CNET News - Wednesday, August 9, 2017 at 4:00 AM How iPhone 8 could
change the wireless charging landscape - CNET As we approach the
expected September iPhone event, the gadget world is abuzz with
questions: Will there be two new iPhones or three? How much will the
presumed high-end OLED model cost? Will facial recognition fully
replace Touch ID, or merely be an alternative? And: will the iPhone
finally get wireless charging?
But that last one is a loaded question because "wireless" charging is
in the eye of the beholder.
Sure, you can place a Samsung Galaxy and many other Android phones
onto a charging pad without having to plug the phone into any charging
cable. And those same pads are increasingly built into countertops at
coffee shops, burger joints and even furniture you can buy at Ikea.
But those pads still need to be plugged into a wall outlet. The wire
is still there, it's just not attached directly to the phone.
Some current iPhone battery cases, like Mophie's Juice Pack, include
wireless charging compatibility.
Sarah Tew/CNET
That's a roundabout way of saying "wireless charging" is basically a
misnomer. Except when it isn't: "True" wireless charging -- in which
batteries get juiced up at distances measured in meters, not
centimeters -- is a real-world technology, too.
Wireless charging over a distance could be the real tech game changer,
allowing us to juice up our phones as soon as we walk into a room. The
technology is also a boon to the ever-increasing number of smart
devices in our lives, from portable speakers to hearing aids. It just
needs to get over the pesky questions over whether it's safe -- and
actually show up in a mass-market consumer device.
So, before we posit the question as to whether the next iPhones will
include wireless charging, let's start by untangling the different
technologies that Apple might incorporate.
Inductive charging: Qi vs. Powermat
Widely used for years in cordless electric toothbrushes, inductive
charging is the most common technology employed in most of today's "wireless"
charging devices and accessories. There are two major standards in the
space: Qi -- named for a Chinese word that means energy and is
pronounced "chee" -- and Powermat.
Both standards are also working to incorporate magnetic resonance
technology, which could charge over distances of up to 4 centimeters.
That would, for instance, mean that aligning your phone to the
charging pad "sweet spot" would be less of a hit-and-miss affair, or
that the charging pads could be hidden behind thin layers of wood or plastic.
The Samsung Galaxy S8 recharging on a Powermat inductive charger at a
Manhattan Starbucks.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Qi has been incorporated into phones from a variety of manufacturers,
and McDonald's has built Qi-compatible chargers into the furniture at
its restaurants. Powermat-infused tables, meanwhile, can be found in
some Starbucks and airport lounges.
The rivals are backed by two opposing standards organizations, too:
The Wireless Power Consortium for Qi, and the AirFuel Alliance for
Powermat. The latter was formed when Powermat and its Power Matters
Alliance merged with a third, rival wireless standard (confusingly
called the Alliance for Wireless Power, or A4WP) in 2014.
The good news is that the rivalry has been less of a zero-sum game in
recent years. Samsung, for one, has made its recent high-end Galaxy
phones (including the S7 and S8) compatible with both inductive
charging standards, so you can juice it up on a Qi-powered counter at
McDonald's and a Powermat-powered one at Starbucks.
'True' wireless charging: Energous and Powercast Forget about 4
centimeters. How about charging from a distance of 4 meters?
Or anywhere in an average-size room?
It's a pretty recent concept, but companies like Energous and
Powercast are producing technology that can more accurately be called
wire-free. Both use radio frequency (RF) energy, a charging method
that works similarly to Wi-Fi, that enables devices to charge when
within the range of a power transmitter.
Energous is the developer of WattUp, the wire-free technology that the
company claims is capable of charging anything from a mobile device to
various wearables like a hearing aid when located up to 15 feet (about
4.5
meters) from the transmitter. The first wire-free transmitter is
expected to hit the market before the end of the year, according to CEO Stephen
R.
Rizzone.
