Apple may have struggled to get its AirPower multi-device charger to work, but new technology on the horizon promises to make wireless charging truly wireless, and Xiaomi is the one. last business to promise a world without charging cables, we just don’t know when it will actually happen.
Wireless charging in its current form is really handy, allowing you to place a device like a smartphone or headset on a platform to recharge its battery without the need for a cable. But at the same time, is also restrictive, requiring you to leave a device on a desk or side table until it’s charged. True wireless charging is the perfect solution because as long as you are in the same room as a wireless power transmitter, your phone will charge wherever it is, even if you always use it in your hand.
It sounds like total science fiction, but the technology is out there and in 2016 a company called That is to say proven working prototypes of its Cota wireless charging system at CES. An int phone of choiceupdated with a special case
) could be taken anywhere in the company’s booth and would continue to charge indefinitely. Today Xiaomi announced its own wireless charging ecosystem called “Mi Air Charge Technology” which appears to offer features (and limitations) similar to Ossia’s Cota technology.
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Instead of wires or a pair of aligned magnetic coils, Mi Air Charge uses a transmitter (which is roughly the size of a portable air conditioner) equipped with antennas that accurately determine the location of a device, then use beamforming. To convey “millimeter-wide waves” to her. A separate, smaller collection of antennas works as a receiver inside another device, converting wireless signals into around 5 watts of power, which the iPhone’s small cube charger provides when it is. plugged into an electrical outlet.
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Xiaomi promises that the system can power multiple devices at the same time, whether it’s a smartphone, tablet, headset or even a pair of wireless batteries like Ossia also demonstrated a few years ago this ensured that old devices never needed a new pair. Distances are still limited to several meters, roughly the size of an average room, but the technology is not hampered by physical obstacles, so the rugged power transmitter can potentially be hidden out of sight. .
It’s exciting to see more companies announcing wireless charging solutions like this because it helps legitimize the technology, but unfortunately, till date all we have are ads. Since debuting at CES 2016, Ossia has yet to release a wireless charging product available to consumers. And Xiaomi’s announcement today doesn’t even include vague promises about how long it will take the company to make its Mi Air Charge technology available outside of its own R&D labs.
There are considerable challenges in making this technology safe and reliable, and unfortunately it is not backward compatible.. In the future, Xiaomi could include the compact antenna receiver array in its future smartphones, but its iPhone will not work with the system. without special charging case, or Apple agrees to play well with Xiaomi. There is no doubt that true wireless charging will one day be common; We could even cover entire cities with wireless power instead of needing a transmitter in every room of a house, but for now, it’s still nothing more than a tantalizing technological demonstration.
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