iPhones That Charge Over Wi-Fi? Apple Is Working On It

[Guest]

Apple has been granted a patent that could change the game for wireless charging.

iPhones That Charge Over Wi-Fi? Apple Is Working On It : Read more

 

[hausjam]

I am not convinced current "wireless charging" (which is not in any way wireless, but that's another argument) is must-have technology. All it takes is for me (or more likely my kids) to bump the table where my phone is "wirelessly" charging, and I wake up in the morning to a dead battery. No thanks.

 

[Six4One]

Hausjam, I agree with current tech. But this article is talking about charging over wifi and cellular signals. Your phone would be constantly charging if it had a signal. Knocking it off the table wouldn't disconnect the charging.

 

[hausjam]

Hausjam, I agree with current tech. But this article is talking about charging over wifi and cellular signals. Your phone would be constantly charging if it had a signal. Knocking it off the table wouldn't disconnect the charging.

I was referring to this passage in the article:
"Apple has been one of the laggards in that space, and its absence from the wireless charging market has earned it some criticism from those who believe it's a must-have feature for any handset."

I applaud Apple for not adding Inductive Charging (as everyone SHOULD be calling it) as it's added cost and hardware, however small, that is fairly useless. Though I suspect they probably will add it this year, lest the masses finally wake up and start asking why their iphones don't have something the Galaxies have had for a few years now.

 

[hausjam]

BTW, I know three people with the Galaxy S7, and not one of them even understands what wireless charging is, much less that their handsets are capable of it.

 

[MtnFireGuy]

Your router's signal strength is subject to the inverse square law. If you are 30' from your router, the router would have to use some very high wattage to get enough power to your phone to charge its battery. Besides the inefficiency of that (since less than a tenth of a percent of the broadcast energy would actually hit your phone), at some point, you will run into FCC limits on broadcast levels. Those limits are there for two main reasons: 1) your safety, and 2) interference with neighboring transmitters. I think this is "pie in the sky".