It has been really useful getting feedbacks and ideas around iQi Mobile, and of course a good product requires challenges and skeptic feedback as well. Someone asked me if this device was really useful: at the end of the day there is still one cable connecting the charging pad with the power supply.

Well, it’s an interesting topic and I’ll go ahead and share my vision, please feel free and encouraged to do the same and post your thoughts.

We have to start somewhere, so why Wi-Fi has been so successful? Well, if Wi-Fi had remained a technology used only in homes or offices, it would have still been good, but not great. The huge deal is being able to move around and get connected: I can go to a bar, to a restaurant, to a foreign country, everywhere and still be able to get online. It will be the same with wireless chargers: they are not meant to be just another geek gadget on the desk of some of us. This technology is starting now and will grow and spread out. There will be new materials incorporating this technology all over the places: we might end up leaving our gadgets on some table or shelf and, even without knowing it, they will get charged.

So, you could argue that this is only a wild guess and there is no reason why someone should start putting this new “charging spot” around, as it happened for Wi-Fi hotspots. Well, the answer is once again in the past. Every single mobile company or phone manufacturer is interested in keeping your phone alive as long as possible: you should always be able to browse the web, make calls, play games, read the news, … you should always be in the position of using all the value-added services that your provider is desperately trying to sell you. Keeping your phone charged is crucial in every operator’s strategy: the more you can use your phone, the more you will end up spending in the long run.

And the answer is not in having longer-lasting batteries. Every time we tried to go down that way, a new model came out with a new multi-core, high-demanding processor. The answer is in removing the “charging process” from the equation: charging will eventually become part of the usage itself, we will stop thinking of charging as something to do at home or in specific moments, but it will seamlessly integrate in common phone usage. Every time our phone will not be in use, regardless of where we are and what we are doing, it will get recharged, maybe just for a few minutes. There will no longer be the need to recharge the phone every night, charging will just become a continues stealth process and the new materials around us will make it possible.

This is just the first step, but try to think of the big picture: smart surfaces Qi compatible, well hidden into commonly used furniture, public spaces and more, always ready and available. Your phone always charged. You will think back and remember the time you had to manually plug your phone and charge it…This technology will let us forget about the existence of the battery.