Apple introduced wireless charging with the iPhone models in the year 2017 which include the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and the iPhone X. While the technology was available for a long time in smartphones, its embracement by Apple made it mainstream. Smartphone OEMs followed Apple and started introducing wireless charging in their devices. The market of wireless chargers has also grown exponentially over the past two years. But, the technology is still imperfect and slow in its current state. So, what could be the next big thing in wireless charging and will we ever see a future without wires?
Introduction and History
Wireless charging is a feature that allows compatible electronic devices to recharge via electromagnetic induction. This allows the transfer of power without the hassles of cables and wires. The feature has grown to become immensely popular in smartphones lately. It was first introduced with the Nokia Lumia 820 and 920 back in September 2012. Soon after that, OEM’s like LG and Samsung brought this feature to their flagship devices. In today’s day and age, the feature is more common and is generally observed in premium smartphones. This feature only works in smartphones that use glass, plastic or ceramic back as metal does not allow electricity to pass via induction technology.
Most smartphones that support wireless charging technology are certified by the Qi standard. This standard was established by the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) in the year 2010. Some modern smartphones that make use of the Qi standard to pack wireless charging include Samsung Galaxy S10 series, iPhone XS, XS Max, Pixel 3, Pixel 3XL, and the Huawei Mate 20 Pro. A Qi certified dock or a charger is used which is connected to a wall outlet. The smartphone or any Qi-enabled device can be placed over the charger or on the dock to charge it. The current record for fastest wireless charging on a smartphone is held by Xiaomi’s latest flagship the Mi 9; which supports 20W wireless charging.
Why Wireless Charging?
The Wireless Charging technology may not be in its best state right now, but it’s unarguably useful because of many reasons. Some of the reasons to choose the feature over conventional charging are highlighted below:
- Convenience: This one is a no brainer, as just keeping a device over the charging dock is easier than plugging it in. This aspect of convenient charging makes the best case to switch to a Qi-enabled device.
- Safer, because of a shielded connection: The feature uses induction, and there is no fiddling with wires, which makes this a safer way to charge an electronic device. One might argue that the wire is present but is needed to be handled with rarely.
- Increased durability of ports: Regular plugging and unplugging an electronic device will mechanically wear out the connection port over time. With wireless charging, there is no need to fiddle with a wire, so the ports remain intact.
- Increasing developments in technology: This point is valid for wired charging as well, but seeing how wireless charging has improved over the years, it will be very interesting to see what the future holds for this visionary technology.
The Future Of Wireless Charging
While wireless charging is a great feature to have and saves the user a lot of hassle in handling cables; it is still not as fast and efficient as wired charging. Also, there is no consumer solution currently available which can transfer current from a distance. The development of this technology is still in its nascent stage and the prototypes of it working aren’t very promising. Disney in the year 2017 showcased a prototype room which turned the whole space into a wireless charger. Unfortunately, this required an aluminium room and a metal pole in between. In order to create a wireless charging enabled room, designs and aesthetics take a backseat.
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One more problem with wireless charging is overheating. The manufacturers have struggled to increase the charging speed with minimal heating. Notably, overheating is the reason that has caused the production delay of the highly anticipated AirPower wireless charging mat from Apple. But as is the case with every new technology, wireless charging is also expected to get better with time and it is expected to work at a faster speed, that too from a distance and with much less heat dissipation. Vivo, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer has recently partnered with Energous; which is known for its long-distance wireless charging technology. This collaboration is expected to further increase the pace of development of wireless charging technology. The future of wireless charging seems very exciting and may lead to one where there are no wires, and our devices never run out of battery.
The touchdown of the Dragon capsule was the last part of SpaceX’s Demonstration – 1 mission. The reason why the mission was of utmost importance is NASA’s upcoming Commercial Crew Program, under which the agency is planning to send NASA astronauts to a USA owned spacecraft. So, the SpaceX DM1 was basically a test run to prove that it is capable of space travel, and it struck off as “better than expected” as per SpaceX and NASA representatives.
The demonstration’s first step took place at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, where the capsule was placed on SpaceX’s very own Falcon 9 rocket. At 1:19 pm IST (2:49 am EST) on March 2, liftoff happened, and the DM1 made its way towards the International Space Station. The Crew Dragon then auto-docked with a port on the station, something that had never been achieved by SpaceX previously.
