Wireless charging in the couch

From 15 April, American and European Ikea customers will be able to buy flat-pack furniture which integrates a Qi standard wireless power mat. Other territories will follow in due course.

The decision to add the products as part of Ikea’s Home Smart Initiative has come from research which showed that families tend to have a place where they charge things – a “home hub” – and that can be the kitchen, the hall or the living room.

From TheRegister.co.uk

Wireless charging slowly expands it's roll-out - it says a lot of as significant a retailer as Ikea is starting to offer it built into some of its furniture. One disadvantage to keep in mind for wireless charging solutions - if you think it's tricky enough having to carry a small charger box when going away for a weekend, until this sort of technology becomes completely ubiquitous, carrying an actual charging mat sounds like even more hassle.

The other item to highlight is that Apple is only starting to roll out its first example of wireless charging with the upcoming Apple Watch - I do wonder why they've held off for so long in introducing the technology to their phones: Apple is never usually the first, but they usually aim to do as good as  best in class before they will release anything. Perhaps they are trialling on the watch before a wider roll-out.....