Toshiba introduces chip for fast wireless charging

Toshiba has unveiled a chip that should make wireless charging almost as fast as wired charging. The TC7763WBG can reach an output of 5 Watts and complies with the Qi standard used by major smartphone manufacturers, among others.

According to Toshiba, the chip achieves an efficiency of 95 percent in operation, but does not explain how it succeeded; the efficiency is often lower, so that charging a device via a Qi charger takes longer. Chargers equipped with the chip are compatible with devices that use the Qi standard such as Google’s newer Nexus devices and some of Nokia’s Lumia phones; Cases are available for many other phones to enable wireless charging. Toshiba’s chip will go into mass production immediately, but it is unknown when the first chargers equipped with it will go on sale.

The Qi standard was drawn up by the Wireless Power Consortium and the manufacturers Asus, HTC, Huawei, LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Sony have now joined the standard. The standard involves the use of induced current to charge devices. A competitor to Qi is WiPower, a standard that uses magnetic resonance to charge devices. Although Samsung uses Qi technology in current smartphones, the company wants to switch to WiPower in the future. The intention is that in addition to smartphones, users can also supply other electronics such as cameras with power via wireless charging.