At Saline high school in Michigan, students can bring their own devices (smartphone, tablets) and use them for assignments.
See how wireless charging supports a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policy by providing ample, safe, charging facilities:
Daniel Schreiber, of Powermat and the Power Matters Alliance, said in an interview with The Verge "Standards are ultimately set in a coffee shop, not in a conference room." He claims that the standards battle between HomeRF and Wi-Fi was decided by Starbucks’ announcing support for Wi-Fi in 2001.
Yes, Starbucks started to roll out Wi-Fi in 2001. But was that the deciding factor in the standards battle? Did Starbucks influence the outcome? History proves the answer is decidedly no: HomeRF was already doomed when Starbucks announced is support for Wi-Fi.
Let’s see what really happened with HomeRF.
HomeRF’s support network was already rapidly declining for two years before Starbuck's announcement. Companies (e.g. several founders such as Philips, Microsoft, HP and IBM) massively started switching to Wi-Fi in 1999-2000 because HomeRF could not keep up in the speed race. Wi-Fi (formally called 802.11b) offered a much higher Internet data rate and was innovating faster. (The history is analyzed in detail in this academic study.)
Wi-Fi’s adoption began in workplace settings before 2000. Wi-Fi's higher data rate and security were superior for office PCs. In 2000, penetration into home networks took off. By the time Starbucks announced their intention to put Wi-Fi in their stores in 2001, many Starbucks’ customers were already carrying Wi-Fi enabled PCs. In other words: Starbucks followed the choice of their customers when they deciding to install Wi-Fi. Home-RF was no longer a realistic option. Starbucks customers were simply not using HomeRF in their PCs.
Here is an EE times article from March 2001, that explains Intel’s (the founder of HomeRF) reason for switching to Wi-Fi in its products: “a surprisingly fast penetration of 802.11b nets into the home.”
So, the outcome of standards battles, such as between Wi-Fi and HomeRF, is determined by consumers buying product for use in their home, cars, and offices. Standards are not set in a coffee shop. Coffee shops and other retailers attract customers by offering services that their customers can use.
The battle between HomeRF and Wi-Fi has lessons for today’s wireless charging industry. But before you draw conclusions, get the facts right!
More than 20 million people are using Qi-phones and that number grows daily. Qi is integrated in the latest smartphones from Nokia, Google, HTC, LG, and Samsung. Car manufacturers like Toyota and Jeep start to offer integrated Qi chargers in production vehicles.
Qi dominates in the home, in cars, and in office settings. Qi products offer a better user experience than Powermat, and Qi’s ecosystem is innovating faster (higher power levels, easier positioning, etc.).
By the way, there is another interesting lesson from the Wi-Fi history. Starbucks’s initial partner in the roll out of Wi-Fi was MobileStar. MobileStar paid all costs for installing the Wi-Fi infrastructure at Starbucks. Starbucks did not invest anything. That did not work out well for Mobilestar. By October 2001 MobileStar shut down. As this EE-Times article explains:
MobileStar installed wireless LAN equipment in public spaces, including hotels, airports and cafes. […] The company had more than 650 locations in more than 35 states, with its highest-profile success a deal with Starbucks Corp. to place the WLAN gear into the ubiquitous cafes in several major cities.
However, the company's business model had a few flaws, Kim said, most importantly the high cost of capital. Using T1 lines in many of its locations allowed it to deliver high speeds, but also at high costs. Adding on the expense of the WLAN equipment and the installation and maintenance fees, she estimated that MobileStar was spending about $10,000 to establish every location. While that cost came down to about $3,000 most recently, she said the high overhead was just too much. "Their business had a heavy up-front capital expenditure," she said. "In the end, it came down to funding."
With capital costs high, she said that MobileStar was losing money with its rapid expansion plans, especially the Starbucks agreement. While that deal promised the company significant exposure, it required a very ambitious rollout plan. It also drove up their costs, because MobileStar had to pay Starbucks a fee to use their space. It was a deal the coffeehouses couldn't refuse, because it required no investment and offered the potential of additional customers in the shops during the traditional dead time of late morning and midafternoon. But for MobileStar, it just meant more costs. "Their business model was not scalable," she said.
Fascinating. This should be top of mind for any company looking to roll out chargers in thousands of locations across the USA.
Reporters describe the first hands-on experience with wireless charging of the Google Nexus 4, HTC Droid DNA, and Nokia Lumia 920 and 820.
