Overview
In a glorious era where phones can be unlocked using facial recognition, what are we still doing slumming it with pesky plug-in chargers? Well, chaining your smartphone to a power point and fumbling with tangled cords could soon be a thing of the past, when San Francisco company Pi releases what it says is the world's first ever contactless, wireless charger.
The brainchild of a pair of MIT alumni, this little guy does away with the cords, the charging pads and even the need for your phone or tablet to be touching anything at all. Instead, Pi harnesses groundbreaking electromagnetic charging technology developed by the founders, John MacDonald and Lixin Shi, over more than three years. That's a whole lotta math problems.
The cone-shaped Pi can simultaneously charge four devices within around 30cm, at full speed. It can charge additional devices on top of that, albeit at a slower pace. Perhaps most enticing, you can use your phone and move it around while it's juicing up.
Of course, this kind of modern day witchery doesn't come easy. As MacDonald explains, "creating this technology required solving one of the most difficult mathematical problems in electromagnetics, and that's why no one has done it before."
It sounds like Pi will be available sometime next year, although you can reserve yours right away. MacDonald and Shi believe it will retail for under US$200. The first 314 people in the world to order will score a $50 discount.