Video: Intel demos a laptop charging a smartphone wirelessly

Computex is taking place in Taiwan right now and it’s the mother of all trade shows when it comes to the PC industry. Intel, whose chips power four out of five personal computers, was at the event demoing several of their latest technologies, but one thing that caught our eye was their wireless charging enabled laptop. Here’s how life works today: You sit in front of your computer (chances are it’s a notebook), and you put your phone down next to it. If you have a USB cable in your bag, then you can plug your phone into your laptop so that it can charge up while you work. Intel wants to remove that cable by letting you put your phone right next to your laptop and have it charge wirelessly. When will this technology come out? We have absolutely no idea, but we’ve been writing about wireless charging for years now, so we’re not exactly hopeful that it’s going to be anytime soon.

If you look at how many companies have tried to get wireless charging to take off, it’s pretty surprising that it’s still a failed technology. Maybe Intel can change things, but they’re having enough trouble as it is figuring out how to get companies to build smartphones and tablets using their new chips. And besides, say your next phone can charge without a cable, you’re going to have to place it on a small pad that sits in one room of your house. That’s great if you have a studio apartment, but it’s a nightmare when compared to today’s world where there are multiple power outlets in every room.

Do you really want wireless charging because it’ll greatly change your life or do you want it because it’s a cool thing to have? Something tells us it’s the latter.