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Comments: 189 +- Hardware: Wireless Power Consortium Pushes for "Qi" Standard on Monday August 17, @04:11PM
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The Wireless Power Consortium (comprised of Samsung, Sanyo, Olympus, Philips, Texas Instruments, and others) has started a push towards a wireless charging standard under the moniker "Qi" (pronounced "chee"). "Members of the Wireless Power Consortium are reviewing version 0.95 of its technical specification which defines a proposed standard for charging devices, using up to 5Watts power, delivered by electromagnetic induction. The spec could evolve into a standard — and will be demonstrated by multiple vendors on September 15th to 16th. ... It is less ambitious than the system demonstrated this summer by Witricity, which operates at a distance of a few meters, using resonance, which the company claims has green benefits through replacing disposable batteries."
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That's boring! Wake me up (Score:2)
We need the real wireless charger!
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Probably as soon as all the patents held by trolls in Texas run their litigious course. See you in thirty years!
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I can't see why we wouldn't need both - an induction system for recharging batteries, and a resonance system for wireless power. We need the latter because it make wireless power a reality, we need the former because there won't be universal coverage of the latter.
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Because it's Chinese and that's how it is spelled when Chinese is romanized.
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If it is pronounced "chee" why not spell it "chee?"
See my post here for an explanation. [slashdot.org]
Why must we bind ourselves to a transliteration table that winds up producing words that are pronounced nothing like how they are spelled, and further bastardize the English language?
How can you bastardize the English language, when it has always been bastardized? That's the appeal of the English language.
If you hadn't noticed, English is chock-full of words that aren't pronounced how they are spelled. It's a major aspect of the language's charm and beauty. Can you imagine how boring and hideous it would be if every word was spelled phonetically?
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Can you imagine how boring and hideous it would be if every word was spelled phonetically?
You mean like, french?
A step in the right direction (Score:4, Funny)
Yucky. (Score:5, Funny)
Kind of like the corruption of the Elves into Orcs in LOTR, the idea of charging the air with yet more EM pollution and calling it "Qi" makes a sick mockery of the real thing.
And there's a frickin' pyramid with an eye ball on the dollar bill.
We're being laughed at even as we are mutilated and enslaved.
Cue the conceited, ill-informed rationalizations.
-FL
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makes a sick mockery of the real thing.
Ok, so tell me...
What is the real thing? How can it be measured and tested? Couldn't it be used for evil, as well as good?
Cue the conceited, ill-informed rationalizations.
Oh, I'm not saying that this particular "Qi" is a good thing. I'm saying that there's no proof that "real" Qi exists, nor that it would be beneficial.
I'm also not aware of any evidence that this "EM pollution" is harmful, but at least we sort of know what it is, and can measure its effect, so I trust it a hell of a lot more than I'd trust "real" Qi, if you managed to produce any.
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I'm not actually sure if this is meant to be a joke or not.
DBZ (Score:2)
Efficiency (Score:2)
But how efficient would this be vs a wall wart?
-l
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They need to have a low power (damn near off mode) and then when something is placed nearby, then ramp up the power.. going back to low power mode again as soon as its removed.
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I've wondered this about transformer wall-warts too, which is also an inductive coupling (without as much gap between the coils though). Despite all the coiling of the wire, there's still a closed circuit when you plug it into the wall and the primary coil will have some non-zero resistance, and I doubt a wall wart is anywhere close to 100% efficiency.
So what's better for efficiency and power less when the
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Wasted technology? (Score:2, Insightful)
Maybe I just don't understand their plan, but this seems like it would be close to a useless technology. It seems like it would be more expensive to develop and implement than a standard power cable, and you would have to set your device onto the power mat. Does it really take that much effort to grab the cable and plug it in? Also, in the case of cell phones, you wouldn't be able to use the cell phone while it's charging like most cell phones allow you to do currently. Win = Power cord.