Out of the three main stages of the mission, two were a complete success, which included the liftoff and the docking. The biggest challenge of the DM1 mission was the splashdown, which had to demonstrate that the capsule carrying cargo (and humans, in the future) can safely penetrate the earth’s atmosphere and land safely where it was intended to. At 1:02 pm IST (2:32 am EST), the Crew Dragon undocked from the ISS and started preparations for its descent to earth. The Crew Dragon ignited its thrusters for a period of 15 minutes to leave its orbit and began its descent to earth.
The capsule exceeded the speed of sound while falling to the earth’s surface. After minutes of intense heating, the Crew dragon deployed four parachutes and gently “splashed down” in the Atlantic ocean, 200+ nautical miles away from the coast of Florida. SpaceX’s recovery boat, Go Searcher collected the capsule and will bring it back to the shore for further tests.
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As per users, the desktop version of Gmail even recommends the names of the recipients whenever necessary. The Gmail Android App plays it safe and just helps users finish their sentences. Since this is AI-powered, the feature is likely to improve over time. For instance, if a user is typing “Will my shipment arrive-“, Smart Compose will automatically recommend “Will my shipment arrive tomorrow” or whatever is more relevant to the context of the conversation. Some users may find this to be unnecessary, but it can be very beneficial for others.
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However, it is possible that the smartphone count may plummet sharply. Not because people will stop using smartphones. Because alternatives to smartphones are taking over the world. Wearables. This upcoming generation of technology could dethrone smartphones, once and for all. Wearables are defined as an electronic gadget that can be worn/clipped on the body. It’s a vast category, but the most common ones are
As per a survey, over 51 percent of the youth uses some form of a fitness tracker to monitor daily health and activities. Smartwatch sales are booming day by day, clearly showcasing the fact that people are looking towards making their lives easier and faster-paced to catch up with the rest of the world. Hence, in a world where winning matters to a significantly larger chunk of the population, smartphones are slowing them down while speeding things up at the same time.
What makes a smartphone so special? Is it the CPU of the device? Or is it the fact that you can make calls via your smartphone? You can listen to music whenever you want, view pictures, get directions to a place you’re going to, or simply tell your smartphone voice assistant to book a taxi while you read an e-book.
In the not-so-distant future, a combination of swanky sunglasses/spectacles and a pair of earbuds will be able to do all of the aforementioned tasks, and so much more. A lot of companies are working on smart earbuds that will contain CPUs as powerful as smartphone processors and more efficient than them too. For instance, Here One earbuds from Doppler Labs have a feature that allows you to filter out what you hear. You’re probably thinking, “Hey, I heard about this feature some time back, didn’t I?” Well, these earbuds allow you to filter out selective sounds from your environment, like the crying of a baby, a person playing the piano or just some old fashioned crowd chatter. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that these earbuds are more powerful than some of the early computers. Sadly, the company stopped producing the earbuds because of the lack of funding.
Just like adaptive filtering, a lot of other technologies are being implemented in wearables which can make a huge difference in the way we live our life. Motion sensing earbuds turn on when a user inserts them in his/her ears. Smartwatches detect almost every activity of the wearer, analyze them with the help of the chipset present on the device and provide analytics regarding the same. Wearable cameras click an image every time a catchphrase is detected or when a special gesture is recorded.
With technology reaching a point where all the components of a device can be placed on a chipset which measures smaller than a fingernail, possibilities are endless. Projects like 
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Like the original Versa, the Fitbit Versa Lite has a battery life of 4 days, an SPO2 sensor (for measuring oxygen saturation levels) and a heart rate monitor. The Versa Lite is waterproof, which means that users can take it for a swim, but it lacks the automatic lap counting feature of the original Fitbit Versa. Also, the smart band is unable to count the number of stairs because of the lack of a barometer. Furthermore, if users are planning to store music on this device, they cannot do so because of no built-in storage in the Versa Lite.
The original Fitbit Versa was priced at US$200 (~Rs. 14,000), whereas the Fitbit Versa Lite is priced at $159.95 in the US and Rs. 15,999 in India. It is available in White, Lilac, Mulberry, and Marina Blue colour options.
Fitbit also launched its new Inspire smart bands, which can last up to five days after a 2-hour charge. They support sleep tracking and relax guided breathing techniques. Furthermore, the bands track the period during which the user is actively moving and then provides information regarding the same. The bands are water resistant up to 50m, with built in timer and stopwatch to measure your laps (and much more). The Inspire band also features a grayscale OLED display for displaying notifications and calendar information. It is priced at $69.95 in the US and Rs. 6,999 in India.
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