"The products have to be small, which limits how much power you can have because you cannot make the battery bigger without making the device bigger," he said. "So you can work to reduce power consumption, which we're doing, and also come up with easier ways to charge the phone."
That means making chargers easy to access and activate - not just at home or at the office, but anywhere - and make them affordable and interoperable, Vuori said.
Affordability may be relative - Energizer's charging mat, for example, will retail for $89 when it goes on sale next month, while its iPhone and BlackBerry accessories will cost almost $40 each. But Treffers said interoperability will drive up volumes and lower prices
Treffers says the first phase of Qi product rollouts will consist of charging stations bundled with mobile phones and other portable consumer electronics, followed a year later by more sophisticated chargers designed as lifestyle products for living rooms.
The third phase will see Qi products integrated into furniture such as desks and tabletops, enabling hotels, restaurants and offices to install complementary charging surfaces. There are also plans to install Qi technology in automobiles and trains, Treffers said.
"That's the dream - to go from bundled chargers to chargers becoming part of the infrastructure around us, where any flat surface can be used as a charger," he said.
Development of a medium-power extension of up to 120 watts for devices such as netbooks, laptops, tablets, and power tools is scheduled to start in October.
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