"Besides mobility, the idea of charging at a distance is very, very
important to IoT devices," said Rizzone. "Now what's happened, is that
you no longer have to run a cable to them, nor do you have to have a
large battery, that either has to be replaced or somehow recharged.
You can have a much smaller battery because you're continually getting
power from these transmitters."
Powercast demonstrated its distance-charging tech in New York City
earlier this summer.
Brianne Garrett/CNET
But there's a common concern: is it safe? The Federal Communications
Commission enforces the standards of the Food and Drug Administration
that determine how much power is safe enough to be absorbed by human
tissue -- and Rizzone says Energous is "very, very close" to getting
its first FCC approval.
Powercast, the other true wire-free company, has made some greater strides.
The company's Powercaster transmitters are already approved by the
FCC, and they've been available since 2010 -- but only in industrial,
commercial and military markets.
PowerSpot, Powercast's new standalone transmitter created for consumer
electronics, is still not available to consumers and isn't yet FCC approved.
The company hopes to also bring it to the market before the end of the year.
"The goal is for consumers to simply place or hang all enabled items
for recharging within range of a PowerSpot in their home or other
public places," said Charlie Greene, chief operating & technical
officer of Powercast.
Which way will Apple go?
All of this brings us back to the iPhone issue. Will Apple finally
jump on board the wireless power bandwagon? If so, which horse will it
back: Qi, Powermat -- or door no. 3? (You can buy third-party cases
for the iPhone that enable wireless charging, but the feature has yet
to be built in.) To date, Apple has two products that use inductive
charging: the Apple Watch and the AirPods wireless headphones. Both of
them, however, come with their own chargers, and neither appears to
work with any third-party wireless chargers -- Qi, Powermat or otherwise.
And while Apple has a penchant for proprietary standards -- iPhones
use Lightning cables rather than the emerging USB-C standard, for
instance -- the news in February that Apple had joined the Qi-backed
Wireless Power Consortium has some declaring that group the winner.
However, Apple's statement at the time was more equivocal: "Apple is
joining the Wireless Power Consortium to be able to participate and
contribute ideas to the open, collaborative development of future
wireless charging standards." (Neither Apple nor Qi responded to our
requests for comment earlier this week.)
The "wireless" inductive charger attaches to the Apple Watch via a magnet.
Sarah Tew/CNET
If Apple were to go with Qi, Powermat has implied it would do whatever
it takes to be compatible. Powermat "will continue to innovate and
develop new products and technology supporting all devices coming into
the market" the company said in a statement. "We recognize Apple's
ability to bring wireless charging into mainstream by the sheer volume
of iPhones in the market." Put another way: Powermat wants to ensure
that partners like Starbucks can service the tens of millions -- and
eventually hundreds of millions -- of iPhone owners, just as they do for
Android fans.
Could Apple wow the world with true long-distance wireless charging?
Energous CEO Rizzone has long touted a "top five" consumer electronics
partner, and the company received a $10 million investment from Apple
component supplier Dialog Semiconductor. Leapfrogging straight from no
wireless charging to true wireless charging would be an impressive
feat, but a material product from a possible Apple/Energous
partnership could also still be years away -- if it ever materializes at all.
The good news is that the wait for Apple's wireless charging plans
will be short. If the company sticks to its normal schedule, the new
iPhones should be announced in the first two weeks of September.
(Whatever wireless charging feature is announced, though, may be
delayed a few more weeks, according to a rumor from July.) The bad
news? It may be more convenient, but wireless charging is far less
efficient than a good old wired charger. A CNET test found that the
Galaxy
S8 took 3.5 hours to charge inductively, more than the typical 2 hours
it takes with a standard USB-C cable.
But fans of quick wired charging won't have to worry. Unlike the
headphone jack, we expect the iPhone's Lightning port won't be going
away anytime soon.
Original Article at:
https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-iphone-8-wireless-charging-possibiliti
es/#ft
ag=CAD590a51e
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