Cutting the Power Cord with Wireless Chargers

Wireless Charging at Starbucks

Starbucks is adding wireless chargers to its tables in Silicon Valley, following a test run in Boston. But you’ll need to be set up for the correct wireless charging standard.

The Qi Standard

A number of devices , including the Nexus 7 tablet, HTC Droid DNA, Samsung Galaxy S 4, Nokia’s Lumia 928, or Google’s Nexus 4, support the Qi (pronounced “Chee”) charging standard. Qi is backed by companies such as Verizon, HTC, Huawei, LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Sony. If you want to use Qi, Energizer has a range of solutions that use this standard.

The Power 2.0 Standard

The competing standard (and the one Starbucks is using) is called Power 2.0 from the Power Matters Alliance. It’s backed by Starbucks, Duracell, PowerMat Technologies, AT&T, and Google, but is not currently available built into many devices. To use it, you need to buy a charging sleeve (at least for the moment). For iPhones and the Galaxy S III, Power 2.0 is available through offerings from the Duracell Powermat line.

Power on Your Keychain

If you’re not ready to buy into either wireless charging standard yet, there are some options that can still keep your charging life cable-free. The JuiceBuddy puts power prongs and a 30-pin connector on a key fob, making sure it’s always close at hand. The Kii, gives you a short connector from USB to 30-pin that actually fits on your keychain as if it were a key. And the Mophie Juice Pack Reserve offers small backup batteries that connect to 30-Pin and micro USB connections.

Let Your Phone Go Solar

And finally you could always soak up the sun with a Goal Zero Nomad 7M or Guide 10 Plus portable solar arrays.