Move over Qi-charging – every smartwatch should have third-party battery bands

Posted on by Jules Wang

By USB or by wall outlet, our gadgets receive energy and store it in their batteries. Once they’re unplugged, they’re immediately powering through your day. That is, if they can last as long as you do. And in the case of wearable technology, where battery capacity only goes so far as the technology inside of it and the limited physical footprint, sometimes they don’t.With discharge cycles lasting anywhere between 18 hours and seven days, we’re not excited with having ...

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WPC formally adopts new high-power, faster Qi wireless charging

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

Wireless charging for smartphones has been making huge inroads upon the market this year, but when you need your handset recharged in a hurry, nothing beats the good old-fashioned wired way. The problem’s been that while access to wireless charging stations and phones that support them has been improving, these systems just can’t handle the same amount of power as something like a Quick Charge cable. Late last year we heard a little about efforts to do something about that, with Freescale ...

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Yes, the new Galaxy S6 Active totally supports both Qi and PMA wireless charging

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

Wireless smartphone charging has sure taken its sweet time entering the mainstream, lacking a lot of support from both manufacturers and carriers, but little by little, it’s been getting there. This year has easily been one of the most high profile for the technology, with support for the feature not just baked in to flagship devices like the Galaxy S6, but also receiving a lot more support on the charger side, like with what IKEA’s doing with embedded chargers in furniture. But even with these ...

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Microsoft DT-903 review: wireless charging is brighter than ever (Video)

Posted on by Michael Fisher

Despite sluggish adoption, confusing marketing and a long-simmering standards war, wireless chargers litter today’s tech landscape. From the TYLT Vu to the Aukey Luna to Google’s Nexus “

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Two wireless charging standards groups announce merger

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

Why isn’t wireless device charging more popular than it is? We could spend all day offering reasons (and occasionally we do), from speed, to cost, to the lack of bundled chargers with devices that support them. One of those myriad reasons is the fear of incompatibility, a situation not helped any by the lack of a universal wireless charging standard. The good news is we’ve already seen steps being taken in the right direction towards resolving that situation, and this week we get word of a ...

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Does wireless charging make sense for tablets?

Posted on by Joe Levi

I’m a big fan of Qi wireless charging (just in case you didn’t know that already). I use an Anker charger on my desk at home. My Moto 360 smartwatch came with its own Qi wireless charging stand (but I can put it on any other charger just in case I need to top it off throughout the ...

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How to retrofit your smartphone or tablet with Qi wireless charging (video)

Posted on by Joe Levi

We’ve long been fans of Qi Wireless Charging, but not all devices support the standard. Devices that include Qi can be recharged through electromagnetic induction rather than by directly connecting to a power source via  a charging cable. This requires some additional components inside Qi-compatible devices as well as a “base station” or charging pad, but once you’ve tried it, you’ll very likely be hooked. However, if your phone or tablet didn’t come with Qi support built-in, you may have thought you were out ...

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I thought the Nexus 6 was too big, I was wrong

Posted on by Joe Levi

In this line of work you see a lot of tech: phones of all sizes, tablets from the major vendors, and people you barely know seek you out to get your opinion on whatever is new, or to show off whatever they’re packing. Most of the time it’s pretty cool. Sometimes it can be creepy. At the end of the day, the positives generally outweigh the negatives, which makes it all worth while.I’ve been interested in cutting edge tech since I was in high school – maybe even before.  I’ve seen the evolution from huge “mobile phones” to small and ...

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Higher-power, faster wireless charging due for 2015

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

Mobile device manufacturers are always looking for the latest hot feature to capture the public’s attention. Over the past few months, we’ve seen several efforts to draw shoppers’ eyes to the notion of fast charging – power adapters able to push so much juice into our phones that we’re charging them to capacity in a matter of minutes, not hours. And while that’s all really great, it’s not doing much to help promote another big power-related tech: wireless charging. Sure, wireless charging can be quite convenient, but it’s also a bit slow. ...

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Microsoft confirms Qi charging for AT&T Lumia 830

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

AT&T is set to start carrying the Lumia 830. The carrier confirmed as much back in early September, just days after the handset launched at IFA 2014. There’s still no official date for exactly when the 830 will go up for sale, but the latest rumors have attempted to nail-down November 7 as the most likely possibility. As we wait to see if that date proves to be correct, some additional technical information on ...

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Moto 360 wireless charging dock now available on Google Play

Posted on by Rithvik Rao

There’s one caveat if you want to install the massive Android 4.4W.2 update that’s rolling out now to the Moto 360: your battery needs to be at least at 80%. And to get to 80%, you probably need a charger. Conveniently enough, Google Play has answered your prayers: the Moto 360 wireless charging dock is now in stock on the online store, though for a hefty $39.99 at that.We should point out that the ...

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Invisibly charge your smartphone or Moto 360: hands-on with the ZENS PuK (Video)

Posted on by Michael Fisher

Wireless charging is awesome. This is an objective fact whose merit won’t be disputed because 1) I’m just old enough to be impressed by technology that was totally far-fetched when I was young, and 2) I’m writing this piece at 10pm on a Friday night after a 4500-word review and the

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Quick charge or capacity: which is more important to you? (poll)

Posted on by Joe Levi

Cellular phones used to allow us to make and receive telephone calls on the go, and not much more. Somewhere along the line, text messaging was added, letting us ditch our pagers. Over time, simple apps were added, and we were able to pass away the time with games like Snake. Back then battery life wasn’t all that important, not when compared to today since back then our phones could last a week between charges. Now, however, we’re lucky to make it through a day or two. Manufactures are faced with a dilemma: customers want phones that are thin and light, but batteries are ...

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Google Nexus 6 wish list

Posted on by Joe Levi

We’re all getting just a little excited now that the traditional release of the next devices from Google is just around the corner. Center among them, we suspect, will be a new smartphone to replace the Nexus 5 from last year. We’ve heard plenty of rumors, some contradictory, but what do users want? Here is my Nexus 6 wish list.Battery LifeAll of us have been complaining about battery life for years. The bigger the screen and ...

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The Moto 360: 3 things no one’s talking about

Posted on by Joe Levi

Motorola’s smartwatch, the Moto 360, is now listed on the Google Play Store and with various online resellers – though availability and stock is very limited due to the device’s insane popularity. Thanks to Motorola, we were lucky enough to get our hands on the watch early and spent a weekend with it. You won’t want to miss what we found out!If you’re waiting to see if it’s for you, here are three things about the Moto 360 that no one else is talking about.Battery expectationsYou can’t judge a ...

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