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Ikea to sell furniture with built-in wireless charging

Ikea to sell furniture with built-in wireless charging
Ikea will sell both furniture with wireless charging built-in, and accessories that can be added to existing furniture
Ikea will sell both furniture with wireless charging built-in, and accessories that can be added to existing furniture
View 11 Images
Ikea will sell both furniture with wireless charging built-in, and accessories that can be added to existing furniture
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Ikea will sell both furniture with wireless charging built-in, and accessories that can be added to existing furniture
Ikea will start carrying wirelessly charging furniture next month
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Ikea will start carrying wirelessly charging furniture next month
Ikea will start carrying wirelessly charging furniture next month
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Ikea will start carrying wirelessly charging furniture next month
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Ikea will sell both furniture with wireless charging built-in, and accessories that can be added to existing furniture (pictured)
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Ikea will sell both furniture with wireless charging built-in, and accessories that can be added to existing furniture (pictured)
Ikea will start carrying wirelessly charging furniture next month (Image: JuliusKielaitis / Shutterstock.com)
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Ikea will start carrying wirelessly charging furniture next month (Image: JuliusKielaitis / Shutterstock.com)
Ikea will sell both furniture with wireless charging built-in, and accessories that can be added to existing furniture
8/11
Ikea will sell both furniture with wireless charging built-in, and accessories that can be added to existing furniture
Ikea will sell both furniture with wireless charging built-in, and accessories that can be added to existing furniture
9/11
Ikea will sell both furniture with wireless charging built-in, and accessories that can be added to existing furniture
Ikea will start carrying wirelessly charging furniture next month
10/11
Ikea will start carrying wirelessly charging furniture next month
Ikea will start carrying wirelessly charging furniture next month
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Ikea will start carrying wirelessly charging furniture next month
View gallery - 11 images

Starting next month, Swedish furniture colossus Ikea will start selling furniture with built-in Qi wireless charging and a charging kit to build wireless charging into existing furniture.

While Qi is not the only wireless charging standard out there (and in fact might be an underdog to standards from main competing organizations A4WP and PMA, which have recently joined forces), it features in a wide range of cars and accessories. Qi’s greatest strength, though, is that it is supported by a growing list of smartphones (including Samsung’s latest).

Targeting convenient wireless charging of your smartphone at home, Ikea has now simultaneously joined the Wireless Power Consurtium (WPC), the organization in charge of the Qi standard, and announced a new line of Qi-powered bedside tables, lamps and desks.

The Qi standard is designed to charge devices at a distance of up to 4 cm (1.6 in), which means the phone will have to be placed in a specific spot marked by a "plus" sign. Although the current Qi specifications are geared toward low-power devices, the WPC is already working on the technology that could one day feed up to 2,000 Watts wirelessly, which would be ideal for kitchen appliances and a potential valuable addition to the Ikea catalog, assuming that the energy transfer is not too wasteful.

Ikea will start carrying wirelessly charging furniture next month (Image: JuliusKielaitis / Shutterstock.com)
Ikea will start carrying wirelessly charging furniture next month (Image: JuliusKielaitis / Shutterstock.com)

All wireless chargers come with a USB outlet that can be used to charge an additional device, and Ikea has said it will also offer a wireless charging kit that you can use to build wireless charging into existing furniture.

Furniture with built-in wireless charging will sell for an extra EUR 20 (US$22.45) and be available in Europe and North America starting next month, with plans for a global rollout later on. Prices for the wireless charging kits to convert existing furniture will start at EUR 30 (US$ 33.70).

Source: Wireless Power Consortium

View gallery - 11 images
3 comments
3 comments
mhpr262
2000W? that is hard to believe. Even if it should be 95% efficient that is still a solid 100W being turned into heat, enough to melt plastic and discolor wood in seconds.
Noel K Frothingham
There's an equally amazing product on the market, mhpr. It's called insulation.
Pat Pending
Quite why no one has thought to build this technology into mobile phone batteries to enable all phones with a removable battery to be backward compatible with wireless charging is completely beyond me.