Duracell Powermat adding mesh network, scaleable power to its wireless charging plates. Cooper Sponsored Links. Show full PR text. All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links.
If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. Researchers identify 'cybermercenary' group behind dozens of hacks. Features At its core the Duracell Powermat Hour Power System is designed to be just what its name suggests, a charger built to cover mobile phone users around the clock. To this end the Powermat charger features two spots to accommodate two devices.
Depending on which version of the Power System you buy, you'll be able to charge either a Samsung Galaxy S3 or fourth-generation iPhone wirelessly right out of the box using the bundled special case. One nice flourish I've always liked on Powermat products is how certain it is when you're charging successfully. When you begin to place a Powermat-equipped phone on the mat you first feel a strong magnetic tug that's hard to ignore.
This pull guides you down to connect the device with the mat with a solid thunk. If that wasn't enough of a clue, the mat chimes with an audible rising tone and illuminates a small LED when the connection is made.
Pulling a device off of the mat causes a falling chime to play and switches off the light. You can also place the Portable Backup Battery on the mat for wireless charging. Duracell claims the battery provides up to four full phone charges, and four lights on the side of the unit flash to indicate both charge level and charging status. To power up mobile devices, by passing juice through the battery either from the mat or via the battery itself, the gadget has both a wired Apple connector and a Micro-USB cord.
Another nice touch is how the cables tuck elegantly away into recessed wells for storage. Also, if you're hoping that you'll find Powermat technology already integrated into smartphones you'll be disappointed.
In contrast to the Qi wireless power technology, which is already taking steps toward its goal of becoming a true, ubiquitous standard, no handsets at the moment natively support Powermat charging. Of course, Duracell has recently announced deals with corporate partners such as Starbucks and Delta Airlines to deploy Powermat technology themselves.
Performance Duracell told me that users can expect the Powermat Hour Power System to operate similarly to traditional wired AC chargers that came with their handsets. When the phone's battery was completely drained, the DNA refused to accept power unless I connected it directly to a standard USB cable.
That said, I have sneaking suspicion that this is caused by a fault in the Droid DNA's software, since I didn't encounter this problem with other phones with dead batteries. As advertised, the Power System kept my handset juiced up and ready for action long into the evening -- bearing in mind that as an office rat I tend to sit all day next to AC power.
I found the Powermat, like other inductive chargers, made maintaining a strong battery level effortless. The bigger the coil, or the more coils there are, the greater the distance a charge can travel.
In the case of smartphone wireless charging pads, for example, the copper coils are only a few inches in diameter, severely limiting the distance over which power can travel efficiently. But when the coils are larger, more energy can be transferred wirelessly. It licenses loosely-coupled resonant technology for everything from automobiles and wind turbines to robotics.
In WiTricity's car charging system, large copper coils — over 25 centimeters in diameter for the receivers — allow for efficient power transfer over distances up to 25 centimeters. WiTricity also adds capacitors to the conducting loop, which boosts the amount of energy that can be captured and used to charge a battery. The system isn't just for cars: Last year, Japan-based robotics manufacturer Daihen Corp. AGVs equipped with Daihen's D-Broad wireless charging system can simply pull up to a charging area to power up and then go about their warehouse duties.
While charging at a distance has big potential, the public face of wireless charging has until now remained with charging pads. Just over million wireless charging-enabled devices shipped in , with almost all of them using some form of inductive charging pad type design. In September, Apple finally chose a side after lagging behind other handset manufacturers for years by embracing WPC's Qi standard, the same that Samsung and other Android smartphone makers have been using for at least two years.
The first class of mobile device wireless chargers emerged a six or so years ago; they used tightly coupled or inductive charging, which requires users to place a smartphone in an exact position on a pad for it to charge. Belkin's BoosUp wireless charging pad is similar to others in that it contains a copper transmitter charging, a chipset to control the power delivered to a device, and foreign object detection technoogy to ensure objects that shouldn't recieve a charge don't.
In September , the Nokia became the first commercially available smart phone to offer built-in wireless charging capabilities based on the Qi specification.
The latter's member roster includes Apple, Google, Verizon and a veritable who's who of electronics manufacturers. The WPC created the most popular of the wireless charging standards — Qi pronounced "chee" — which enables inductive or pad-style charging and short-distance 1. The Qi standard is being used by Apple. The Apple Watch, launched in , uses a inductive wireless charging cable, which still requires the device to be tethered to a cord.
The PMA and its Powermat inductive charging specification found success by piloting its wireless charging technology in coffee shops and airports. Starbucks, for example, began rolling out wireless charging pads in With competing standards, support for mobile devices remained fragmented, with most mobile devices needing an adaptive case to enable a wireless charge.
In , Starbucks announced it would roll out wireless charging based on the Powermat specification for its customers in the U. AirFuel has also announced wireless charging at some McDonald's restaurants. That, according to Freas, is one way wireless charging could see wider adoption. AirFuel has focused on two charging technologies: electromagnetic resonant and radio frequency, which offers the ability to move around a space and still have your mobile device charge.
Both technologies offer distinct advantages in terms of spatial freedom, ease of use, and ease of installation — big factors in creating market value and customer satisfaction," said AirFuel spokesperson Sharen Santoski.
As a result, Santoski said, a growing number of coffee shops, restaurants and airport have deployed resonant-based wireless charging stations.
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