Awesome New Wireless Charging Technology Can Power 40 Phones at Once

If you’re a regular visitor to TechnoBuffalo you’ve probably noticed that we’re a little obsessed with wireless charging. So when we learned about the technology being developed at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) it pretty much blew our minds. The South Korean research center has developed a new system for wireless charging that can power up to 40 smartphones at the same time from up to five meters away, potentially making power cords a thing of the past.

It’s called the Dipole Coil Resonant System and still just a prototype, though we imagine if this technology ever hits the market it will be rebranded with a friendlier name. The charger uses two long magnetic coils to power devices through inductive charging. Beyond charging your smartphone, it can also power other devices like a large TV or a fan, which one researcher demonstrates in a video below.

The technology is still too expensive for regular consumers, but its developers predict it could be used to offer free electric power in public spaces. “Just like we see Wi-Fi zones everywhere today, we will eventually have many Wi-Power zones at such places as restaurants and streets that provide electric power wirelessly to electronic devices,” says Chun T. Rim, an engineering professor at KAIST.

It could be a while before this type of technology helps create totally wireless offices and homes where all of your devices automatically charge as soon as you walk in the door. Hopefully we’ll see wireless charging continue to advance as research goes on, but for now our options are still pretty limited.