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Hughston
Then don't sit on one.
Hughston
Nokia just added this feature to their new smartphones but their main ...
How Intel can use wireless charging to attack ARM
Peter Clarke
8/30/2012 10:54 AM EDT
LONDON – Intel is gearing up to make its wireless resonant energy link (WREL) technology a supporting element to its mobile computing and communications offering.
[ARM TechCon 2012, the largest ARM design ecosystem under one roof, is Oct. 30 - Nov. 1 in Santa Clara. Click here to check out agenda.]
IDT has announced that it has been selected by Intel to design and deliver transmit and receive ICs and to help deliver wireless charging reference designs for use in ultrabooks, PCs, smartphones, and stand-alone chargers.
That is well and good. Most of us probably think that carrying all those different wired chargers around and having to continually plug gadgets in to juice them up seems a little bit last century.
But Intel has always combined technology with business so, assuming that what the company has is any good, do not expect it to develop the technology and donate it to the world – or even to simply sell it to the world. It is my belief that Intel will be looking to obtain additional leverage from this technology.
Intel is the dominant supplier of processors for personal computers but is very much the Johnny-come-lately in mobile phones, smartphones and tablet computers where the ARM processor architecture, and ARM's ecosystem partners dominate.
So how could Intel use its wireless charging technology to leverage its leading position in computers and transfer it into the mobile sector?
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askubel
8/30/2012 1:08 PM EDT
Intel-phones are Android phones, and Macs use Intel chips. I don't doubt Apple would be very interested in having this functionality in the iPhone.
Right now it's a matter of getting the tech to market and proving it works for consumers. Given the relatively low number of Intel phones in circulation, it may be in their interest to license the "client" portion to facilitate adoption.
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Hughston
9/6/2012 3:14 PM EDT
Nokia just added this feature to their new smartphones but their main improvement is a better camera. I think wireless charging would not be cost or space effective but it could increase reliability by eliminating broken connectors.
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Luis Sanchez
8/30/2012 4:32 PM EDT
Interesting. Now we'll have a new way to charge our phones. Wires are getting to become a thing of the past.
This will also add to the testing and development cycles as new coexistence tests will have to be done involving Bluetooth, Wifi against wireless charging radiation. But isn't wireless charging inefficient? I suppose a lot of power would be lost through air and the equipment enclosures in the form of heat. wouldn't it?
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resistion
8/30/2012 8:16 PM EDT
Wireless charging is sigificantly inefficient compared to wired, so the picture of instantaneous power up is quite misleading.
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eewiz
8/30/2012 11:45 PM EDT
Yea True. Do you have any numbers? For eg, How long would it take to charge an iPhone(1400mAH battery) to 100%.
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resistion
9/1/2012 10:57 AM EDT
for ipad 4 hrs inductive
http://www.macnn.com/articles/12/08/29/requires.wall..or.base.mounted.charger/
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resistion
9/1/2012 12:58 PM EDT
Of course here inductive is wired with no prongs or plugs. IIRC magnetized surfaces. Still easy to pull off.
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hm
8/30/2012 8:23 PM EDT
It looks interesting concept. However, we need more analytical analysis to support this concept. Should IEEE also start working developing standard for it?
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askubel
8/31/2012 1:41 AM EDT
Efficiency is not a big problem; using resonant inductive coupling, efficiency rates of 90% have been claimed.
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resistion
8/31/2012 3:13 AM EDT
beware how efficiency is defined.
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resistion
8/31/2012 5:31 AM EDT
I suppose the best posted results are when the charging is done in "wireless contact" - actual touching but not plugged in. The efficiency is certainly much higher here, but may not give the expected proximity advantage of wireless. The advantages may be other things, like no contact or wear issues.
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prabhakar_deosthali
8/31/2012 5:29 AM EDT
In the current scenario where everybody is talking "GREEN" to design products which can consume less energy or do energy harvesting, this new concept seems to be going in the opposite direction
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Josato
9/2/2012 7:08 AM EDT
I agree, and wireless charging is largely, I feel, a gimmick (like siri). Is it really so much effort to plug in your phone?
I wonder if the day will come when people are less and less receptive to 'innovative' new technologies.
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http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/poconoarmchairreview
8/31/2012 7:59 PM EDT
As I mentioned elsewhere, I am very worried about the safety of wireless power, even at small power levels.
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Hughston
9/6/2012 3:15 PM EDT
Then don't sit on one.
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ughhhh
9/1/2012 4:51 PM EDT
I fail to see why only Intel could offer this technology and thus use it as "weapon" against ARM.
More companies offer wireless charging ( already 20 years ago my tootbrush used wireless charging). Besides that ARM processor are much more energy efficient than Intel's.
On the other hand, I don't mind connecting my laptop to charge. Where is the big user benefit? Also the wireless charger requires you position the appliance at a precise location.
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KB3001
9/2/2012 6:28 AM EDT
I do not think this is such big an issue to be honest. Non-Intel consortia can well develop their own wireless charging standard and bring it to the market fairly quickly. Efficiency is not such a big thing provided it's within 20% or so of Intel's. If Intel are really thinking of using this as a strategic weapon against their competitors in the mobile market, then God help Intel :-)
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zzacreek
9/4/2012 10:15 AM EDT
So far wireless charging is mostly a sales thing. Other companies already have wireless charging like texas instruments. But all the products i have seen only work if you are less than 1 foot away from it? What is the point in that?
I would like to see a mechanical charge cell phone. So that all i have to do to charge my cell is give a cranks to a small wheel on it. Or maybe shake it like you can do with some flashlights.
Because i get tired of my cell going dead and i am not by any power supply. I would love to go wait one minute i shake my cell phone and it is fully powered up again. Now that would be awesome.
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peter.clarke
9/4/2012 1:13 PM EDT
The advantage of being within one foot of wireless charging source is that you don't have to plug and unplug a charger connection into the phone.
That's about it.
But cranking/shaking may not be such an "awesome" prospect if the craking to battery life ratio is relatively low, say 5:1.
How does 12 minutes of cranking/shaking for 1 hour of phone life appeal?
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Frank Eory
9/4/2012 3:23 PM EDT
Peter, within one foot? Not likely. Even the wireless EV charger that was demo'd at CES two years ago relied on the undercarriage receiver and the floor mat transmitter being within a few inches of each other.
For wireless charging of mobile devices, you're still looking at placing your device on a charging mat with fairly precise alignment to a coil within the mat -- exactly like today's wireless charging mats require. The gap between transmitter & receiver coils is a small fraction of an inch.
In any case, it seems crazy that Intel would think of wireless charging as some sort of strategic weapon. There are already a variety of products on the market, the WPC has it's Qi standard and newer revs in the works, CEA is starting another standards effort, and now Intel wants to do it's own thing too.
I admit it would be cool if an Intel-powered Ultrabook could wirelessly charge a phone. But if that only applies to Intel-powered phones, then it's a useless feature for 99.9% of mobile phone users and will unnecessarily add cost to the Ultrabook.
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