Have you ever left home in a rush, arrived at office, sat down and pulled out your mobile phone only to find out it’s almost out of power? Well that’s a situation most of us have experienced in one way or another. The most annoying thing is that probably nobody in the office brought a phone charger with them to work; or even if they did, it probably does not work with your phone model.
This type of situation could be a thing of the past if Qi really takes off. Qi is a wireless power standard brought about by the Wireless Power Consortium. This week, the consortium finally lay down their definition for the interface of the low power specification. Currently though, the details of the specifications are only available internally. However, come August 30th the entire world will be able to find out as the specs are made public.
The spec can hit a maximum of 5 Watts and if that seems like peanuts, consider this – most mobile devices need only 2.5 watts to recharge their batteries. Therefore, power-wise this standard is more than enough to keep consumers happy. Devices that want to make use of this technology will have to pass a few spec tests prescribed by the WPC. The final test will be done by third parties and thereafter, they will be allowed to display the Qi logo on the product.
The WPC is very insistent that this testing process is adhered to strictly, as it would enable consumers to build up trust on the name. To draw a parallel, having a Qi logo would be the same as saying “Has a USB port”. Consumers would know that any number of Qi branded devices they have will work with any other Qi branded wireless charger.