Now, the other techn
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Maybe I just don't understand their plan, but this seems like it would be close to a useless technology. It seems like it would be more expensive to develop and implement than a standard power cable, and you would have to set your device onto the power mat.
The average user does not like cables.
You are just not the average user.
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And in ten years, when someone points out that you can save $100 per year on electricity by using an all new cabled cell phone charger, suddenly the average user will love cables all over again. The average user doesn't know what he/she wants or needs and never will. Therefore, you should design products to cater to power users in terms of capabilities and complete idiots in terms of ease of use, and ignore the protestations of the proles. Anything else will inevitably lead to products designed by commit
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Re:Wasted technology? (Score:4, Interesting)
Parent
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Well, assuming that the standard is complete with no areas left as implementation decisions, and that they all use the same resonance frequency, and all the participants conform fully to the proposal, and that no-one decides to add some sort of proprietary encrypted handshaking protocol on the charging cycle (purely in the interests of security, of course).
Otherwise, you could well end up with ten plates to charge ten devices, which would be a bit of a step back.
T
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Power cord insertions and removals cause significant strain on the components involved. I've had several devices where the solder has eventually broken, making the device much harder to use.
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Only poorly designed connectors have this problem. Take a look at Apple's MagSafe connector or the connector that Sony Ericsson uses for examples of how to build connectors that should never wear out in this way, abuse notwithstanding.
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I swore never to buy another phone with the same system, then I saw the W880i (damn you, Sony, for making such a slim sexy phone!) and now two years later I'm having t
This is a good thing (Score:3, Interesting)
This is potentially a good thing. How many different charging devices do you have at the moment? I've got one for AAA and AA batteries, one for my phone, one for my iPod, one for my wife's phone, one for my DSLR, one for my camcorder, one for my...
I don't need long-range wireless power, like some developments are working on -- whilst this would be quite cool, it's very inefficient at this stage. Wireless charging of all these devices would however be a great benefit to reduce clutter and waste. If all the devices are compatible with the one spec of charger, then should I lose my phone charger, it doesn't matter as it's compatible with the charger I've got. I've had to replace one of the phone chargers not that long ago too as SonyEricsson have quite a delicate clip on the plug -- if this clip breaks, then the plug won't stay attached and the device doesn't charge.
I already enjoy the benefits of wireless charging with my electric toothbrush - it sits in a base that charges it back up. There are no electrical contacts or plugs to get wet and gunky with toothpaste residue, it's just a smooth plastic ring that the toothbrush sits in and away it goes.
To have a pad that I could place any of my devices on to recharge would be incredibly convenient. I truly hope that enough manufactures adopt this standard to make it a possibility. Unfortunately with standards, the great thing about them is that there are so many to chose from.
So... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:So... (Score:5, Funny)
Why not New Zealand instead of Finland? Then you could have a Kiwi Qi Wii.
Parent
It'll never work (Score:2)
While 5 watts isn't much, I just can't see that many people being willing to become a Qigong master just so they can run an AP from their own natural energy. It takes decades of study to reach that level.
Most people these days are far too busy multitasking to even think about the focused mental effort required.
Re:Pronounced "Chee" (Score:5, Funny)
...for those that don't want to read the summary but may wish to discuss it intelligently in person.
There. Fixed that for you.
Parent
Re: Pronounced "Chee" (Score:3, Informative)
There. Fixed that for you.
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Anyway, why spell it "Qi" when the Chinese/Japanese language does not use the Latin script ? I could understand it if the company in question was Malaysian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malay_language#Writing_system) and they spelled the word "Chee" as "Qi" in their language.
Re: Pronounced "Chee" (Score:4, Insightful)
Anyway, why spell it "Qi" when the Chinese/Japanese language does not use the Latin script ?
Because "Qi" is sexy-looking and just begs for an elegant logo. "Chee" looks horrible and cheap.
Once again, you demonstrate why technology nerds should never be allowed to name any product or technology.
