Like the Beta vs. VHS and HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray battles of years gone by, wireless charging technology has had a difficult time establishing itself thanks to dueling standards. But a new challenger, the Alliance 4 Wireless Power and its consumer-friendly Rezence brand, might finally have what’s needed to take wireless charging mainstream.
     |
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.
Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals, Mobile
Source: Bluetooth SIG
Qualcomm, the founding member of Alliance for Wireless Power (or A4WP in short), made a surprise move today by joining the management board of the rival Wireless Power Consortium (or WPC), the group behind the already commercially available Qi standard. This is quite an interesting development considering how both alliances have been openly critical of each other, and yet now there’s a chance of seeing just one standard getting the best of both worlds. That is, of course, dependent on Qualcomm’s real intentions behind joining the WPC.
Source: Wireless Power Consortium
The Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP), a consortium working to establish a new wireless charging standard, hasn’t been around for terribly long — Samsung and Qualcomm joined forces to create the organization just over a year ago — but it’s planning to make waves as quickly as possible. One of the most effective ways to do exactly that, then, would be to persuade large players in the mobile industry to join along, and Intel certainly meets that qualification. The company announced this afternoon that it has officially joined the A4WP’s Board of Directors. This move doesn’t guarantee that we’ll be soon seeing Intel-powered devices with built-in wireless charging capabilities, but it’s at least a solid indication that the folks in Santa Clara are mindful of (and intrigued by) the potential that near-field magnetic resonance tech holds.
Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals, Mobile, Intel
The Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP), a group created through the joint efforts of Qualcomm and Samsung, is getting ready to tackle the growing wireless charging market by introducing its very own standard to compete against the likes of the WPC. This morning the consortium, which claims TI, Powermat and Deutsche Telekom (among several others) as members, not only went into greater detail on its plans for the future but also brought along some prototype pads and embedded furniture to show us.
The A4WP’s solution is a “non-radiative magnetic resonance-based wireless power transfer ecosystem” — in short, it allows your phone, tablet or other A4WP-certified gadget (such as light bulbs, as demonstrated above) to charge from a small distance. What does this mean to you, dear consumer? In short, your device doesn’t have to be directly touching the pad in order to receive a charge; instead, you could place your phone on top of a notebook or other obstruction (heck, you could even stack your phone on top of another phone or tablet) and still power up your handset. lt will also allow you to place more than one device on the same pad — and even more than one device type, so tablets and phones can charge together in harmony despite the fact that they both have different power requirements — and move them around anywhere on the pad without interrupting the charge. These are key differentiators that make A4WP’s option a very tempting one for the general user.
Continue reading Hands-on with Alliance for Wireless Power’s charging pad prototypes
Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals, Tablets, Wireless, Mobile, Samsung
The Alliance for Wireless Power’s (A4WP) board approved its spec on January 2, 2013 — the spec itself was approved back in October — and we’re already seeing them showing off some of the capabilities we’ll benefit form as consumers. One of the key differences in the A4WP spec is being touted as spatial freedom which will see greater flexibility in how the wireless power is integrated into devices and even surfaces. Multiple devices can be charged at once even if they each have different power requirements and the devices don’t even need to physically touch the surface — so feel free to stack your tablets and phones one on top of each other. We’re all for convenient charging as long as our furniture still looks pretty and isn’t at risk of catching on fire. PR is after the break if you’re inspired to give it a read.
Continue reading Alliance for Wireless Power shows off its spec’s spatial freedom
Filed under: Peripherals, Wireless, Science
It’s not quite a “Dear John” letter, but we’re sure the Wireless Power Consortium is heartbroken all the same. One of its key members, TI, has just signed up for the Alliance for Wireless Power to build cable-free charging on what’s effectively a competing standard. The chip designer doesn’t view the move as abandoning a long-time partner, though — it remains part of the WPC and plans to produce Qi-based wireless power chipsets alongside future A4WP components. Without any related chips to announce, there’s a long wait left before we know how well TI can juggle the two charging formats without appearing to play favorites. We’d recommend that the WPC not grow too attached in the meantime.
Continue reading TI joins the Alliance for Wireless Power, tells the WPC it can still be friends
Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals, Mobile
Design by committee might not be the death knell for technology after all. Over four months after the Alliance for Wireless Power was founded in earnest, the coalition has already greenlit a specification for its partners to work from. The guideline lets device makers start building devices that charge through a magnetic resonance technology more forgiving of distance and material than Qi while simplifying the process through short-range wireless formats like Bluetooth 4.0. While the A4WP group hasn’t made all the details public, it’s holding meetings this week to speed up the commercialization process — it’s here that we’ll learn whether the corporate bureaucracy is just as quick at getting wireless charging hardware into our hands as it is handshaking on standards.
Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals, Tablets
Alliance for Wireless Power approves its specification, edges closer to truly cable-free charging originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Oct 2012 01:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | Comments
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
