XIAOMI'S AIR CHARGING TECHNOLOGY WILL BE RELEASING NEXT YEAR

Xiaomi has announced “Mi Air Charge Technology,” a wireless charging system that the company claims is able to charge devices “within a radius of several meters.” Multiple devices can be charged at 5W at the same time, according to Xiaomi, and physical obstacles apparently don’t reduce charging efficiency.

Mi Air Charge Technology – 5W remote charging

The core technology of Xiaomi’s remote charging lies in space positioning and energy transmission. Xiaomi’s self-developed isolated charging pile has five phase interference antennas built in, which can accurately detect the location of the smartphone. A phase control array composed of 144 antennas transmits millimeter-wide waves directly to the phone through beamforming.

On the smartphone side, Xiaomi has also developed a miniaturized antenna array with built-in “beacon antenna” and “receiving antenna array”. Beacon antenna broadcasts position information with low power consumption. The receiving antenna array composed of 14 antennas converts the millimeter wave signal emitted by the charging pile into electric energy through the rectifier circuit, to turn the sci-fi charging experience into reality.

• This is a revolutionary innovation of wireless charging.

• This is also a bold attempt to turn the whole house wireless.

• It’s not science fiction, it’s technology.

• This is Xiaomi’s self-developed remote charging technology.

Xiaomi spokesperson told TechCrunch that the company won’t be commercializing Mi Air Charge this year. That means we can only expect the system to roll out sometime in 2022.

The confirmation is disappointing but it’s probably for the best. No one wants underbaked tech and Xiaomi is probably still working to make it ready for market release. It’s also unclear if tech like this will need additional regulatory approvals, for health reasons or otherwise.