GM Adding Wireless Charging to 2014 Cars

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

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GM announced that beginning in 2014, selected automobile models will be equipped with built in wireless charging stations for smartphones. GM purchased Powermat Technologies two years ago and this is the first use of that investment.

For many people with a smartphone, their car is a major piece of their life, Powermat CEO Ran Poliakine told Bloomberg. "And this is taking care of that part of life."
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Only a company like GM could look at all of the handsets coming out with support for Qi wireless charging and decide to put something in their cars that virtually nobody can use.

*slow clap*
 
Sooooo, is it going to be just sitting there in your car while it charges? Or am I going to still have to use a lame mat built into the car?
 
Ordeith said:
Only a company like GM could look at all of the handsets coming out with support for Qi wireless charging and decide to put something in their cars that virtually nobody can use.

*slow clap*
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Yup. That was my first thought as well.

For those who aren't familiar with it, Qi is quickly becoming the preeminent wireless charging standard.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qi_(inductive_power_standard)

For GM, or anyone for that matter, rolling out wireless charging products that are NOT Qi compatible at this point, it's unforgivable as far as I'm concerned. Maybe when wireless USB takes off it'll have a shot at replacing it, but for now Qi is the go-to wireless charging standard.
 
For a second I read this as if GM was making electric cars that charged wirelessly!
 
Car makers never get it, they constantly try to sell you junk you already own. No one wants your crappy navigation system or any other electronic, what the heck good is a wireless charging station I cant just let my phone slide around in the car I need to mount it anyway. Give us a freaking universal mount with built in micro usb charging. If you sell a display make it simply display whats on my phone.
 
rudy said:
Car makers never get it, they constantly try to sell you junk you already own. No one wants your crappy navigation system or any other electronic, what the heck good is a wireless charging station I cant just let my phone slide around in the car I need to mount it anyway. Give us a freaking universal mount with built in micro usb charging. If you sell a display make it simply display whats on my phone.
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Apple is moving that way with the dopily-named "iOS in the Car" coming in iOS 7 (and in cars starting next year.) Basically it will amount to the car having only the most basic radio system, with a big display being driven by your phone for navigation/etc.
 
Apple isn't a car maker thought that's the point, we already have things you can buy that mount to cars and do whatever you want, what we need is for car maker that designed a basic display into the car with standard connections. If you want a display I bet pioneer some of the radio makers will have one that hooks to your phone. GM will include this in a $1700 technology package and you will have to buy converters which will convieniently probably only be sold for the most popular phones etc... The tech package will come with bad speakers branded by beats or something.

And you can bet none of this stuff will stay standard, what happens when phones start sucking more power than this can deliver? Nothing GM like all car companies will never give or offer you an upgrade they will say buy a new car.
 
GM didn't buy Powermat, they just invested in the company.

Powermat is the closest thing we have to a standard in wireless charging at the moment. It's part of the Power Matters Alliance which consists of Samsung, LG, HTC, BlackBerry, Huawei, ZTE, Texas Instruments, STMicroelectronics, Broadcom, Fairchild Semiconductor, Freescale, IDT, Otterbox, Incipio and Skech. Duracell is making mats/receivers and Starbucks is testing it in several locations along with a couple of airports.
 
I haven't been following this technology...do you still have to have those oversized cases, with the wiring in them, to charge your smartphones or tablet?
 
Briefly worked for a company that made electronic devices for high end furniture and they said they weren't interesting in developing wireless charging devices to do some on going VHS/Betamax like war between different technologies. Since each wireless device needs a receiver built into it, and with each technology being different, that would require at least two transmitters in each charging device. The cost of more that one transmitter would wipe out any potential profit. I found it funny that even though the stuff this company makes if for highly expensive furniture, it's still made in China.
 
They aren't as big as they used to be, and it can be integrated. I believe a few Samsung phones already support it, and I do know the LG G2 supports it. Qi, Powermat and Powerkiss are supposed to be compatible with each other.
 
Why don't these shitty manufacturers ever put AC outlets into their cars? It just seems so simple.
 
what is the problem with cables? i don't get it. i don't need wireless anything. except, maybe, a wireless cell phone.
 
I don't know what you guys are bitching about, Samsung phones support the technology and they make some of the best phones on the planet.
 
Megalith said:
Why don't these shitty manufacturers ever put AC outlets into their cars? It just seems so simple.
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Several current cars do have this. And I'm not talking about high end cars. They can support laptops and other smaller electronics.
 
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