back to article Wireless-charging power struggle latest: Qualcomm invades rival to kill upstart

Despite founding a wireless charging standards body - the Alliance for Wireless Power - chip-designer Qualcomm has joined the board of competing body the Wireless Power Consortium in the hope of trouncing a third rival, the Power Matters Alliance. Qualcomm joined the board of the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) last week, but …

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  1. Cliff

    Spec convergence is the way forward

    Otherwise you end up with 2+ platforms and the public unsure which to go with...so they stand back to watch the market for a leader to emerge. Which slows down the emergence of a leader. Which kiboshes the whole market.

    We've all backed the wrong horse at some point, maybe DVDHD or Betamax, nobody wants to be the one who bought the incompatible lemon and sinking precious cash into incompatible kit. Doesn't matter if one system is better than the other, all that counts is the market saturation and direction - then a v2 can make up the missing functionality.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    QI is the only standard that matters

    as it's in millions of devices and works...

    The rest are just vapourware.

  3. MJG

    Myself and a friend were discussing wireless charging last week, as one of the big features that phones really need now (iPhone 5s lacking it still), especially as the technology exists already!

    We both have Touchpads, and the charging dock is excellent. It's a great great feature, and would help with phones etc. I looked into getting something for my S3 (backs are available), but as pointed out here there are a couple of completing standards, and it's not that 'prevalent' yet (although I believe Mercedes are building QI into their cars.

    I would love to see one of them 'win' sooner rather than later, as we all know having different cables is a pain, remembering which pad yours and the other halfs phone needs to be placed in, and in car, etc will not be helpful.

    I may look to invest in a couple of pads for Qi, but fear in 2 years it might change to the one that has larger charging differences.

    Hate seeing the tech here and not rolling out quicker, come on you manufacturers!

    1. Geoff Campbell Silver badge

      Standards

      Qi charging pads are about a tenner on eBay, so I didn't see the point of holding off. If a different standard emerges in a year or two, I will change when I change my phone - the investment is not huge.

      Now I have it, I wouldn't be without it. I've put charging pads in the two offices I work in regularly, and by my bed. In combination with NFC tags to set a profile in each place, they really improve the usability of a smartphone, so much so that both capabilities will be non-negotiable requirements for my next phone.

      GJC

      1. MJG

        Re: Standards

        Yeah that is true, plus as it's just a back cover change (or even a little credit card insert) for my S3 (and the S4 the same), then actually changing technology in the future wouldn't be hard, even if holding onto the phone for a while. I even noticed I could get an insert/back cover for the S3 that would work with the Touchpads/HPs touchstone (not that I would do that), but shows how I can already use at least 2 technologies with this.

        Was also reading up about how I can actually use NFC, and I reckon that's a great idea, so will be investigating that at the same time.

        These £10 pads safe? Thats my only concern I guess (fire/shocks, etc?)

        1. Geoff Campbell Silver badge

          Re: Standards

          The pads are fine, I've not had one burst into flames yet. They don't seem to get hot at all, which is a good sign, and the input to them is 5v micro-USB, so you won't be getting shocks even if they do malfunction.

          I did start with the add-on patches to go under the existing back case on the phone, but decided I wasn't happy with the pressure they were putting on the battery, so went for the genuine Samsung replacement back for my S4 in the end. £30, but worth the extra, I think.

          GJC

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    JPF

    Anyone get flashbacks of "Judean Peoples Front" and "Peoples Front of Judea" when those competing standards bodies were mentioned? Seriously guys, just sort it out, or you'll spend more time fighting each other than achieving anything constructive...

    1. Roger Greenwood

      Re: JPF

      That's exactly what I got.

      What have the Romans ever done for us?

    2. Charlie Clark Silver badge
      Holmes

      Re: JPF

      It's par for the course: develop some kind of technology, get it to the market, create a "standards" body as a way to reinforce your market position. In the meantime the competition will create a rival "standards" body to confuse the market. The technologies are often extremely similar but vary in slight details. Whichever wins usually gets to charge licence fees for any patents involved.

      1. Cliff

        Re: JPF

        Slight variations...

        Like DVD+R and DVD-R, for instance.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    One word to rule them all!

    Patents.

    Lets face it, the standard that will allow them to make the most money will win.

    Consumers? Yeah we've heard of them.

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