Qualcomm and Verizon join the Wireless Power Consortium board, the alliance behind the Qi wireless charging standard

Qi Nokia

Terminal fall, Windows Telephone joined the globe of wireless charging with the introducing of the Nokia Lumia 920 and the HTC 8X on Verizon. The characteristic was met with mixed reviews, but anyone who has used it will show to its usefulness. It'due south a shame devices like the Lumia 925 and 1020 need covers to add the feature. All Windows Phone devices that can charge wirelessly practice so by using the Qi wireless standard.

Qi is currently the leading standard for wireless charging, but others are challenging it. So what happens now that Qualcomm and Verizon have joined the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC), the management board for the Qi standard?

Qualcomm currently sits as a founding fellow member of Brotherhood for Wireless Ability (A4WP), a grouping that rivals the WPC with their own standard. So information technology is a little odd that is has joined the WPC. AT&T and Starbucks have both publically backed another group promoting their own wireless charging standard called the Power Matters Brotherhood (PMA). That'south correct, we have three different groups backing iii different charging standards. Which is why it's interesting that Qualcomm, who founded A4WP with Samsung, has joined the WPC.

Both the A4WP and WPC accept been critical towards the other with their respective standards, fifty-fifty though the Qi standard is well established and backed by 172 companies. Its only fault is existence labelled every bit "first generation" technology for how information technology implements inductive charging. The engineering that A4WP is working on is pretty advanced, for example both groups are working to enable longer range charging. They're both implementing magnetic resonance as a way to achieve this, just the A4WP is able to output 24W vs. 15W for Qi.

The implementation from the A4WP also allows multiple devices with different power requirements to charge on the same pad, something that Qi can't do at present or in the foreseeable futurity. However, Qi does claim greater efficiency by focusing on outputting uniform power.

Qi inside

And then why did Qualcomm bring together? The company released a statement to Engadget that claims joining the WPC lath was a logical footstep to grow the wireless power industry beyond the get-go generation, but that it believes A4WP represents the most mature and best implementation of wireless charging.

What can we have away from all this? That we're not any closer to i wireless charging standard to rule them all and won't exist for a few more years. WPC is backed by heavyweights like Nokia, HTC, Sony, LG, Verizon, and others. While PMA has AT&T and Starbucks backing it. And then we accept the A4WP backed by Qualcomm and Samsung. It'due south a flustercluck at the moment.

Which could very well be why Nokia has been opting to make wireless charging optional via cases and shells for your phone. If Qi doesn't win out as a standard, all they would need to do is brand a instance with the appropriate standard and you would be able to wireless charge your device at whatever establishment you lot frequent. Nokia is only hedging their bet. If PMA or A4WP wins out, your device won't be stuck in the by.

What practise you think?

Source: Wireless Power Consortium, Via: Engadget

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