Parent
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But the "Sexy" part is debatable. I bet that a word that sounds like Kwee "sounds" cheap to Asian ears, while a word that sounds like Chee sounds sophisticated.I'll even bet that Chinese has a nice pictogram for Chee, while Kwee probably has none.
It is only to English speakers ear that Chee sounds cheap (mostly due to the similarity of the sounds), while Kwee sounds like greek Ki or royal (similar to Queen? ).
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I bet that a word that sounds like Kwee "sounds" cheap to Asian ears,
But it doesn't sound like "Kwee" it sounds like "Chee" - so it has the best of both worlds.
It is only to English speakers ear that Chee sounds cheap
I never said that "Chee" sounds cheap. I said it looks cheap. It sounds perfectly fine to my ears, and most English speakers would know the word, with a significant minority actually participating in practices that use the concept.
Re: Pronounced "Chee" (Score:4, Informative)
Parent
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Anyway, why spell it "Qi" when the Chinese/Japanese language does not use the Latin script ?
Because Qi is the Pinyin transliteration, and Pinyin is pretty much as close as you can get to standard. Chinese and Japanese don't use the Latin script but there most certainly do exist standards to transcribe them consistently.
It gets a little hairy with Chinese, but that's how you write it and is sexier than both "Chee" and "Chi" (the now-outmoded Wade-Giles way of transliterating it).
Re:Health Issues? (Score:5, Insightful)
5 watts is not a lot of energy. It's not like it is an induction cook top and you are a ferrous pan or anything. :-)
Parent
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Your cell phone pumps out about 4W on a regular basis, and you keep it in your pocket next to your junk.
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Your cell phone pumps out about 4W on a regular basis, and you keep it in your pocket next to your junk.
No, cell phones are NOT continuously pumping out 4 watts.
You are FAR off the mark with the claim of 4W.
It is more like 0.250 watts and below for your average cell phone. In fact, there are STRINGENT FCC restrictions on how much power you can put out within 20cm of your skin. Even laptops are restricted to the sub half-watt power range for their wireless and broadband cards. Usually 100mw in your Novatel broadband card.
Re:Health Issues? (Score:4, Informative)
Comparing the peak power of GSM to average power of this system is misleading at best (gsm transmits only 1/8 of the time due to TDM) and a lie at worst (GSM power control almost always pushes the level 10-20dB below that).
Then 2W max is on 850/900MHz, 1800/1900 has max 1W.
Parent
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But, what ARE the health concerns about pumping so much energy out, even if over such a short range?
I'm not honestly sure myself. We better ask goku! [youtube.com]
Re:Time to buy stock (Score:5, Interesting)
Actually, when this becomes real a tinfoil hat may be the very last thing you'd want to wear. I'm assuming this is sort of like what happens if you go near really high capacity power lines with a flouescent bulb, where the power in the air is enough to cause the bulb to light. It's also enough that having lived near one long enough I can attest that metal isn't fun to wear near one.
Parent
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I'd be curious to know why in the land where consumers are king, products are often bloated, stripped down and late.
American consumers are king like cattle are king on the feedlot.
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Re:Qi: The Greatest of All Scrabble Words (Score:4, Informative)
Qi, as in the Chinese romanization of æ£.
This is the same "qi" as Taichi's 'chi'. The life energy
It's the same 'chi' as the japanese 'Ki' æ-- as in "Tenki" (weather)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qi
*Slashdot really needs to move into the modern era with support for international unicode characters...
Parent
Re:Qi: The Greatest of All Scrabble Words (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
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I forsee Witricity adapters and a slew of 3rd party knock-off components for home and travel that allow us to bathe ourselves in a continuous blanket of electromagnetic radiation 24 hours a day.
Sorry to tell you, but that's already happening from sources such as:
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Just because it has a name that is not intuitively pronounceable. Idiots.
Yeah, just like Nintendo's latest console, which flopped because its name was both not intuitively pronounceable. Does anyone even remember the Wii?