LG Introduces A New Wireless Charging Pad

A new innovation in wireless charging technology by LG

Wireless charging is an exciting arena, but it’s proven more of an extravagance till now.

It’s nice to have, desired by many; but the current state of implementation, marks it down as something inessential.

Perhaps one biggest reasons for this has been it’s tendency to charge slower than a traditional wired connections. Which is what South Korean tech giant LG’s Innotek division claims to have overcome.

LG’s new wireless charging pad is claimed to be three times faster than the existing 5W wireless charging module, and charges up to 50% within 30 minutes. Thus, LG’s claims imply that their new wireless charging pad can equal the speeds of even the wired Quick Charging equipment!

The company says that the wireless charging pad incorporates new technology from LG Innotek that prevents the pad from overheating during charging. The wireless charging pad embeds sensors that measure the temperature and allow users to suspend charging when it reaches a certain level by just touching the smartphone.

LG believes that if the 15W wireless charging pad’s design is optimized for other applications, it can be utilized in automobiles as well as in furniture as an embedded facility. Embedding charging capabilities is not new, DuPont has already dabbled in the same earlier (we’d covered their Corian Solid Surfaces product back in 2013!).

According to LG, the new charging pad can be used with most wireless charging enabled smartphones currently available in the market and it also meets the standards of Wireless Power Consortium (WPC), which is an international standardization organization for wireless charging.

The wireless charger triples the usual 5-watt output of a regular wireless charger to 15 watts, which is what allows it to match the speed of a traditional charger while conforms to the Wireless Power Consortium’s standards. You may know this as the Qi system, which is more widely used than its competitor by the Power Matters Alliance.

Which phones will be compatible? Any phone can be made to work with Qi wireless charging if you wrap it in a compatible case, and there are some, such as the LG G4, the Galaxy S6, the Galaxy S7, and many Nokia Lumia phones, which already have support built in.

“This proves that LG Innotek has the world’s best wireless charging technology”, Huh Sung, Vice President of the firm’s Electronic Components Division, said in a statement. “As a wireless charging module is directly related to conveniences and safety of handset users, we will meet customer expectations with advanced performance and perfect product quality”.

Although wireless charging has had a slow start, it’s been picking up gradually. According to market research firm TSR (Techno Systems Research Co. Ltd.), the base unit sales were at USD 553 million in 2015 and is expected to go up to USD 2.2 billion by 2019!

While pricing is yet to be specified, the LG Quick Wireless Charging Pad is set for release in Australian, European, and North American markets later this month.

After the recent Galaxy Note7 fiasco, where its high-powered battery was deemed as one of the culprits for its takedown — the market may seem a bit cautious before considering such high-powered claims, or subjecting themselves to any risks associated with batteries and electricity and smartphones.

But the world will wait and watch — for risk is a necessary component in innovation.

Originally published at Chip-Monks.