(PhysOrg.com) -- Wireless charging, the last bastion of the truly lazy, has gotten a new competitor in the marketplace. Hitachi Maxell has joined the ranks of companies such as Energizer in the wireless charging arena. The Hitachi Maxell unit which is named Qi, you would go with a “chee” sound if you said the name aloud, and it comes in two different models.
The first one is a larger charging station which allows you two slots for the charging of two separate devices at the same time.
The second option is a smaller and cheaper unit that will charge only a single device.
As with the Energizer model you cannot simply drop your phone as is onto the pad, each of the devices must be placed into its sleeve to get the charge. Unlike the Energizer model this one does not have USB ports for devices that lack sleeves.
Both of the devices run on the same wireless standard, which has been adopted by 72 companies and every large-scale hardware maker, with the notable exception of Apple.
That is not to say that you will not be able to charge your iPhone. The Qi setup does have a sleeve for iPhone 4 users that will allow them to charge without the cord. As a matter of fact, this device was designed with iPhone users in mind.
Hitachi Maxell has not announced the price for either the double- or single- unit charger at this time. US customers do not have a release date, but the devices are expected to be out in Japan during the month of April.
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