Qi delivers a great user experience, not only in theory but also in real life. Read what these reporters experienced:
"I will admit to believing it was a gimmick at first. 6 months later, it is a necessity. I love the wireless features, and would never buy another phone without it." - Mikado_Wu commenting on an article about the JBL Power Up
"If you've got a couple of Qi chargers you really, really do appreciate the convenience. And the Qi standard is now winning critical support, Samsung will support it in the S4, and so it looks like being the VHS rather than the Betamax of the wireless charging wars." - Andrew Orlowski, The Register
"To be honest plugging a cord into a phone once every day or two isn't exactly a trying task so at a glance wireless charging sounded more of a novelty than a necessary technology but how wrong could I be! The action of just putting your phone down on to the charging plate as you would put your phone on the coffee table/kitchen bench/desk is a no brainer, it's not some sci-fi mumbo jumbo, it is a logical solution to an existing problem." - Wade, TelecomTech blog (geekzone.co.nz)
"I’m becoming a huge fan. Getting the micro-USB plug into most phones is a pain particularly when I’m tired and just want to go to bed. The number of times I’ve awakened to a dead phone because I didn’t push the plug in all the way is embarrassingly large as a result. With inductive charging [...] you just set the phone down on the charger and walk away finding the phone fully charged when you wake up. It may seem like a little thing but it was a nightly annoyance to get that damned plug in the right way in a dark room and not having to do that is almost worth this phone alone." - Rob Enderle, TG Daily
"The [HTC Droid] DNA features Qi wireless charging technology. The phone began charging within a couple of seconds after being placed on the Nokia Lumia 920's charging pad." - Sherri L. Smith, Laptop Mag
"Once you have a wireless charger around, then using it becomes second nature, you top-up more often than you would. It’s one tiny hassle removed from the day. The phone doesn’t need to be carefully aligned with the plate, so you just plunk it down and let it charge. Which it does fairly rapidly; there is a speed penalty to wireless charging but it’s surprisingly light: wireless power-ups are around 10 to 20 per cent slower than direct charging, I found." - Andrew Orlowski, The Register
"[Wireless charging] is not a must have, but once you have it, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it." Michelle Maisto, eWeek
"We're big fans of the wireless charging ability, as it puts an end to fumbling around in the dark for a cable and then taking 20 attempts to finally get it plugged in – popping the Lumia 920 down on its plate is just a more pleasing experience." John McCann, Tech Radar
“The [Google] Nexus 4 also fully supports the Qi wireless charging standard, which means you can use any Qi-capable charging pad to refill your battery -- we even took it for a spin on the Fatboy recharging pillow sold by Nokia, and it worked like a charm.” - Brad Molen, Engadget
“The convenience of simply dropping the Nokia Lumia 920 on the Fatboy pillow is great. I have it sitting on my desk so when I am there the Lumia 920 is charging up which can lead to it being charged up more often.” Mattew Miller, ZDNet
"We managed to hold the Nokia Lumia 820 a good inch off the charging plate and for it to still be getting a charge through, which shows how efficient the charging plate is.” Mike Brown, NokNok
The new Apple connector (Lightning) is incompatible with Apple’s old 30-pin connector. That made existing iPhone accessories incompatible with the iPhone 5.
The New York Times reports about the effect of the connector incompatibility on partners and consumers in the article "Accessories no Longer Tethered to Apple". Apparently, the new Apple connector frustrated partners whose customers had invested in products that used Apple’s old 30-pin connector.
According to the New York Times, the introduction of the new connector accelerated the introduction of speaker systems that connect to mobile devices over Bluetooth, a standard wireless technology that is included in all mobile phones, including the iPhone.
"There is no question consumers are moving toward wireless connections. Last year, American sales of digital speakers with physical docks fell 16 percent to $505 million, while wireless streaming speakers, most of which used Bluetooth, jumped 175 percent to $383 million, according to NPD Group, a research firm that tracks retail sales.", writes the New York Times.
This articles sends two messages:
Ecosystems thrive on compatibility and standards. That's why extensions of the Qi standard have been, and will be, backward compatible with the existing Qi phones and Qi chargers.
Mobile phone accessories (such as digital speakers) become wireless. But users will still want to charge their phone while streaming music on their speakers. That creates demand for wireless charging.
You can see the combination of wireless charging and wireless data streaming in the following Qi products:
JBL PowerUp Wireless Charging Speaker
And here is a somewhat different take on wireless docks: streaming video wirelessly while charging wirelessly:
The Panasonic Blu-ray Disc Recorder and video dock
What is the similarity between the Toyota Avalon, Jeep Cherokee, Toyota Prius, and the Ssangyong Chairman?
