Wireless charging is great, but it’s currently plagued by a standards war. There’s the Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP), Qi, and the up and coming Power Matters Alliance (PMA).
Qualcomm decided to go with A4WP, and earlier this week they announced that they’ve “begun shipping on an evaluation basis the next generation of wireless power” technology that they’re calling WiPower. Now just to be clear, WiPower is compatible with A4WP. What makes WiPower special is that it works at distances of up to 45 millimeters. That’s nearly two inches. Why is that important? Because current wireless charging technology requires physical contact with a charging pad. Equally as important is the fact that today’s wireless charging tech requires that you place a device on a very precise location. If you’re using WiPower however, you can just plop down your phone wherever you see fit. There’s a great video demoing this stuff on Qualcomm’s website, but unfortunately I can’t embed it. The important question is when will this stuff hit the market? Qualcomm doesn’t say, but I have a gut feeling that it’ll take at least a year. Making a device that’s capable of being wirelessly charged isn’t impossible, it’s just costly, and in an industry where margins are either zero or negative for anyone other than Samsung or Apple, there’s no reason to invest in this stuff.
