices support wireless charging? It's partly because the standards are horribly fragmented: companies have to choose between technologies like PMA, Rezence and Qi, and it's not clear which of those will last. Broadcom might put the issue to bed with its new (and awkwardly titled) BCM59350 chip, though. The hardware lets gadgets charge using any existing wireless technology -- you won't have to hunt for specific charging pads. It can also handle up to 7.5W of power instead of the usual 5W, so your gear might charge faster than it would using old-fashioned wires.
WiTriCity hopes to entice wireless charging partners with iPhone 5/5s reference design
Even though Rezence is poised to become a wireless charging competitor to Qi, it isn't the only rival in town. WiTriCity has been in the cordless electricity biz since at least 2007 -- having partnered up with Toyota for charging its cars for example -- but hasn't really made a real consumer play for handheld devices just yet. That changes today, however, with the company's first reference design that pairs an iPhone 5/5s sleeve with a wireless charging pad. Like Rezence, WiTriCity uses magnetic resonance to charge compatible electronics, which means the pad can be installed underneath tables or other surfaces and the phone can still be refueled no matter where you place it. Of course, the sleeve is just a proof-of-concept and is not meant for sale, but WiTriCity hopes that this idea will prompt manufacturers to leap to its side. Whether or not this will compete against the likes of Powermats however, remains to be seen.
Alliance for Wireless Power introduces Rezence as its consumer-friendly brand
The Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP) was formed over a year ago to come up with a wireless charging solution that would allow for greater spatial freedom when charging your favorite gadgets. "A4WP" doesn't exactly roll off the tongue however, which is why the group today announced its consumer-facing brand, hereby known as Rezence. The release states that the name was derived from the words resonance and essence, which tells the tale of how the technology works -- that of non-radiative magnetic resonance -- and how it can be used to charge all kinds of devices, not just phones. Indeed, the alliance teased us that a major PC OEM has just got on board, and will reveal more about it at CES next month. The logo, which is simply the letter Z with an electricity symbol running through the middle, will be used on all devices that have gone through A4WP certification. This way, consumers will know that any surface with the logo will play nice with a Rezence-compatible item. Geoff Gordon of Qualcomm, who's also A4WP's marketing committee chair, tells us that the introduction of the Rezence brand goes hand-in-hand with the certification program it's about to roll out by year's end. Indeed, they've just completed their third and final Plugfest, which is an event where electronics makers get together to ensure interoperability of a certain standard. While we're not sure just what devices will be incorporated with the Rezence technology -- that's up to the individual member companies to decide -- it seems we'll finally be able to see the fruits of A4WP's labor sooner rather than later. To find out more about Rezence and A4WP, go on and hit the source link below.
BlackBerry Z30 hits Verizon on November 14th for $200 on-contract
We knew the BlackBerry Z30 was headed to Verizon as a US-exclusive, but now we actually have a date for it: November 14th. Starting this Thursday, BlackBerry's 5-inch flagship will be made available to Big Red subscribers for $200 with a new two-year agreement, or for $23/month (for 24 months) on the operator's Edge upgrade plan. Regardless of the financing route you choose to take, that chunk of change will grant you access to BlackBerry's latest 10.2 update and all the "prosumer" perks it affords: in-app BBM messaging, notification previews, and the new BB Priority Hub. But with BlackBerry on the ever-increasing downturn, you'd be forgiven for passing this one up -- wireless charging, be damned.
Google debuts new wireless charging pad with support for Nexus 5 and 7
Last year, Google unveiled a new wireless charging pad alongside the Nexus 4 and Nexus 10, and the company has taken advantage of 2013 to come up with another one. This new charging pad has been announced in tandem with the Nexus 5, and will include support for it and the Nexus 7. It's supposed to go on sale in the Play Store today, though pricing is still an unknown. So what's different this time around? The new pad, which should work with any device that offers Qi compatibility, has been completely redesigned (it's shaped like a square instead of a hockey puck) and now features magnets that will make it easier for devices to stick on it -- provided those phones and tablets in question have magnets built in as well. We'll have more information about the chargers as we get it, so stay tuned! Nicole Lee contributed to this post.
Future Sony smartphones could recharge wirelessly in just an hour
Yes, it's futuristic, but that ponderous trickle of energy from base station to device isn't great for impatient types. Sony, however, thinks that it's solved the problem of slow wireless charging with its latest invention. The new unit, based on a forthcoming version of the Qi standard, promises to pump 10 to 15 watts of energy into your device -- theoretically cutting charging times down to just an hour. While so much power would normally cause your smartphone to overheat and combust, chip and power company Rohm promises that its new control chips can handle the temperature issues. Unfortunately, we won't be seeing this hardware turn up in Xperia phones until the second half of 2014, but at least that means we've got some time to recycle all of our cables.
Alliance for Wireless Power and Bluetooth SIG team on smarter charging stations
Wireless charging stations aren't currently very bright, but they're about to learn some new tricks. The Alliance for Wireless Power and the Bluetooth SIG are collaborating on an updated A4WP specification that uses Bluetooth Smart to manage wireless charging sessions. Future Bluetooth-equipped stations should optimize power delivery, prioritize charging for multiple devices and launch apps; you could order a meal by setting your phone down at a restaurant table, for instance. Just when we'll see these smart stations isn't certain, though. When the first A4WP-ready products aren't likely to reach the market until next year, it could be a long time before wireless chargers become truly multi-talented.
