The future is here: you will soon be able to wirelessly charge your mobile device with IKEA furniture.
A few years ago, had anyone told you that you could charge your phone by simply placing it on a piece of furniture, it would have sounded like a big joke. Well, not any more. IKEA, the famous Swedish furniture maker, has unveiled a charging technology that charges devices wirelessly by simply placing them on the furniture. The giant international furniture manufacturor made this announcement on Sunday at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
As many of us can affirm, power outages have continued to be a great pain for many smartphone users. This is attributed to the fact that more apps are being installed. Also, who stays for more than five minutes without peeping at the phone these days? Introduction of mobile charging on a piece of furniture is an incredible innovation at a time when batteries lose their power faster than they used to a few years ago.
According to Mashable, Ikea will incorporate Qi technology in some of its product offerings. From the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC), Qi is a popular wireless standard that is common in hotels, airports, coffee shops, restaurants and many other public locations.
Ikea brings convenience, comfort and style to thousands of smartphone users who find it bulky and strenuous to always remember to carry a charger. It eliminates the need to carry your charger and eases the burden to remember where you kept your charger.
There are many devices that support the Qi charging including the newly unveiled Samsung S6 and S6 Edge. In fact, there are 15 car models that support this technology as well. Needless to say, there are too-many-to-count mobile accessories which also fall into this category.
Alongside Qi technology, Power Matters Alliance and Rezence are also other charging standards competing in the market. However, with Ikea behind Qi, odds are that it will easily oust the others but don't be too sure.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Ikea will also have wireless kits which can be fitted into already existing furniture. All this comes at a cost. Each kit will cost about $34 while furniture with inbuilt wireless charging technology will cost approximately $22 more than the normal furniture.
