Video Of The Week: The Nexus Wireless Charger

Comments (Archived):

1. Know of a guy here who has a prototype product. It’s a larger mat, you just set anything on it and it charges. Phone, tablet, anything that needs to be charged.

   1. Qi standard compatible?

   2. what happens if i stand on it? will i teleport?

      1. @jasonpwright:disqus I think that’s what they made LSD for. @wmoug:disqus, as far as I know it works with everything. They solved a difficult engineering problem.

         1. LSD for teleportation! I love it. Go stand on the mat!It turns out my mind has worked for years with the access to certain brain states and functions people use LSD for. I have never figured out if this was good or bad. It has just made life more trippy for me.

2. When this is device agnostic is when I get really excited… (like, everything – phone, tablet, jambox, laptop)… but its great to hear its working for my android friends.PS @fredwilson, Grizzlies vs Knicks coming up shortly today. both teams have had the wheels fall off their seasons, yet, somehow both *could* turn it around (especially the Knicks in the pillow fight East).. Fortunately for one of us, someone has to win this game… or maybe unfortunately for those who are watching.

   1. I will be watching at noon eastern

      1. My wife is teaching a yoga class at tip off so I’ll miss the first half, but I’ll be centered and mentally prepared for the 2nd.

         1. She teaches the yoga class at your house?

            1. no but the studio is close. and when I’m available I’ve got to make the class.Like how the Grizz are working it in the post btw. Lot of minutes for the Grizz by guys who I you wouldn’t have expected to see as much time a few months ago. Also, Hardaway jr looks like he could be pretty special

            2. The Knicks need another big man to compliment Tyson

      2. Congrats, but their win wasn’t handed to them. Melo had to play a long time.How about those Raptors finally doing well, and winning vs. Dallas yesterday, Dallas’ first home loss!

3. I just read about the universal charging standard Qi. Apparently, new devices will have the Qi compatibility. What’s the advantage of a Nexus only charger?http://www.wirelesspowercon…http://www.wirelesspowercon…

   1. This is a Qi charger. It will charge and Qi device

      1. Ah, that’s great. It seems the iPhones need a Qi case before they can be charged that way. It’s not native. Hmm…my switch to a Nexus 5 is looking better and better.http://www.youtube.com/watc…

         1. is the nexus 5 camera as bad as is being reported, or are people just quibbling?

            1. i dunno. don’t have one yet.

            2. oh, you haven’t actually made the leap of faith yet. then how about the Moto G as an alternative choice? cheaper, and guaranteed android updates from google. not LTE, but at that price one can’t have everything. makes the iphone seem absurdly expensive.

            3. Nexus 5 is not that much more. Just switched to one, I like the camera but I’m not a photograph or even close to one. I’m on t-mobile and I have pretty good service, guaranteed updates from google, and a nice phone :). Now one of the bigger cons is that I have a smallish hands (for a guy), so it’s a bit awkward to reach items on the top left with only my right hand.

            4. I’ll check it. Thanks.

            5. I’d go Moto X if money affords. It’s just a better phone but the G is certainly a good phone for the money and lots of use cases.

            6. i like my x but as far as i know, no induction charging unless someone here tells me otherwise

            7. Yeah, not sure on the charging but it’s a kickass phone with a battery that lasts a day plus and it’s reasonably fast. I’m sure you know that already though. 🙂

            8. Not sure. I just cut over from the HTC One today, mainly because of the wireless charger

            9. Depends. Mine is horrible, my buddy’s is pretty good, especially after 4.4.2. I think I have a defective unit.

         2. Hmm…my switch to a Nexus 5 is looking better and better.Explain.All else equal, perhaps.But things are not equal.And having to plug in a cable to me seems to be not a big enough deal as a reason to choose a phone (which involves a multitude of features).

            1. i agree. the charger needs to be plugged in and switched on to work. an almost unnecessary additional link in the technology chain. less is more.if this hints at the coming ‘internet of things’ cluttering my world up then i’m not that keen.

            2. I have been mulling switching to an Android. Some of my options will be a Xiaomi, HTC One, Nexus 5 or the new Oppo.It would be one of the reasons.

            3. Oppo?

            4. Oppo N1. it has a rotating camera & CyanogenModhttp://en.oppo.com/products…

            5. interesting. a touch sensitive back, and the first Cyanogenmod certified by Google.

            6. It looks like the folks @ oppo should take 2 humble pills and call me in 6 months.Simple marketing rule: when others call you bold, you are bold. When you call yourself bold, others call you full of yourself.You just have to watch a seasoned athlete stickhandle one of those ‘where do you see yourself in the………’ questions with the correct “I just play, you people in the media can talk about the other stuff…..’ answer to get it.

