A wireless charging future is still pretty far away, but we’re getting closer step by step. As part of a pilot program in Boston, Starbucks is going to start building wireless charging stations into 17 of its stores and putting them in the tabletops.
At the moment, there are two dueling wireless charging standards, Qi, backed by companies like HTC, Nokia, Samsung and Sony, and WiCC, backed by Google, AT&T and Duracell. The Starbucks program will be using Duracell Powermats, so if the program takes off, it could be a serious boon for WiCC. The plan is to test the charging stations through the holidays, then to survey customers and figure out the next step from there. With any luck, that next step will be one toward a wireless charging utopia. [Boston.com via The Verge]
