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Wireless Power Group Sees Standard Within 6 Months

Posted by Soulskill on from the spooky-power-at-a-distance dept.

alphadogg writes "The group developing a standard for wireless charging expects to complete its first specification within six months, opening the door for makers of cell phones, digital cameras and other devices to bring compatible products to market. Wireless charging lets consumers place gadgets on a mat that plugs into a wall outlet, and have the devices recharge automatically without needing to plug in each one. Apart from the gee-whiz factor, it's supposed to make life more convenient by letting people walk into their home or office, toss their gadgets onto a mat to recharge and forget about them."

4 of 152 comments (clear)

  1. Not going to happen... by Darkness404 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    We've tried doing this with physical plugs to no avail, even if one half conforms to a standard there will always be a few very popular device manufacturers -cough- Apple -cough- who will break the trend and inconvenience a large amount of users.

    --
    Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
  2. Pointless by Samy+Merchi · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I don't really see the point. As long as you have to put the device in a specific location anyway, I don't see that it's much of an improvement over having to connect it with your charger. You have to connect it with a location just the same, with this new tech, just the plug is different (a pad vs a plug).

    Wake me when you have a tech that charges my mobile from the moment I step in my home door and leave my mobile in my jacket pocket hanging in the foyer.

    Until that use case can be satisfied, I think this is just the same-old, same-old.

    1. Re:Pointless by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 4, Informative

      as someone who builds (diy) and also fixes commercial gear, let me splain one thing to you.

      the jacks are pure shit and they fail in very short times if they see any use at all. most plugs have minimal strain relief and there is NONE at the socket side of things.

      if you go socketless, you have one less thing on the (mp3, phone, etc) to break on its main board.

      of course, you still have the line-out (etc) to worry about breaking, but repeated chargings on cheap connectors (they ALl are cheap chinese connectors) isn't ever a good thing. removing them is a good thing.

      --

      --
      "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
  3. This should be BANNED! by upuv · · Score: 4, Insightful

    OK does any one else see this as completely nuts?

    At the moment the power output is relatively low. 5 watts ish. Lets think about this. This is BROADCAST POWER. It's going to leak into everything around it. There will be no such thing as 95% efficient transfer of power. So where does this residual power go. Well into everything around it. The closer something is the more it will receive.

    Very simple chemistry here. Entropy increase with energy. Entropy can simple be defined as the desire of a substance to reach it most random and natural state. ( There is probably a more accurate definition than that. ) AKA Entropy is all about things BREAKING DOWN. So if we add energy to a "thing" it ultimately will break down faster.

    I'm sorry but I don't want to be walking around in yet more energy radiation fields. Especially one designed to transmit POWER AKA ENERGY.

    5 watts gives way to 10 watts gives away to 25 watts gives away to stupid amounts of power. As "improvements" and legislation allow higher and higher output.

    This also strikes me as the most un-green tech out there. Simply a device that radiates POWER.