How 2015 of you.
Gone are the days of jumbled chargers cluttering up your counters. Hello, wireless.
You may already be familiar with Samsung’s wireless phone charger, but to call it completely wireless is a misstep. What is great about this system is that a user can quickly remove and replace the phone to charge, a feature that has become a luxurious convenience for some members of staff who are frequently bouncing between meetings and offices. However, this charger does not really eliminate the wire. While the phone can simply rest on the charging base, the base itself must still be plugged into a wall and leaves another unsightly wire in plain view.
A few companies at NAHB’s 2016 International Builders Show worked to change this, and the wireless countertop charger is the result. For the onlooker, this system appears to be completely wire-free. In reality, a transmitter is plugged in underneath the counter and then embedded on the underside of the countertop. This transmitter delivers an electric charge via magnetic field to the phone through the countertop.
If you think your options for countertop charger designs are limited, think again. Many companies, such as the DuPont™ Corian® and Zodiaq® Charging Surfaces and the LG Hausys TechTop Hi-Macs® and Viatera® surfaces, come in a range of materials and colors, matching any existing or future kitchen, bath, or bedroom designs.
In the age of technology, wireless chargers are another component of smart homes and convenience. Wireless chargers could be installed virtually anywhere that you would install a countertop, with bathrooms and kitchens as crowd favorites.
With the United States projected to have “11.7 networked devices per capita by 2019 ,”[1] that’s a lot of wires – but one less thanks to countertop chargers. We can only hope that 2017 brings wireless charging to laptops, too.
[1] “VNI Forecast Highlights.” Cisco, n.d. Web. 9 Feb. 2016.
