Manufacturers unite around wireless power standard

All standardised wireless chargers will be branded with the Qi logo

Several of the world's leading manufacturers of wireless charging systems are close to finalising a global standard.

The Wireless Power Consortium (WPC), which includes Philips, Samsung, Duracell, National Semiconductor, Olympus, Sanyo, Ericsson and Texas Instruments, has released the 0.95 technical specification for wireless charging systems.

The new system will be called Qi, after the concept of 'vital power' in Asian philosophy. The plan is to have all standardised chargers branded with the Qi logo, and to ensure that any compliant device will charge irrespective of manufacturer.

"In just seven months the WPC has advanced the standard to 0.95 for interoperability testing, and moved to trademark Qi as the first universal wireless power standard," said Camille Tang, co-chairman of the WPC Promotion Work Group.

"These significant milestones have been achieved through strong collaboration among the WPC members, and pave the way for an accelerated 1.0 release schedule of the standard."

The standard will cover devices charging at 5W or below, such as mobile phones and PDAs. Several devices, including the Palm Pre, already use wireless charging. Interoperability tests will begin on 15 September in the Netherlands.