Inductive Chargers have been around for awhile the problem has been that different chargers work with different devices. The Wireless Power Consortium is trying to create a universal standard for wireless charging called Qi. One of the first companies to embrace this standard is Energizer who is a winner of the CES Innovations 2011 Design and Engineering Award Honorees in the Portable Power Category This category is based on the following criteria
- Engineering qualities* Aesthetic and design qualities
- The product’s intended use/function and user value
- Unique/novel features that consumers would find attractive
- How the design and innovation of the product compares to other products in the marketplace.
A winning device in this category for CES 2011 is the Energizer Inductive Charger What makes this charger different from other chargers is it uses the Qi standard. This means that any device that is also Qi enabled can use this charger no matter the manufacture, including mp3 players, digital cameras and phones. Devices are enabled by placing them in a sleeve that are then placed on the charger. Energizer will be introducing a QI sleeve for the Iphone 4 and also the Blackberry Curve 8900 along with their already existing sleeves for the Iphone 3GS/3G. As this standard catches on we can expect to see more sleeves for more devices. The Energizer Inductive Charger has two charging zones and a usb port for more charging possibilities. The charge itself will be around $89.00 and the sleeves will run around $35.00. Hopefully at some point the sleeves will no longer be necessary and Qi will become part of devices. I also wonder how well this device will work in a real world situation.
The Energizer Recharge Smart also won a CES Innovation 2011 Design and Engineering Award Honorees in the Portable Power Category. This recharging systems allows the user to see exactly how much juice is left in the batter, How long it will take to charge it. The Energizer Recharge Smart will also tell you if the battery is no longer rechargeable or if you put the wrong type of battery in the charger. The Energizer Recharge Smart charges both AA and AAA NiMH rechargeable batteries. The charger will have a MSPR of $19.99. As people have more portable devices having an easy way to charge them becomes increasingly important.
Dave Baarman presents Fulton eCoupled Wireless Power (ecoupled.com). They have systems for wirelessly powering things such as cell phones and even systems using conductive ink for “smart packaging” that actually lights up the packaging when placed on a special conductive grocery store shelf. You are going to be blown away by where this is headed. Listen to the full interview and post commentary to get some insights into where ecoupled charging and what symbol to look for when you are purchasing electronics.