Ditching the cable: wireless charging coming to devices

We’ll admit it: one of our pet peeves is having to throw multiple charge packs in our luggage and make sure every device has its own plug. Sure, microUSB has helped things a great deal, with cameras now beginning to support it, but what we really want is no cables at all. Good thing Intel is thinking of this.

Showed off by Intel, Wireless Charging Technology – also called WCT – aims to let anyone charge a compatible smartphone without a cable or plug, relying solely on a chipsets inside a laptop.

Unsurprisingly, you will need a computer equipped with this technology for this to work, as it’s relying on chips found inside both the computers and phones for transmitting and receiving the specific charging signals.

So the bad news is that your current computer can’t be upgraded to support the tech, and neither can your phone. Intel is working with a company to deliver the chipsets so manufacturers can throw them into computers, but it’s not expected to be ready this year.

The good news, though, is that the technology is coming, and pretty soon, you won’t need to bring extra cables or plugs, and your phone battery – and you – will be much happier.