A few years ago, the Alliance for Wireless Power and the Power Matters Alliance merged into one and became known as the AirFuel Alliance. This slightly reduced the confusion about wireless charging, leaving the industry with two leading players (the other being the Wireless Power Consortium, which is developing the Qi standard). Now the AirFuel Alliance has announced the AirFuel RF wireless charging standard and is ready to compete on equal terms with the Wireless Power Consortium.
Like Qi, the new standard from AirFuel can transmit power wirelessly, but is not limited to a few centimeters. AirFuel RF allows you to charge gadgets at a distance of several meters using radio frequency waves. The new technology works on the principle of creating so-called energy pockets from which active devices can be powered. No matter where the source is located, it can transmit power to multiple devices from a distance of several meters. By the way, at the beginning of 2021, Xiaomi demonstrated a similar Mi Air Charge technology, but it did not appear in any commercial device. Mainly due to the lack of widespread adoption of wireless charging, which is not popular due to its low power and, accordingly, low charging speed.
AirFuel believes that wearable devices and various IoT gadgets are ideal options for applying RF technologies due to their low power consumption. They don’t require fast charging like many modern smartphones, which means that wireless charging capabilities will suffice. The organization hopes the new standard will help spread the technology to new markets and intends to showcase it at CES 2023.
With Qi becoming more widespread, the industry is still far from reaching a consensus on how consumers should wirelessly charge their devices. To date, the solutions that both sides are promoting remain incompatible, so there is still a lot of work to be done.
Source: Trash Box
Charles Grill is a tech-savvy writer with over 3 years of experience in the field. He writes on a variety of technology-related topics and has a strong focus on the latest advancements in the industry. He is connected with several online news websites and is currently contributing to a technology-focused platform.
