Dell Joins Alliance For Wireless Power

Dell has announced it is joining the Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP), bringing the possibility of wirelessly-charged laptops a major step closer.

The partnership means that Dell is the first major PC manufacturer to join a wireless power standards organisation, highlighting the importance of growing including of the technology for devices other than smartphones and tablets.

“The development of magnetic resonance technology will improve the customer experience when it comes to wireless charging and bring the capability into more homes and businesses over the next few years,” said Dell CTO Glen Robson. “We are excited to work with other industry leaders in the A4WP to deliver on the promise of easy, flexible wireless charging across an array of mobile devices including smartphones, tablets and laptops.”

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Dell’s membership announcement coincides with the news that the A4WP is introducing a new initiative focusing on developing wireless charging technology for higher powered electronic products such as laptops and ultrabooks.

This means that we could see wireless charging coming into new Dell products fairly soon, with the A4WP due to exhibit its technology at Mobile World Congress next week.

Dell becomes the latest major player to join the group, which was founded by Qualcomm and Samsung, amongst others, in early 2012. The A4WP is aiming to establish its Rezence technology as the standard for resonance-based wireless charging, and currently includes companies such as Broadcom, IDT, Intel, Fujitsu, HTC, and LG amongst its board members and partners.

The group recently announced that it was joining forces with one of its former rivals, the Power Matters Alliance (PMA) to take on the only other major opponent in the wireless charging space, the Wireless Power Consortium, whose Qi technology is backed by Nokia and Google amongst others. The A4WP also announced that WiTricity, best known for its contactless, long-field magnetic resonance charging of Toyota vehicles, will be joining the consortium as a sponsor and board member.

“The A4WP continues to make progress on its mission to cut the power cord for all mobile devices,” said Sanjay Vora from the A4WP. “Extending the Rezence specification to include higher-power, more capable devices like Ultrabooks and 2 in 1’s is a necessary evolution that will help to accelerate charging station installations and bring a truly enjoyable ‘No Wires’ user experience to more users.

“We are excited to have Dell joining the Alliance and help expand the specification.”

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