By With all of this week’s buzz over the world’s fastest this and the world’s thinnest that, it’s easy to forget that a few “world’s smallest” categories haven’t been filled yet. LG is changing all that, though, as the Korean OEM has announced the world’s smallest… wireless charger? That’s right, LG’s claim to first fame for the year will come in the wireless charging space, and it’s doing it with the WCP-300.
The charger is just 6.9cm in diameter, and is entirely compliant with Qi wireless charging standard. Despite being smaller, the WCP-300’s charging area is said to be 1.7 times wider than LG’s previous generation wireless charger, meaning it won’t be any harder to find that contact point between the two devices. LG’s employing a full-power feed to the device using a standard microUSB connection.
LG calls wireless charging the new “holy grail” of the smartphone industry. I can’t say I’ll agree with those exact sentiments — it’s cool, but a bit impractical at times for some of us — but we definitely prefer having the technology around. LG didn’t release immediate details about the charger’s availability or pricing, but this beautiful and sleek package is now officially on our radar.
We’ve gotten an early look at LG’s WCP-300 in use with the LG Optimus G Pro. Read our hands-on and watch the video here for more on that, and see if LG can’t entice you to buy one when it launches in the near future. Read on for full press details.
LG INTRODUCES WORLD’S SMALLEST WIRELESS CHARGER
LG’s Thin and Sleek Wireless Charger Delivers Maximum Charging Performance and User ConvenienceBARCELONA, Feb. 26, 2013 – LG Electronics (LG) today introduced the world’s smallest wireless charger at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. At only 6.9cm in diameter, the WCP-300 is designed with portability in mind. Despite its di-minutive size, the charging area is 1.7 times wider than that of LG’s previous generation wireless charger. The new model is compatible with a standard 5-pin micro-USB charger, providing the highest level of charging performance and user convenience.
The WCP-300 employs electromagnetic induction technology and is Qi certified by the Wireless Power Consortium. Electromagnetic induction produces a magnetic field that in turn generates an electric current to charge the batteries in devices placed on the charging pad. Certification ensures that the WCP-300 is compatible with all smart-phones that support the Qi standard.
“Wireless charging is the holy grail of smartphone user convenience,” said Dr. Jong-seok Park, President and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. “With the WCP-300, LG was able to deliver both portability with top-class charging capabilities in a device no larger than a typical beverage coaster.”
In the US market, both the LG Spectrum 2 and Nexus 4 feature built-in support for wireless charging right out of the box, eliminating the need to purchase separate covers. LG believes that built-in support for upcoming smartphones will be the most critical development in making wireless charging the industry standard going forward.
LG is committed to offering consumers a better mobile user experience by introducing smartphones with more advanced wireless charging technologies in the global market.
About LG Electronics, Inc.
LG Electronics, Inc. (KSE: 066570.KS) is a global leader and technology innovator in consumer electronics, mobile communications and home appliances, employing more than 93,000 people working in over 120 operations around the world. With 2012 global sales of USD 45.22 billion (KRW 50.96 trillion), LG comprises four business units – Home Entertainment, Mobile Communications, Home Appliance, and Air Conditioning & Energy Solution – and is one of the world’s leading producers of flat panel TVs, mobile devices, air conditioners, washing machines and refrigerators. LG Electronics is a 2012 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year. For more news and information on LG Electronics, please visit www.LGnewsroom.com.About LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company
The LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company is a global leader and innovator in mobile communications. With its breakthrough technologies and innovative designs, LG continues to establish a number of benchmarks in the smartphone market, while also helping create a better lifestyle for consumers by delivering a wholly enhanced smart-phone experience. As a leader in 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology, LG continues its commitment to de-veloping groundbreaking LTE technologies and fulfilling consumer demands with differentiated LTE devices of the highest quality, all of which are based on the company’s wealth of LTE patents and technical knowledge. For more information, please visit www.lg.com.
Nice but when’s it coming to the UK? I have the Nexus 4 and it’s hard to find a wireless charger available for purchase in the UK with a proper UK mains adapter. Most of the chargers available have to be bought from outside UK and used with some mains adapter converter. I really hope the Samsung S4 comes with wireless Qi charging as the popularity of the phone will probably get manufacturers all over producing wireless Qi chargers. Once it hits more of the general populous, we’ll have so much more choice and with cheaper prices.
Nice going LG!
Hopefully it is small enough to pickup and hold together with your phone, to charge while using it (like I do with cable chargers) But with the added convenience of not having to fumble with cables at night when you just want it to charge.
Wrong direction!
If i want to place my phone exactly on a specific spot, i wouldn’t need such a wireless charger, i could have used a dock instead.
What i would like to have a wireless charger like, would be _much_ bigger. Like: minimum filling my whole desk, so wherever i place my phone, it will get charged.
Even better: create something that can be placed below my carpet and changes my phone while i walk over it!
Not possible? Then don’t bother calling it wireless charging! You can call it “connector-less” or something similar stupid, but this thing obviously has enough wire attached.
+1.
It’s definitely NOT wireless chargers.
wired charging docks:
wired charging dock > exact device placement > charging process
“wireless” chargers:
wired charger > [almost] exact device placement > charging process
They’re rather “chargers that don’t require micro-usb contact”:D
I agree… Smaller makes it less useful not more.
When it’s $20 I MIGHT buy one…
A few months ago, I took my phone off the charger wire too fast and it damaged the micro-usb port and I had to have my phone replaced. Since then I’ve been sold on a wireless charger. Lack of one is a deal breaker for my next phone.
The unreliability of micro-usb ports is a great concern to me regarding the longevity of a smartphone! These things are very, very expensive, and I want my next one to last a very long time.