Are you in favour of wireless charging?

[jrswizzle]

I want to re-address this point in particular. I'm no expert, but how are you so sure wireless charging technology has nothing to do with witricity? Wouldn't wireless charging be part of the growing vocabulary and growing knowledge of charging devices in general? How are you so sure improvements in wireless charging won't lead to improvements (or at least a better understanding) in wifi-like charging? They're both different methods, I get that, but how are you so positive they aren't linked at even a conversational level?

And what if wireless charging takes off to allow for witricity to become a serious next step? That is, if witricity is feasible today but expensive, what exactly do you think will get us to the point where it's more affordable or widespread? Maybe people will understand witricity because of widespread and common use of wireless charging. You really can't see beyond your own scopes that wireless charging is, at the very least, related to witricity? And if not, bound quite hand in hand?

This might not be a direct analogy, but 3D television is being regarded as the future, and while HD TV doesn't necessarily relate, it's part of the same world. I wouldn't for a second choose not to support HD TV just because I'm waiting for 3D. If someone can think of a better analogy, I'm all ears, but that's what I came up with off the top of my head.

This is the growth and evolution of technology. No?

Because I've seen Witricity in action and it just doesn't compare.

Sure they are both "means of charging" a device, but one requires a pad you set your phone down on and hardware within the phone to interact with the pad.

How do you go from the above, to being able to walk into a room and have your phone TRULY charging wirelessly without any contact no matter what device you have?

Maybe I don't understand the current "wireless charging" technology. It just doesn't seem like its very similar - aside from the end goal being your phone is charged. These are two separate ideas about how to do the same task. I don't see one following from the other....except the misleading moniker of current "wireless charging" options being applied to both.

This is my opinion. I'm not saying you have to agree with me.....I'm also not saying I'm against the current options. If OEMs want to put it in their smartphones, fine. I don't care. I just think its silly to call it wireless when that's not the case.

I guess I see the question above as saying "Are you more likely to buy a device with wireless charging versus one without". My answer is, in its current form, wireless charging has no basis on my purchasing decision.

 

[onthecouchagain]

Because I've seen Witricity in action and it just doesn't compare.

Sure they are both "means of charging" a device, but one requires a pad you set your phone down on and hardware within the phone to interact with the pad.

How do you go from the above, to being able to walk into a room and have your phone TRULY charging wirelessly without any contact no matter what device you have?

Maybe I don't understand the current "wireless charging" technology. It just doesn't seem like its very similar - aside from the end goal being your phone is charged. These are two separate ideas about how to do the same task. I don't see one following from the other....except the misleading moniker of current "wireless charging" options being applied to both.

This is my opinion. I'm not saying you have to agree with me.....I'm also not saying I'm against the current options. If OEMs want to put it in their smartphones, fine. I don't care. I just think its silly to call it wireless when that's not the case.

I guess I see the question above as saying "Are you more likely to buy a device with wireless charging versus one without". My answer is, in its current form, wireless charging has no basis on my purchasing decision.

Fair enough.

I think a better analogy would be science. ANd I think science and technology evolve and grow similarly. In science, there can be different studies conducted to offer more or less the same goal or same end game (in our case, new ways to charge a device more conveniently) and there can be very very different paths taken to achieve said end game.

I think technology -- and wireless charging and witricity -- is the same. The end game, as you point out, is to charge the device. The paths being taken are different (they're not that different -- one's maybe more advance than the other, I don't know for sure...).

But, in both cases (science and technology), no matter the varying path, the growing vocabulary, vernacular, understanding, and knowledge of those respective ideas is still tied hand in hand.

You're saying you're not against current options, but I thought I read otherwise in this post:

I'm all for REAL wireless charging.....

What's peddled today as wireless isn't actually wireless, so for the purposes of this poll I would vote no.

Especially if you've voted 'no', but maybe that's cause the question isn't specific enough.

 

[Assault]

Pointless to me, and I'm largely indifferent.

Why would I ever want to charge slower?

Also wireless charging is an and/or prospect for device usage.