The Jeep Cherokee will offer a factory installed Qi wireless charging pad later this year.
The Toyota Prius is available with a dealer-installed console tray that lets consumers charge any smartphone supporting the Qi standard by simply placing the phone on the charger.
The 2013 Toyota Avalon has an optional factory installed Qi wireless charging pad.
The Korean automaker Ssangyong announced that the WPC’s Qi technology will be in the interior console of its Chairman model and a key feature in all Ssangyong’s future vehicles.
Read more in this press release
WPC members Leggett & Platt and Fulton Innovation were finalists in the 2013 annual Automotive News PACE Awards for their collaboration in the development of wireless charging in the 2014 Jeep® Cherokee.
The wireless power technology in the 2014 Jeep® Cherokee uses the Qi global standard and further demonstrates the great strides Qi is making in the automotive space.
Here’s a video that demonstrates Leggett & Platt and Fulton Innovation’s in-vehicle Qi wireless charging: 2013 PACE Finalists (fast forward to frame 01:27 to see the Jeep® Cherokee).
The annual Automotive News PACE Awards honors automotive suppliers for superior innovation, technological advancement and business performance. PACE stands for Premier Automotive Suppliers' Contribution to Excellence. This prestigious award, now in its nineteenth year, is recognized around the world as the industry benchmark for innovation. The awards were presented by Automotive News with Ernst & Young and the Transportation Research Center Inc.
Congratulations to Leggett & Platt and Fulton Innovation!
If you don't like the look of that charger on your bedside table you can always integrate it. Here is someone who did it himself.
Samsung launched the Galaxy S4 on March 14. The S4 can be charged wirelessly when you use a special back-cover.
Engadget was at the launch event and took pictures of the wireless charger and cover. Great to see the Qi logo displayed prominently!
You can find more pictures of the S4 and Samsung's Qi charger at Engadget.
The availability of proven Qi components now makes it easy to add wireless charging to innovative products that sell in low volume.
Look at this basketball application!
Michigan area high school deploying qi wireless charging ‘hotspots’ in school.
Saline High School in Saline, Mich. is the first public school in the U.S. to utilize a wireless charging beta site where students can charge their mobile devices at school using Qi – the global standard for wireless power, developed by the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC).
The wireless charging pilot program supports the schools new Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) program, which encourages students to bring their own personal device from home, or borrow one from the school. Saline High School partnered with the Saline Verizon Wireless Zone – a premium retailer of mobile technology – and Leggett & Platt to ensure that the proper infrastructure is in place to support BYOD.
“With the ability to do things like immediately access their curriculum or look up an unfamiliar word in just a few seconds, our students are much more interested in their academic content,” says Heather Kellstrom, Director of Instructional Technology at Saline Area Schools. “It’s fun for us to see the students so excited and engaged in the classroom.”
In December 2012, the school kicked off “Phase 1” of the program, beginning with the process of integrating and installing 50-60 Qi wireless charging stations in tables and desks in the library. The school is halfway done with the installations. The technology is embedded into the surface of the tables using Leggett & Platt Helios wireless power technology, which is Qi-compliant.
Backed by more than 130 well-known companies, Qi cuts the last remaining cord in consumer electronics - the charging cord. Any Qi-certified device wirelessly charges using any Qi-compatible charger, regardless of brand or manufacturer. Qi has more than 135 products in the market and is the only wireless power solution directly integrated into flagship smartphones including the HTC Droid DNA, HTC 8X, Google Nexus 4, LG Spectrum, and the Nokia Lumia 920.
The project has been up and running for over a month and has had great success, enabling students to charge their Qi-compatible phone or tablet by simply placing it on the table without the burden of cables. Students who don’t have a Qi-compatible devices may check out a PowerKiss wireless charging ring from the library, which plugs into the device’s power accessory port and makes it Qi-enabled.
The BYOD program at Saline High School is a forward-thinking concept, moving away from the traditional classroom setup towards a 21st century, technology-integrated learning experience that fosters communication, collaboration, and creation.
Kim Birkle, Community Relations at Verizon Wireless Zone of Saline, and Debbie Peterson, owner of the Saline Verizon Wireless Zone, have plans to continue their partnership with Leggett & Platt to roll out “Phase 2,” which would make Qi wireless charging ‘hotspots’ ubiquitous and embedded into more locations throughout the school.
“The initial response to the wireless charging program has been fabulous, sparking some interest among the community to integrate Qi into public places throughout the town,” says LeRoy Johnson of Leggett & Platt.
TDK Life on Record
iluv MobiRock