Rezence, Qualcomm’s horse in the wireless charging standards war, just got a neat upgrade: it will now work in phones with metal backs.
In case you haven’t been keeping track, because you’re too busy watching paint dry, grass grow, or any other far more interesting activity, this is what’s up in the wireless charging game: there are two standards competing for dominance. Rezence (a merger of the previous A4WP and PMA consortiums), and Qi. http://gizmodo.com/two-of-the-big…
Qi took the early lead, with early wirelessly-charging phones like the Lumia 820 and 920 (and Nexus 4!) using the standard. But Rezence has some legitimate advantages: its resonance charging tech means the charging plate is much bigger, so you can charge multiple devices at once. And with the latest upgrade to the specification, manufacturers will be able to make phones with metal backs charge wirelessly.
That capability is possible thanks to the higher frequency used by Rezence, which is more tolerant of metal objects in the charging field. Previously, that just meant you could leave keys or coins on the charging plate; with some software tweaks, it should mean phones hewn from metal that are still wireless charging compatible.
[Qualcomm via Toms Hardware]
Contact the author at chris@gizmodo.com.