Cable charging gives me charging and usage...imagine that...

You must feel the same way about the 64bit processor and the gimmicky/useless fingerprint scanner on the 5S then. I mean why bother with a fingerprint scanner when a password is more secure? Apparently, a cats paw can unlock an iPhone now. And the 64bit processor is literally useless. It provides nothing to the user.

Of course, these bits of tech are laying the foundation for the future. But if everyone thought like you, it's doubtful we would even have cell phones right now. I mean, was there anything wrong with radio transmitters and 'wired' home phones? Seriously, it boggles my mind how people can have any sort of aversions to tech that makes life more convenient AND is optional to use. Although, most people with this sort of thinking tend to be iDevice users. A likely correlation exists.

 

[jrswizzle]

You're saying you're not against current options, but I thought I read otherwise in this post:



Especially if you've voted 'no', but maybe that's cause the question isn't specific enough.

That's why I rephrased my understanding of the question.

Current wireless charging options do not sway my purchases at all. Am I AGAINST them being put in phones? No....of course not. I couldn't care less as long as they aren't faulty and don't affect the operation of the device.

Now if it meant a bulkier device, I WOULDN'T want it implemented. But I don't think that's the case.

 

[The Game 161]

I don't notice the bulk from the normal note 3 back cover to the charging cover..yeah it's more rounded but not much different in the hand.

 

[jrswizzle]

You must feel the same way about the 64bit processor and the gimmicky/useless fingerprint scanner on the 5S then. I mean why bother with a fingerprint scanner when a password is more secure? Apparently, a cats paw can unlock an iPhone now. And the 64bit processor is literally useless. It provides nothing to the user.

Of course, these bits of tech are laying the foundation for the future. But if everyone thought like you, it's doubtful we would even have cell phones right now. I mean, was there anything wrong with radio transmitters and 'wired' home phones? Seriously, it boggles my mind how people can have any sort of aversions to tech that makes life more convenient AND is optional to use. Although, most people with this sort of thinking tend to be iDevice users. A likely correlation exists.

I don't know if you still have me on ignore, but these are completely different.

My phone is actually MORE secure, not because of the fingerprint, but because - now that I can bypass the password with my fingerprint - instead of using a four digit code, I use a full password now.

And there's a difference between a "stepping stone" technology (as Couch puts it) like current wireless charging and a 64-bit processor which will be the norm likely as early as next year and in fact DOES have beneficial properties.

But then again, I just think you're looking for any opportunity to bash Apple so....

 

[laserfox]

My Lumia 920 fell in water and I stupidly plugged it in to charge before waiting for it to dry out. Well the charging port over hearted and now it no longer works so I can't charge the phone via Micro USB. However THANK GOODNESS FOR WIRELESS CHARGING

My upgrade is in a few months, using the wireless charging pad (one on my desk and the other on my night stand) will do till I get the next Lumia with wireless charging built in

 

[gotluck]

It sounds great.
I haven't tried it yet due to the price.

 

[Technarchy]

You must feel the same way about the 64bit processor and the gimmicky/useless fingerprint scanner on the 5S then. I mean why bother with a fingerprint scanner when a password is more secure? Apparently, a cats paw can unlock an iPhone now. And the 64bit processor is literally useless. It provides nothing to the user.

Of course, these bits of tech are laying the foundation for the future. But if everyone thought like you, it's doubtful we would even have cell phones right now. I mean, was there anything wrong with radio transmitters and 'wired' home phones? Seriously, it boggles my mind how people can have any sort of aversions to tech that makes life more convenient AND is optional to use. Although, most people with this sort of thinking tend to be iDevice users. A likely correlation exists.

This is a poorly thought out parallel.

A: I dont own a 5S so whether or not you find value in iTouch or 64-bit tech is irrelevant to me because it doesn't apply to me.

B: Wireless charging absolutely would impede my ability to use the GS4. Slow charging would give me less battery time on quick charge sessions. That is bad.

C: Using my device while wireless charging makes for an inconsistent charging, which means less charging, which is bad.

