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Friday, March 08, 2013, 08:11 am
Rumor: Both Apple & Samsung may introduce wireless charging in 2013 smartphones
Samsung's upcoming flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S IV, will offer inductive wireless charging as an add-on ability, while Apple could add the same functionality to its next iPhone, according to a new rumor.Taiwan tech industry publication DigiTimes, which has a spotty track record, reported on Friday that both Samsung and Apple are "expected" to add wireless charging to their 2013 flagship smartphones, citing unnamed industry sources.
"Apple is likely to adopt the wireless charging technology developed internally," the report said, "but it remains unknown if the next-generation iPhone will come with built-in wireless charging capability or with other attached accessories," the report said.
The details on Samsung are more specific, claiming that the Galaxy S IV will feature Qi wireless charging technology run by the Wireless Power Consortium. Users will reportedly be required to buy replacement back covers and an accessory charging pad to be able to recharge their handset without plugging in a cable.
Industry insiders reportedly believe that Samsung's adoption of Qi standards could help make wireless charging a mainstream feature among smartphones. Competing standards are available from Alliance for Wireless Power and Power Matters Alliance.
Apple has shown interest in wireless charging, and took it one step further to contact-less charging in a patent application detailed by AppleInsider last November. Apple described its method as a "realistic and practical" way to provide over-the-air electricity to low power devices within a distance of one meter.
Apple's concept for a wireless charging accessory would be able to provide electricity to a number of devices located within the near field, or "virtual charging area." Low-power devices cited by Apple include a mouse and keyboard.
Apple also secured a more traditional inductive wireless charging patent this January.
Some accessory makers already offer special cases that give the iPhone wireless charging capabilities. Among major smartphone venders, the now defunct Palm Pre was the first to offer inductive wireless charging when paired with the Touchstone dock accessory.
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Previous Comments View All
There. I fixed that for you.
http://techland.time.com/2012/05/14/digitimes-apple-rumors/
"But the thing is, Digitimes isn't just wrong some of the time. When it comes to the big Apple stories, it's wrong most of the time. Sometimes wildly so. It's reported that its sources had said that Apple was going to release MacBooks with AMD processors, iMacs with touch screens, iPhones with built-in projectors and iPads with OLED displays. Those products, and others mentioned in Digitimes articles, never showed up. . . "
I predict that we'll see an iPhone without any port or SIM tray within the next 3 years. Everything will be built-in or wireless. It's the logical conclusion of Apple's minimalist design philosophy.
Loved wireless charging on WebOS devices, especially the way they went into a different mode with speakerphone, etc.
We've had too many charging connectors break on other well used portable devices, from HTC phones to my MacBook's frayed MagSafe (that an Apple Store charged me $80 to replace because I "didn't have an appointment to see a Genius to knock the price down").
Now what would be really nice (but not likely) is if everyone had compatible chargers.
Would never leave this plugged in so it wouldn't be of any use to me. Not interested in running up my electrical bill for something as gimmicky as 'wireless' charging. DVR's have already been found to use more electricity in a month than refrigerators. This wouldn't use nearly as much vampire power but still more than I'd like just have such a minor convenience.
Would never leave this plugged in so it wouldn't be of any use to me. Not interested in running up my electrical bill for something as gimmicky as 'wireless' charging. DVR's have already been found to use more electricity in a month than refrigerators. This wouldn't use nearly as much vampire power but still more than I'd like just have such a minor convenience.
There's more involved than you think. When you figure that the number of phones in the world number in the billions, even a few watts of waste power adds up to a couple of full-size nuclear or coal units. We can't afford to be wasting power on that scale.
And in my experience, there's not really any extra convenience. I have wireless charging for the handsets on our Wii. In order to use it, I have to first find where I put it, then plug it in, then carefully align the handset with the charger (if you don't get it exactly right, it won't charge) - and do all of that hours ahead of when I'll need it. Alternatively, I could leave it plugged in and wasting power all the time, but I refuse to do that. Even if I did, though, it takes far longer to align the handset with the charger than it takes to plug in a connector.
We've had too many charging connectors break on other well used portable devices, from HTC phones to my MacBook's frayed MagSafe (that an Apple Store charged me $80 to replace because I "didn't have an appointment to see a Genius to knock the price down").
Yeah, wireless chargers never break. /s
In any event, if you've had that many broken connectors, then you need to handle your devices with a little more respect. In all the phones, tablets, and laptops around our house, we never had a failure - with just one exception. I had a MacBook Pro which had the first version of MagSafe and it failed at the connect. Since Apple admitted it was a design failure, they replaced it at no charge.
Rumor or not, this is a no brainer and will happen in the next few years. You will simply see the Apple mobile devices start charging once within a certain range of a charging base station. I have been saying this for years and seriously have no doubts. I hope Scamsung go for a toothbrush type system and Apple opt for the more sci fi Witricty (http://www.witricity.com) style system with a reasonable in room range to set them apart from the scumbags.
Rumor or not, this is a no brainer and will happen in the next few years. You will simply see the Apple mobile devices start charging once within a certain range of a charging base station. I have been saying this for years and seriously have no doubts. I hope Scamsung go for a toothbrush type system and Apple opt for the more sci fi Witricty (http://www.witricity.com) style system with a reasonable in room range to set them apart from the scumbags.
I just don't see it. Apple is very environmentally conscious and I don't see them implementing this type of wasteful scheme.
Rumor or not, this is a no brainer and will happen in the next few years. You will simply see the Apple mobile devices start charging once within a certain range of a charging base station. I have been saying this for years and seriously have no doubts. I hope Scamsung go for a toothbrush type system and Apple opt for the more sci fi Witricty (http://www.witricity.com) style system with a reasonable in room range to set them apart from the scumbags.
Unfortunately there are some physical limitations imposed by object dimensions in near field operation - which is necessary for good efficiency - so it's hard to see a charging distance on a room scale for a small device.
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Taiwan tech industry publication DigiTimes, which has never been correct in the history of the universe, reported on Friday that both Samsung and Apple are "expected" to add wireless charging to their 2013 flagship smartphones, citing unnamed industry sources.
There. I fixed that for you.