            7. I am not sure what you are referring to. They are popping as one of the top 5 Android phones. But I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on a Xiaomi.

            8. home page for N1 looks like it was done by HS students.

            9. The HTC is metal so they couldn’t add wireless charging. Its probably the only hardware capability missing from the what is otherwise a smorgasbord of embedded hardware capabilities.

         3. LOL – of course it’s not native to the iPhone. 🙂

            1. Sadly!

      2. my Nokia Lumia 928 is charging on a Qi pad. love it

4. Wireless charging is awesome. Even better, with the magnets in this charger and a Nexus 5, I was able to stick this charger on the center console in my car and now I can charge my phone while driving without having to fiddle with plugging it in!

   1. But you’ll need to plug the charger, no?Better to have it built-in into the car. I’m sure it’s coming from BMW or Lexus first.

      1. Yes -l, it does. But I can keep it plugged in. Then just drop the phone on it when I get in the car.

         1. I see, jerry rigger.

5. When wireless charging is finally feasible for cars, many chasms will be crossed.

   1. big charger pads and car parks are the answer

      1. My testicles have some questions about that idea….. 😉

      2. @hymanroth:disqus I’m fascinated by the design of the roads being solar panels (I think someone is working on that over on the West coast somewhere), much less, George Will’s hint at Obama offering challenge regarding the “sun in the box” fusion project.

   2. I’d like to see this type of wireless charging built-in into a car. Better than fumbling through the USB cable to charge a smartphone.

      1. Possibly a wireless charger cup or bin could work as an after purchase add on

         1. I thought the comment referred to charging a car not just devices. Qualcomm bought a UK company that can charge the car and in South Korea they embedded wireless charging into the road bed so busses can charge while driving.

            1. That would be very cool. Much less incremental than what I proposed

            2. Very true. but while wireless charging is cool it is merely a convenience, whereas wireless charging of roads would have a massive impact on society.

   3. Couldn’t find it but saw a YouTube video a while back where someone was showing off the safety of their induction based generic power source that was used to power house lamps, video monitors and other electrical gadgets placed at 6 feet or so from the inductive power source.Try the search term “inductive powered ****whatever***” it is amazing the variety of induction powered stuff out there !

      1. that will be awesome – it will be like radiant heating – radiant power

      2. I saw this demoed live @MIT. goosebumps

   4. isn’t that effectively a bullet mag lev train?

6. what is the guy in the video wearing on his right wrist?

   1. Looks like a Nike Fuelband to me.

7. is this microwave technology, or some sort of thermal induction process? how does it work?

   1. The device works much like other Qi-based wireless “charging pad” technologies, relying on electromagnetic induction to generate electrical current over a (very) short distance. When the Nexus phone is placed on the Wireless Charger, current running through a coil of wire within the charger induces current within a similar coil inside the phone, in turn charging the phone’s battery.My toothbrush recharges the same way. If you pickup one of those “get started in electronics” books at Radio Shack it’s one of the first lessons (how transformers work).

      1. interesting. thanks.so it’s safe to use around the home?

         1. Yep, I have several.

8. purchased!

9. http://thehackernews.com/20…

10. Is the Nexus 7 8 year old friendly?

    1. I think so but iPad has more apps than Nexus 7

       1. Thanks I will save up for the iPad

    2. I second Fred’s iPad recommendation. My 2&3 yr olds use it and use it well. Can’t beat it or the apps for the kids and that’s coming from an Android fanatic.

       1. Malcom. I appreciate the feedback. I will hold off on the Nexus 7 and wait to purchase ab iPad for him.

          1. I’d even recommend the first gen iPad’s for a kid over the later ones. These things are built like a tank and can take anything a kid can throw at them. But since your kid is 8, the second gen would probably work just as well. For a kid though, there is no reason not to buy a used device. cowboom.com has excellent deals on them.

11. When I was a kid, I used to joke that when I grew up, I was going to invent “wireless electricity.” Every adult I said that to would laugh heartily and thought I was the funniest kid they’d met.Little did I know somebody would beat me to the punch…

    1. one of the first blog posts i ever wrote here at AVC was about wireless powerhttp://www.avc.com/a_vc/200…

       1. So cool.

12. That’s cool. I remember about 10 years ago when those were first being talked about.

13. Qi wireless car charger is a very unique and important device in our life bcos it helps to charging your nexus 5 very quickly and save your time while driving a car. today i am so happy to get the wireless charger. I would like to thanks to that guys which helps to me for buying this charger.if you want to that device and for more information : http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0…you get the bumper discountPrice: $100.00Sale: $49.99 & FREE Shipping. DetailsYou Save: $50.01 (50%