Running out of battery? Check out the new wireless and solar chargers

In Jonathan Swift's 18th century  satire, 'Gulliver's Travels' , the people of Lilliput are divided into two warring camps: the Big Enders  who broke their breakfast   egg at the larger end and the Little Enders who did ditto at the small end. There were six civil wars between the  fierce adherents of both techniques.

Indians today, are divided into  two camps: those who charge their phones  with  flat tipped cables and those whose cables come with a round tip. The Roundians are further divided into multiple groups depending on the size of the  round pin. At  airports and other public places, if your phone battery runs dry, you head for a  free charging station - a  cat's cradle of   many charging cables and  fight for one that matches your phone. Can it get more  ridiculous than this?  Can't phone makers agree on a single standard for the charger cable?  We wish,  we  could threw out the cable entirely and   find a neater way of  recharging phone batteries.

It seems our prayers have been answered: wireless chargers are here. They come in the form of small  palm-sized charging pads. Place your phone on the pad and it gets charged  wirelessly. In fact you can place 2-3 phones on the pad to charge them simultaneously.

What's the trick? It's a technology called Qi (pronounced 'Chie'), a Chinese word which means 'natural energy'. The technical term is 'induction charging'. The charger pad includes  a coil which  transmits charge over a short distance. The phone has a special coil which couples wirelessly with the charging  coil and absorbs the charge.

Qi is now emerging as the global  standard for wireless charging.Online sellers offer  wireless charger pads, which promise to fully charge a phone in around 3 hours. The prices start at around Rs 500. The only catch is, your phone must have the matching Qi coil.The Qi standard is endorsed by Micrsoft, Samsung, HTC, Motorola, LG, Asus, Blackberry, Sony, Verizon etc, so pretty soon most popular phone makes will be Qi-ready. If your current phone is non-Qi, you can buy a Qi chip separately and install it under the back cover to make the phone wireless charge -ready. I'm guessing by next year  all new phones will allow wireless charging. In fact as they are doing with power banks, some phone makers are launching their own branded charging pads or 'pillows'.

High fashion has embraced the idea. Furniture maker Ikea has embedded a Qi charger into some of its tables, desks and lamps. It'll soon be time to throw that charging cable away  - flat pin, round pin and all.

Plug into the Sun!

Phone chargers which work from their own solar panels rather than  a  mains power outlet,  are useful items to have if you are often on the move. A number of models  from Rs 500 to Rs 5000 are available on online retail sites. Here is quick guide.  

Solar chargers come in two types. One charges your phone or tablet directly, usually through the micro USB  port. These types are very compact,  not larger than the phone itself.  Obviously  they will only work in good light.  And remember solar charging is much slower than  mains-based systems.The other kind comes with its own power bank of   anything from 1000 mAh to 10,000 mAh.  It charges the bank when light is available and you can then charge your phone from the bank whenever you like, day or  night.  This  kind tends to be bulkier  and  can cost  between Rs 3000 and  Rs 5000. I have seen  models Zero Lemon's Solar Juice  like   which  double as a torch useful  when camping outdoors; but be prepared to lug around half a kilo extra. 

For hikers there are also light weight models which use  flexible solar panels that can be folded and put in one's pocket.   Solar chargers  are rated in watts.  You need something between  3 and 7 watts for reliable phone charging.