Qualcomm’s WiPower brings wireless charging to smartphones with metal cases
The mobile manufacturers these days are using wireless charging as a key feature in their phones to make it stand out among other devices of its competitors. However, until now there has been no solution as to how one could make wireless charging work nicely with devices with metal exteriors.
Today, Qualcomm announced a new solution called WiPower that will allow wireless charging for devices that have metal backs making it a breakthrough in the mobile world. The solution uses Qualcomm’s WiPower technology and is designed to be compliant with the Rezence standard. The company claims that this is the first announced solution to support wireless charging for mobile devices having metal bodies.
Starting today, the solution and the full suite of WiPower reference designs are available to WiPower licensees, the company said in a press statement. This is good news for mobile device manufacturers who can be able to incorporate WiPower in their future handsets. WiPower charging pads also enables simultaneous charging of multiple devices with different power requirements while using Bluetooth Smart to minimize hardware requirements.
Steve Pazol, General Manager of Wireless Charging, Qualcomm Incorporated said “Building a wireless charging solution into devices with metal exteriors is a significant step for moving the entire industry forward. Today, more device manufacturers are choosing to utilize metal alloys in their product designs to provide greater structural support and, of course, aesthetics. QTIs engineering advancement eliminates a major obstacle facing wireless power and opens up the continued adoption of this desirable feature to a much wider range of consumer electronics and use cases.”
“WiPower has added the ability to have the device itself made of metal. This advancement maintains WiPower’s existing ability to charge devices requiring up to 22 watts today, at speeds equal to or faster when compared to other wireless charging technologies,” claims the company.
WiPower is based on Near Field Magnetic Resonance technology and provides greater convenience and flexibility in wireless charging. Also, the WiPower allows devices to be charged wirelessly without the need for direct physical contact between the charger and the product it’s charging or even accurate alignment.
