An Open Standard For Wireless Charging?

Charging portable devices without needing to carry a power adapter sounds handy, and it's slowly getting closer to widespread use. IPAQ2000 writes that AT&T, Google and Starbucks announced yesterday "that they have joined the Power Matters Alliance (PMA). Founded by Powermat Technologies and Procter & Gamble, the PMA's Honorary Chairman is Google's Vint Cerf – one of the fathers of the Internet — and its board now also includes AT&T, Duracell, Google and Starbucks. The U.S. Government's Energy Star and Federal Communications Commission – both PMA members — are board observers." (How does Starbucks come into it? They're "testing PMA-compatible Wireless Charging Spots in select Boston stores.")

Comments

Convenient but inefficient

[Coisiche]

It seems slightly strange that when a lot of effort is devoted to improving power efficiency this is championed when it's just favouring convenience over efficiency. Maybe one day people will regret that.

Re:....mmmmkay

[vlm]

I'll put it right next to the flying car and the fusion generator.

Your wireless charging pad will be easier to find than that.. it'll be under the sleeping cat. If X% of the power gets turned into heat, and cats have a magic ability to find horizontal sources of heat and then sleep on them, simply locate the sleeping cat to find the wireless charger underneath the cat. As for the phone? Oh that's on the floor with a broken screen, fluffy knocked it off the charger.