Furniture has wireless charging stations and adapter cases built-in
This month Swedish furniture-maker Ikea is launching a line of home furnishings – lamps, side tables, knick-knacks – equipped with wireless charging capabilities.
And, no, you won’t be required solder together the electronics that make the devices work.
From the company’s website: “With smartphones being such a natural part of our lives, we want the charging part to become a natural part of our homes. As a result, we’ve created a collection of wireless chargers that make charging a lot more available, yet a lot less obvious (goodbye, messy cables!).”
The initial product line includes five table, floor and work lamps, as well numerous decorative charging pads.
To get some juice, you simply set your smartphone on the plus sign that indicates the wireless charging station. There’s also a wireless charging station that can be fitted into other pieces of furniture.
The Wireless Power Consortium developed what’s called the Qi standard, which sets benchmarks for wireless charging products. Essentially, there’s a power transmission pad that wirelessly sends power into a device with a similarly equipped receiver.
Wireless charging is a hot topic in the tech industry but not very thoroughly utilized.
Last year, Powermat won a deal with international coffee retailer Starbucks that will eventually put wireless charging systems into stores across the U.S., allowing customers to place their mobile devices onto tables and charge them while they use them.
The rollout will start-in San Francisco, Calif., and spread to other West Coast cities before the nationwide deployment.
