Beyond gadgets: what's next for wireless power?

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The surprise hit of this year's CES was wireless charging - and the technology is set for a major boost during the remainder of 2013.

Nokia, LG, HTC, Motorola and PGEgaHJlZj0iaHR0cDovL2FkaXByYW1hbmEuY29tLzIwMTIvMTEvc2Ftc3VuZy1hdGl2LXNtYXJ0LXBjLmh0bWwNIiB0YXJnZXQ9Il9ibGFuayIgcmVsPSJub2ZvbGxvdyI+U2Ftc3VuZzwvYT4= have already put Qi standard wireless power receivers into recent phones like the Lumia 920 as well as Bluetooth headsets.

Nokia promised last year that US coffee chain Coffee Bean would offer wireless charging points in its tables and the Las Vegas store marks the fifth US city to get them. You can borrow a charging case or micro USB adapter if your phone doesn't have Qi built in.

Buying a whole new wireless charger might seem like a waste when you get a wired charger free with your phone.

If you have one of iDAPT's handy multiple charging bases which have interchangeable tips to charge three or four devices at once, the company will soon have a $60 module that adds Qi charging. You can slot it onto the charging base – or use it to turn your existing charger into a Qi charging pad.

The other approach is to put a Qi charger into something you're already plugging in – like a Bluetooth wireless speaker. Put your phone on top of TDK's new Wireless Charging Cube and it uses NFC to pair the two, Bluetooth to stream your music and Qi to charge your phone. By CES 2014 we're expecting to see almost anything you plug in, from a speaker to a lamp to a set-top box to have a Qi charging point built in.

• Whatever happened to wireless charging?

Pretty soon, that will also include your tablet. Fulton (who has developed many of the components that put Qi into devices like the Lumia 920) showed us a modified Galaxy Tab with a two-way wireless power antenna inside.

It charges wirelessly from a medium-power charging pad (which goes up to 15W) but when you turn it over, you can charge your phone or your Bluetooth headset wirelessly from the tablet. That way, you can boost whichever device you need to use most.

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