Slashdot Mirror
Apple Cancels Long-delayed AirPower Charging Mat (venturebeat.com)
One and a half years after announcing a wireless charging mat for iPhones, Apple Watches, and AirPods called AirPower, Apple has unexpectedly cancelled the accessory. From a report: It notably missed its expected shipping dates multiple times, including a potential release alongside the second-generation version of AirPods and charging case this week. "After much effort, we've concluded AirPower will not achieve our high standards and we have cancelled the project," said Apple SVP of Hardware Engineering Dan Riccio in a statement today. "We apologize to those customers who were looking forward to this launch. We continue to believe that the future is wireless and are committed to push the wireless experience forward." Mark Gurman of Bloomberg, adds, "This is fairly unprecedented and unbelievable. The AirPods even have a picture of the AirPower on the box."
And here we have a stunning example of the vaporware lifecycle ...
1) Coming real soon now, the super awesomeness
2) Coming a little later than planned, the mostly super awesomeness
3) Coming still further down the road, the almost kinda sorta super awesomeness
4) Coming very far in the future, something which may or may not resemble what we promised as the super awesomeness but with fewer features
5) Well, as it turns out, we have no idea how to build that super awesomeness after all and we're cancelling it
If the product doesn't exist in a demo-able form, it's vaporware, and it may never exists at all.
This sounds like Apple is starting to become a little more prone to vaporware.
Maybe Apple was better off being secretive and then surprising us? Wait until they get it right, rather than promising and then under delivering.
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
ÃoeAfter much effort, weÃ(TM)ve concluded Slashdot will support Unicode before we ship AirPowerÃ
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
This was different. This could charge multiple devices placed anywhere on the mat. You had a single charge cord and didn't have to worry about where they were placed.
And a Palm Pilot is just a notebook with electronics and a cell phone is a landline with the wire cut.
Apple has been innovative in the sense that they know what people want out of the product and develop it out. There were cell phones and smart phones when the iPhone came out (most notably Windows Mobile) but they sucked and nobody wanted to buy one, they were indeed a Palm Pilot and a Cell Phone in one package but the software treated it as two different modules, no integration, you had to sync contacts manually on and off the SIM card, if you were lucky you got IR to work to transfer data from your computer, but otherwise you had a serial connection (yes a 9-pin D-Sub) to use it.
Computers existed before the Apple II but they were for geeks and curiosity. Nobody knew how to put them in the classroom, living room and make it usable.
Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
They've always just took existing things, put polish on it, and convinced people they needed it
In a way, that's what innovation is: taking either new ideas, or improvements on existing things, and putting them out there. Innovation is not invention, but application.
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
Hm. I have a Note 9 and an induction charger. It's a flat, coaster-looking disc. I drop the phone on the charger at night and pick it up in the morning fully charged. Neither the phone nor the charging device get hot to the touch. My only complaint, in fact, is the bright blue LED on the charger that lights up the room to my dark-adjusted eyes. I'm thinking of putting a piece of electrician's tape over it. But other than that, the setup works absolutely as advertised.
Point is, this is a known technology. Competitors are doing it well. I have to wonder what happened to Apple. Did they discover something we don't know about? Like, these things randomly explode? Or the generated field kills bees or something? Attracts aliens? Causes mutation in pets?
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
Hm. That's actually... an interesting idea. I'm sorry now they couldn't get it to work.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
I would argue that the Newton was pretty innovative.
A mere four years after GRiDPad, so innovative
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"