Wireless Battery Chargers -- A Few Things You Need to Know Before You Buy an Induction Charger

Wireless battery chargers and charging stations are becoming the new way to charge your mobile phones, portable games consoles or favorite MP3 players. I'll explain a few things you need to know before you buy one online.

Wireless battery chargers are "Inductive" charging devices, they use electromagnetic fields to transfer energy between two objects. These wireless chargers create an alternating electromagnetic field from within a charging base station, and a second induction coil in the portable device to convert the energy back into electrical currents to charge the battery.

Now with the quick science lesson over, it's important to know your device may not have a second induction coil, like the iPhone, Nintendo DSi, computer mouse, home entertainment remote controls and many more. I don't even have any news about manufacturers (except for Nintendo Wii Remotes) including these secondary coils in the future. However you may start to see products that use a contact-less recharging base, like the electric tooth brushes and waterproof shavers we see Today.

One way around the problem is buying a compatible battery and induction station pack for your device, where the manufacturers have ingeniously put the secondary coil in the battery. Other devices for the iPhone charging pads require a cable, or some sort of case that plugs into the iPhone connector.

The biggest disadvantage of inductive charging is the compatibility issue detailed above, and I guess this will only be fixed in time as more manufacturers include wireless charging coils into their products. The next problem with inductive charging is its lower efficiency and increased heat problems in comparison to direct contact charging. The further away the coils are, the weaker the charge. And this only increases the charging time even more than the already "slower than wire" charging time.

In short, if you're interested in being able to lay down your mobile phone on something that looks a lot like the old mouse pad to charge, wait for the manufacturers to include the technology into the device, rather than your risk your device with battery replacements, and thick cases like the chargers available now.

Don't get me wrong, I'm very interested in this technology, but until the manufacturers include this into their product and more importantly the warranty, I won't feel safe leaving my phone charging on a slightly modified kitchen stove top :)