And why the hell would I ever want to put myself in a position where charging a device impedes my ability to use it when it is, and is not charging.

About the only time it would be remotely useful is when I am sleeping, in which case it doesn't matter and I can just as easily us a cable.

Wireless charging is a gimmick and pointless, and worst of all it actual impedes usability, not increases it, not even remotely.

 

[Assault]

This is a poorly thought out parallel.

A: I dont own a 5S so whether or not you find value in iTouch or 64-bit tech is irrelevant to me because it doesn't apply to me.

B: Wireless charging absolutely would impede my ability to use the GS4. Slow charging would give me less battery time on quick charge sessions. That is bad.

C: Using my device while wireless charging makes for an inconsistent charging, which means less charging, which is bad.

And why the hell would I ever want to put myself in a position where charging a device impedes my ability to use it when it is, and is not charging.

About the only time it would be remotely useful is when I am sleeping, in which case it doesn't matter and I can just as easily us a cable.

Wireless charging is a gimmick and pointless, and worst of all it actual impedes usability, not increases it, not even remotely.

Wireless charging is a gimmick? Sure buddy. Sure. They said the same thing about the horseless carriage. And we shall see how useless wireless charging is to you when you find your USB port breaks. Kind of like a physical home button. A pointless gimmick too, yeah? Especially when capacitive buttons are better, never wear out and are easily configurable. Just saying.
Your line of thought on what is useless seems to be skewed. Thank the gods you aren't in charge of any technology advancements. Thank the gods!!!!

 

[Abazigal]

Wireless charging is a gimmick? Sure buddy. Sure. They said the same thing about the horseless carriage. And we shall see how useless wireless charging is to you when you find your USB port breaks. Kind of like a physical home button. A pointless gimmick too, yeah? Especially when capacitive buttons are better, never wear out and are easily configurable. Just saying.
Your line of thought on what is useless seems to be skewed. Thank the gods you aren't in charge of any technology advancements. Thank the gods!!!!

Thanks to Applecare+, if there is ever anything faulty with my iphone, I would simply get it repaired or exchanged.

Sure, it is easy to come up with some esoteric scenario where wireless charging might be useful (like in your case where my phone's charging port spoiled, burglars broke into my house and stole all my lightning cables while miraculously leaving my charging pad behind, and the nearby Apple store just so happened to run out of them).

The thing is, most of the time, I would find it far more convenient to charge my phone using a cable. For instance, I could tether my phone to my laptop or iMac to charge it while supplying my laptop with an internet connection, and transferring files via itunes. All other things equal, I would simply prefer that all these time and resources be spent spearheading some other technology which I feel would be more useful to my situation.

As it stands, we have tech giants all consolidating their positions behind 3 different wireless charging standards, and Apple hasn't even waded into the fray yet.

Nobody knows for certain whether wireless charging will be the next big standard, or simply another gimmick or white elephant. You want to compare it to horseless carriages, I can also liken it to some other technology which simply failed to catch on.

In the end, all we can do is to state our preferences and back them up with opinions. No need for the personal attacks and strawmen arguments.

 

[THE JUICEMAN]

Are you in favour of wireless charging?

Are we all maybe forgetting that because you have wireless charging doesn't mean you can't also charge with a chord? If you have wireless charging then use it when convenient (which IMO would be a lot of the time). If it's not convenient at the time then use a chord. Simple. There are no drawbacks to having wireless charging. I'm speaking of when it's built in out of the box. Not any of the add on stuff.

 

[tbayrgs]

Are we all maybe forgetting that because you have wireless charging doesn't mean you can't also charge with a chord? If you have wireless charging then use it when convenient (which IMO would be a lot of the time). If it's not convenient at the time then use a chord. Simple. There are no drawbacks to having wireless charging. I'm speaking of when it's built in out of the box. Not any of the add on stuff.

Only downside I can think of is the wireless charging components taking up internal space that could be used for a larger battery or making the device thicker than it needs to be. Otherwise, it's a win-win for everyone.

