wireless chargers: no more cables?

Imagine the scene: you go out for a business trip or a weekend trip.
You may have put mobile phones, laptops, MP3 players, digital cameras and hands-
Hold the game console.
But how will you power this electronic array?
With bulky chargers that take up a lot of suitcase space, it\'s almost impossible to tell-can you distinguish between a DS charger and a Scalextric power supply?
Every new technology breakthrough will bring more batteries.
Our electric gadgets at home, along with the charging devices they come with, add a box that\'s already overflowing and made up of different black blocks.
Although portable MP3 players, satellite navigation, mobile phones, e-readers, netbooks and blackberries and their associated chargers are certainly handy (
We are told that these chargers are inextricably linked to the device and must not be exchanged with any other charger on the market so as not to invalidate your warranty)
It has had a certain impact on our technical life.
To save them from hunting around, we always have them plugged in;
There was a heated debate about this wasted energy, but there is no denying that it all adds up.
When you see someone panic at the hotel and watch the last trace of battery life disappear, you can only shake your head sadly and think, well, I\'ll go there except for God\'s grace.
This is an angry state.
In our view, charging the battery should not be more complicated than filling the car with gasoline;
Pick things up and replace things that have already been used.
However, in fact, on the list of issues that consumer electronics companies have solved on our behalf, the ranking that makes the charging process more convenient is very low.
The charger packed with your product may not have been designed to irritate you, or it may not have been designed for the money to be unique --
The reason for the rotation-just to get the best effect from the device itself. Unusual-
In order to adapt to the various other electronics around it, it seems that the DC connector may be in a strange shape.
The battery itself has a different chemical composition to ensure the best performance of the price
Since the charging process is a chemical reaction, metal hors, lithium ion, lithium polymer, etc. It must be carried out under certain conditions to avoid damage to the battery or equipment.
Therefore, the best way to stop accidents and keep these conditions unchanged is to provide a proprietary charger.
\"Consumers don\'t necessarily know some subtleties,\" said Dave Baarman of Fulton Innovation Technology . \".
\"There are operating parameters, restrictions, and some chargers are voltage-
Control, some are current-
There are a variety of global regulatory issues that need to be addressed.
It becomes very difficult to design a product, not only to test it with your own power supply or charger, but also to test it with someone else\'s power supply or charger.
\"In recent months, more products have emerged on the market, which can be charged from the USB port on the computer through the micro-computer.
USB connector because the USB specification allows 5 v power supply to run on it.
However, this still requires you to carry your computer, associated power supply, and spare cables with you to use when you need to charge. (
Sometimes not even that easy, special drivers need to be installed on the computer in order to charge a particular device. )
More than a year ago, a forum including Nokia, Motorola and Samsung delegates agreed to remove the abnormality between the Chargers and set up a Micro Charger
The USB connector is the new standard, but the decision is still not reflected in the market-many products need more than 5 v power supply to charge even if there is.
However, when the upcoming USB 3.
The 0 specification was introduced later this year-for which the power output has been lifted-more devices should be able to charge in this way.
But while some efforts are focused on reducing the number of cables, the focus of the Wireless Power Alliance is to completely eliminate the cables and establish a charging solution to make the discussion about the connectors completely redundant.
Over the past five years, there have been prototypes and demos of how a wide variety of wireless power supplies work, but its successful introduction relies on devices that contain compatible circuits to receive power and deliver it to the battery-so, again, it is problematic to establish an agreed standard.
WPC recently launched such a measure, Fulton Innovation (
One of eight companies in the Consortium)
See this as an important moment: After years of innovation, it is now possible to create a wireless power supply that is small in size, relatively cheap in price and able to cope with different types of batteries.
\"That\'s why we call our solution \'smart wireless power\',\" Baarman said \'. \".
\"The unit communicates with the equipment;
The device tells us what its limits are, how it wants to run, how it wants to charge, and it adjusts dynamically.
Last week, at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Baarman\'s \"ecouplink\" prototype was presented, and you can charge the Bluetooth headset, A 3g iPhone and a toy helicopter-all of which have different power needs-by putting them on the surface.
\"When you put your device on it,\" he said, \"there is a magnet that pulls it to the right place and the light below turns on to tell you that it is charging and charging is OK.
Baarman lists the benefits of this technology.
\"Toys prepared for children under a certain age have battery covers that are screwed in place so that children cannot remove small parts;
Charging or replacing these batteries means taking out the screwdriver.
With the wireless power, you just pop it up at the top of the device.
We have finished the remote control;
We didn\'t give them a super battery. capacitor.
Our devices can charge these devices in 10 seconds, which will then charge them for four days-which is very convenient.
\"With the charger bundled with each device, there is no doubt that the company\'s revenue stream will be severely affected by the introduction of wireless power supplies.
But Baarman believes that the public\'s interests will offset the resistance of the industry.
\"Consumers are strongly protesting about this-people are asking why they need all of these chargers,\" he said . \".
\"Our equipment is being accepted in such a positive and powerful way that its launch must be good for the industry as a whole.
American scientists have designed a new way to improve your batteryof-
Concept charger last year (
In other words, they proved it could work in principle)
When they produce a knee stand that works in a similar way to a regenerative brake in a battery --
Drive the car and output an average of 5 w in a slow stroll.
This is enough to charge 10 phones.
Knee brace is not a particularly sexy idea, of course, but it\'s a good example of a passive charge that doesn\'t require any extra effort from us.
Mobile network Orange noticed the problems encountered by mobile phone users in a field in central Somerset, and commissioned research on portable kinetic energy
Drive the charger, enabling us to replenish the battery\'s decreasing reserve by shaking violently in the sound of Franz Ferdinand.
The result is a device called Dance charging-180g, a pack of cards of the same size, connected to your bicep through Velcro.
A prototype was built in Glastonbury for testing;
The market has not yet been entered.
The same company behind the dance charge also got four weeks to design a working prototype for wind power. charged device;
The result-the charging compartment-can be installed in tents and charge 100 phones per hour, although it is thought that this number depends not only on the breeze.
It\'s also gotwind.
Org-still looking for partners to bring their designs into the store.
It shows the charging compartment Mk2 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
The company announced plans to release a pedal-powered phone charger in 2007.
The idea behind the device is to help potential customers in developing countries.
\"For people living in emerging markets, energy is scarce,\" said Ed Zander, Motorola\'s chief executive . \"\"In south-
East Asia, rural China and Latin America, when we ride a bike, we can actually put it in and connect it to charge the device.
\"Oscar lemit, another designer, has developed similar devices-see www. oscarlhermitte. Details.