Apple Proposes iPad Wireless Charging with a Difference: Power Comes from the Smart Cover
Remember when Apple’s Phil Schiller mentioned he wasn’t into wireless charging? Well, what he specifically said was that he didn’t dig “having to create another [charging] device you have to plug into the wall.” In other words, Apple is probably looking for a simpler way to make the idea work — and that’s exactly what we’re looking at in the patent drawings above, which are currently being weighed up by the USPTO after having been submitted back in 2011. They show an iPad‘s Smart Cover tricked out with an “inductive power transmitter” arranged to “wirelessly pass power” to a receiver housed within the tablet itself. The application mainly focuses on the use of magnetic attachments to trigger charging when the cover is closed, but it looks like the ultimate goal might be to use the cover as an additional battery that can keep an iPad charged up while it’s on the move. That certainly sounds practical enough — and it’d do away with the need for an additional charging accessory, which ought to keep Schiller happy for a while.
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/14/apple-ipad-wireless-charging-patent/
Related Items
Google didn't announce the latest version of Android at I/O, their annual developer conference, leaving our devices feeling sad and unloved. Android 4.3 may still be on the way soon, but for now, here's what we wish they announced—and how you can get many of these fe... Read More
When it comes to mobile gaming, the vast majority of gamers aren’t choosing a dedicated mobile gaming console, they are using smartphones and tablets. It’s also no surprise when you step back and consider that the Android ecosystem is by far large the most popular... Read More
(Reuters) - Overtaking Apple Inc as the world's leading maker of smartphones has stretched Samsung Electronics Co's in-house supply lines, and the South Korean firm is now courting some of its rival's main parts suppliers. After costly courtroom battles over techno... Read More
(Reuters) - Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook will propose tax changes that would encourage firms to bring home more of their offshore funds when he faces congressional queries next Tuesday over his company's overseas cash holdings and tax bills, the Washington Post reported. ... Read More
