Faster innovation

On 11 May I saw the latest designs for wireless battery chargers during a Qi demo for the press in Korea. What impressed me most was the increasing diversity of the transmitter designs.

I could see that a lot of effort is directed at achieving so-called "freedom of positioning". Freedom of positioning means that it is not necessary to position a mobile phone accurately on the charger. Just drop it anywhere on the surface of wireless charger and it works. The Qi specification already provides two charger designs with total freedom of positioning (a moving-coil solution and a coil-array), and we now see more designs demonstrated that deliver freedom of positioning.

A good interface standard gives product developers a lot of freedom to innovate and differentiate their product. Qi is no exception to this rule. The demos in Korea make it obvious that innovation and differentiation is possible and happening fast.

Why is it now suddenly going so fast?

I believe we have reached ideal conditions for innovation:

1. The market for Qi products is growing. You can see that in stream of announcements for phones with integrated Qi receiver. Here ist the latest one: http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20110517/191823/
2. The risk is getting lower.  The cost of bringing an innovative wireless charger to market is much reduced for Qi-chargers because manufacturers don't need to complement a Qi charger with compatible phones and sleeves. A new Qi charger can be combined with other companies' power-receivers. 
3. Competition between the manufacturers of Qi products is heating up. A superior product helps gain market share. And we all know how important that is in the early stage of a growth market.

I am looking forward to the next demo of new Qi products.