 

[daveathall]

I'm old enough to remember when TV's didn't have a remote, then came a VHS recorder that came with a cable remote that could control the TV channels as well, I remember my dad saying "whats the use in that? Its so easy to stand up and change the channels on the set" Can you imagine a TV now without a remote control? Nor can I.

IMHO, in a couple of years one will be able to walk into a coffee shop and the coffee table is a wireless charging point for our phone or a place in our car or at work has the same function. Trouble is, all the nay sayers are all Apple devotees, and of course, no Apple product has this facility. Once Apple incorporate it, it will become "useful". C'mon Apple, the rest of the world is waiting to move on, hurry up and catch up so the rest of us can benefit.

Those that want to use it, use it, those that don't, unplug the power chord from the mat and charge your phone as normal. How hard is that?

 

[THE JUICEMAN]

Only downside I can think of is the wireless charging components taking up internal space that could be used for a larger battery or making the device thicker than it needs to be. Otherwise, it's a win-win for everyone.

Agreed.

----------

I'm old enough to remember when TV's didn't have a remote, then came a VHS recorder that came with a cable remote that could control the TV channels as well, I remember my dad saying "whats the use in that? Its so easy to stand up and change the channels on the set" Can you imagine a TV now without a remote control? Nor can I.

IMHO, in a couple of years one will be able to walk into a coffee shop and the coffee table is a wireless charging point for our phone or a place in our car or at work has the same function. Trouble is, all the nay sayers are all Apple devotees because no Apple product has this facility. Once Apple incorporate it, it will be the become "useful". C'mon Apple, the rest of the world is waiting to move on, hurry up and catch up so the rest of us can benefit.

Those that want to use it, use it, those that don't, unplug the power chord from the mat and charge your phone as normal. How hard is that?

Well said!

 

[ChrisTX]

Considering the wireless charging mat has to be plugged in, and it's not always a native feature on Android. It's a pass for me. It's not any more convenient than just plugging the usb connector in.

 

[onthecouchagain]

Are we all maybe forgetting that because you have wireless charging doesn't mean you can't also charge with a chord?

I feel that many here wouldn't need to be reminded of this if this was a feature first implemented from a certain fruit company.

Apple. I'm talking about Apple.

 

[onthecouchagain]

Want to use your phone while it's still "wirelessly charging"? It's coming...

Samsung working on wireless charging through magnetic resonance, coming later half of 2014: http://www.phonearena.com/news/Sams...c-resonance-coming-later-half-of-2014_id48294

As I said, the technology is ever developing. And it had to start somewhere.

 

[jrswizzle]

Want to use your phone while it's still "wirelessly charging"? It's coming...

Samsung working on wireless charging through magnetic resonance, coming later half of 2014: http://www.phonearena.com/news/Sams...c-resonance-coming-later-half-of-2014_id48294

As I said, the technology is ever developing. And it had to start somewhere.

I suppose, if you must see current offerings as the start, fine. THIS type of wireless charging is the start of a truly wireless option IMO.

Current offerings are, to me, an extension of wired charging because the phone is still "tethered" to something (whether a cord in the wall, or a pad which the phone has to sit on).

IMO, if this story is true - Samsung's magnetic resonance charging (if implemented properly of course) would be the start of TRUE wireless charging.

And yes, that is VERY exciting.

 

[ReanimationN]

Want to use your phone while it's still "wirelessly charging"? It's coming...

Samsung working on wireless charging through magnetic resonance, coming later half of 2014: http://www.phonearena.com/news/Sams...c-resonance-coming-later-half-of-2014_id48294

As I said, the technology is ever developing. And it had to start somewhere.

Now that's the kind of wireless charging that would actually interest me. The current implementation doesn't interest me in the slightest and certainly wouldn't be a selling point that would sway me to one phone over another.

 

[The Game 161]

Still a nice feature to have.. That is useful

 

[onthecouchagain]

Future sony phones could charge wirelessly in an hour:

http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/18/...g-innovation-promise-2014/?ncid=rss_truncated

I'm telling y'all the technology is developing for even more convenience. It had to start somewhere.

