Accessories: Paul Thurott Revew of nokia Wireless Chargers, JBL Power Up, Charging Plate and Fatboy – Future of Smartphones?

Windows guy Paul Thurott has been checking out Nokia’s range of Wireless Charging accessories recently and appears to have all of them except for the charging stand (I have one next to my bed :p ) and the newly announced car charger (not yet available).

http://winsupersite.com/windows-phone/jbl-powerup-wireless-charging-speaker-nokia-review

Sound reproduction is excellent, and while I’m no audiophile and will admit that this is subjective, I find the PowerUp to be superior to the similar speakers I’ve tested and owned.

http://winsupersite.com/windows-phone/nokia-wireless-chargers-review

Paul’s quite a fan of wireless charging, saying it’s a game changer and something that all smart devices will have. My housemates, whilst initially finding it a cool concept can’t fathom the ease of use of plopping the phone on a charging plate/stand/pillow/speaker and not having to physically push a plug into the phone (as you’re often just resting a phone down on a surface, when you pick it up, it’s charged – not to mention the growing number of public places that will have this facility).

http://winsupersite.com/mobile-devices/smart-phones-and-wireless-charging

I’ve been enjoying charging without plugging in since my TouchPad (the tablet WebOS version of the Pre). I do think Nokia should take a hint and give users the option to instantly activate that screensaver when wirelessly charging as opposed to requiring each and every time to TAP the NFC part of the stand (and if you haven’t got the stand, you don’t get this option).

As mentioned in Paul’s reader comments, just wait until the new iPhone gets wireless charging. iCharge will be a whole new invention and so much cooler because no other phone has iCharge :/

Future improvements could be stands that initiate WiFi transfers to your computer. I know there’s SkyDrive but this one is an optional direct link (thereby avoiding plugging in Via USB…which I haven’t done except for testing out backups/USB transfer). This could mean a phone with no ports other than headphone jack (which could also be done away with using accessories like the Purity Pros or, if you still want wired headsets but no connection to the phone, something like the Nokia BH-111.  Eventually there’d be ‘true’ wireless charging where you don’t need to be in close proximity to a charging accessory (some examples you may have heard is the use of general background microwaves) though no one knows what health implications that may have – if it is even feasible.

Category: Accessories, Lumia, Nokia