Back at CES 2010, Powermat showed us some pretty snazzy looking wireless charging mats and cases. While this was great and exciting being that the charging was wireless, you still had to snap on a relatively bulky case onto your smartphone or gadget to use it. However, Powermat showed us a number of OEM options they were working on where the batteries would have built-in technology to support wireless charging.
The latter is what excited us: wireless charging without the additional cases. We saw it for smartphones, digital cameras and other devices. The only issue was that when asked about release dates, all they could tell us was that the new Powermat line was coming in Summer 2010, and the rest was “soon.” Now we know just how “soon” it will be.
According to Powermat, we’ll see it some time in 2011. As reported by TechRadar:
“We are looking into putting the technology into phones but it is a complex process,” a Powermat spokesperson explained.
“Each phone has different charging needs so the sooner we get hold of a handset, the quicker we can come to market with a product.
“Wireless charging has already happened in smartphones. It was in the Palm Pre but this was a handset which wasn’t as popular as it maybe should have been.”
From the sounds of it, and almost quite obviously, it’s all in the hands of the OEMs now. The sooner Powermat gets to work with the devices, the sooner we’ll see wireless charging solutions for them.
Just how awesome would it be if you could replace your BlackBerry battery with a Powermat battery, use your existing back plate and just charge wirelessly every single day? You just come home and throw your smartphone right onto the mat without having to worry about anything else.
I certainly do long for the day when our wireless devices become just that — completely wireless.
[Via: TechRadar]