 

[Oohara]

I'm old enough to remember when TV's didn't have a remote, then came a VHS recorder that came with a cable remote that could control the TV channels as well, I remember my dad saying "whats the use in that? Its so easy to stand up and change the channels on the set" Can you imagine a TV now without a remote control? Nor can I.

IMHO, in a couple of years one will be able to walk into a coffee shop and the coffee table is a wireless charging point for our phone or a place in our car or at work has the same function. Trouble is, all the nay sayers are all Apple devotees, and of course, no Apple product has this facility. Once Apple incorporate it, it will become "useful". C'mon Apple, the rest of the world is waiting to move on, hurry up and catch up so the rest of us can benefit.

Those that want to use it, use it, those that don't, unplug the power chord from the mat and charge your phone as normal. How hard is that?

Spot on.

 

[onthecouchagain]

I'm old enough to remember when TV's didn't have a remote, then came a VHS recorder that came with a cable remote that could control the TV channels as well, I remember my dad saying "whats the use in that? Its so easy to stand up and change the channels on the set" Can you imagine a TV now without a remote control? Nor can I.

IMHO, in a couple of years one will be able to walk into a coffee shop and the coffee table is a wireless charging point for our phone or a place in our car or at work has the same function. Trouble is, all the nay sayers are all Apple devotees, and of course, no Apple product has this facility. Once Apple incorporate it, it will become "useful". C'mon Apple, the rest of the world is waiting to move on, hurry up and catch up so the rest of us can benefit.

Those that want to use it, use it, those that don't, unplug the power chord from the mat and charge your phone as normal. How hard is that?

I missed this post. Very well said. +1.

It's bizarre to have to explain this to people here who you'd think understand how the progression of technology works. Like I said, me thinks it'd be a whole different story if wireless charging came from Apple first.

 

[jrswizzle]

I missed this post. Very well said. +1.

It's bizarre to have to explain this to people here who you'd think understand how the progression of technology works. Like I said, me thinks it'd be a whole different story if wireless charging came from Apple first.

Hey Couch - challenge.

Go ONE post without making the statement that "it'd be a different story if a certain company implemented these features"......its extremely irritating to those of us who WOULDN'T act like the drones you make some out to be and only serves to rile up fanboy wars.....it literally adds nothing to the conversation.

You can make your points without ASSUMING what Apple fans would say if Apple implemented wireless charging. The fact is - those of us who are "against" (read "don't see the point in current offerings") aren't doing so because of the OS the device runs.....and frankly, as long as I have the ability to charge via cable (which, we all are aware of), I couldn't care less if the current offerings are in my device or not.

As for Techanarchy's post, he made some good points on how the current wireless charging implementations aren't convenient. We get the whole "stepping stone" argument. That is has to start somewhere. Fine - that doesn't mean what he said isn't true in its own right as well. I'm sure Tech is completely aware he could charge a Nexus device via usb cable as well.

When asked whether or not current wireless charging options are preferable, Tech answers with no and why it isn't. The fact that this is some infant tech or that he can use other options doesn't come into play there.

Now if he were to say "I won't buy a phone that has wireless charging capabilities" - then you can make the arguments you are making. Just seems to me like you guys need to come up with excuses for why "wireless charging" just isn't all that great right now. Take it for what it is.

I don't remember any of you making excuses for Apple Maps.....when it TOO had to start somewhere, there are other options to use and it gets better over time.

See? You aren't the only one who can pull the double standard card....except my instance is FACTUAL and yours is GENERALIZATION and ASSUMPTION.

EDIT: I'll finish by saying, that Magnetic Resonance charging stuff is COOL, and is TRUE wireless charging IMO. Could've easily gone from a wired option to that without the crazy pad stuff (which has been around for a LONG time actually). When I can charge my device without putting it in contact with something (tether it to something), I'll get excited about WIRELESS charging. To me, pad charging is simply an extension of current wired offerings. The BEGINNING is charging when in the small vicinity of a charging station - the end picture is WITRICITY where my phone can constantly be charging ANYWHERE in my house.