We live in a tangled nest of wires, constantly replacing ones that break and get lost. Worst of all, if you forget to plug-in, phones die when you need them the most. The newest innovation in charging technology was unveiled by Palm back in 2009 and the technology hasn’t really changed all that much in nine years. After all these years, it is still a charging pad. The wireless charging pads would be acceptable but there are quite a few limitations that need to be addressed. First of all, you can’t use your phone while it’s charging and each section of pad can only be used for charging one device at a time. If you have a lot of devices, you will need multiple pads everywhere or a giant pad to charge them all at once. Over the years, multiple companies have promised wireless power with the use of Microwaves, Ultrasound, and Lasers, but none of these technologies are safe at power levels needed to charge a phone.
How do we get true wireless charging?
The MIT media lab has been working on a new way to power medical devices and in collaboration with China’s Tsinghua university. The team had a breakthrough, an historic mathemetical proof that unlocked the solution to wireless power by the bending of magnetic fields. The Pi wireless charger is world’s first contactless wireless charger that works on the safe magnetic charging standard “Qi”, which has been used by almost every wireless charger and smartphones with wireless technology. This means that Pi charger will work with any smartphone (iPhone 8, iPhone X, Samsung Galaxy, LG G7, etc) with wireless charging capability.
The wireless charging pads were very limited as you had to place the device so that it has physical contact with the pad. Not only that, the device also has to be parallel to the receiver to get wireless power. The Pi’s patented wireless charging technology can power the devices at any angle.
“Pi is unique in the power space because we are working on multi-device, orientation agnostic, wireless power” – John MacDonald, CEO and co-founder
Pi wireless charger can charge more than 4 devices at once with up to 10W of power per device. Pi’s charging technology doesn’t require the user to place the device on a specific pad and it can also adjust its magnetic field by sensing a device’s low battery based on the position of the device.
Pi’s first product applies to phones and small consumer devices in the United States. In the next five years, they will bring the wireless technology to variety of applications around the world. Thanks to the $11 million raised in funding, Pi is also looking to expand into workplace wireless power solutions.
“We know—and a lot of people in industry know—better wireless charging is possible…And it’s going to happen, and we’re kind of at the forefront of that.” – John MacDonald
If you can’t afford to wait until the Pi wireless charger is available, you can check out our comparison of the wireless charging pads available right now.
Source: Pi charging
I am officially a tech addict and enjoy providing my views on matters related to this industry. I am always interested in trying out new tech gadgets and I have owned multiple smartphones including the legendary HTC One, SGS2, Nexus 4, iPhone 4, 5S, 6S, XR, Note 9. You can ask me any tech related questions in the comment section or on twitter @hookedNav