This problem's already solved. Qi is the standard.

Duracell Powermat is effectively just Qi with proprietary advertisement and tracking codes (light DRM) added on to it. As far as I can tell, it only exists because Duracell keeps throwing money at it.

This isn't a Blu-Ray/HD-DVD problem. It's more like a CD vs MiniDisc fight. Or a USB vs Lightning fight.

Duracell uses the PMA standard, which does have incompatible differences with Qi. Primarily the frequency of power transfer and the pairing/syncing logic.

What? Isn't that the same issue, they're incompatible with each other? So does Qi work with Powermat and vice versa?

They are incompatible. Up until recently, only Qi charging was available for phone. PMA was mostly supported by places like Starbucks offering wireless charging because it can track individual users. Samsung Galaxy S6 is the first phone to work with both Qi and PMA.

Thanks for quickly citing which standard they are using. It's the first thing I wondered when I saw the title. And that speaks precisely to your point: it is something I have already learned that I need to be mindful of whenever anyone says "X will come with a wireless charging pad."

If I were interested in this Ikea furniture (I can't say that I am, from the looks of it), I'd be happy since the phones in my household are both Nokias which use Qi. So I suppose I am on "Team Qi" and must naturally consider all of the competing standards to be inferior. That's how this is supposed to work, right?

Joking aside, wireless charging plates are amazingly convenient and I love that Ikea is putting them directly into furniture, even if these particular pieces do not yet strike me as suitable for my house. Presently, I have Qi plates at our desks, at the side table by the couch, and on the night stands. I would be in favor of plates that were there but couldn't be seen, for a slightly sleeker aesthetic.

For several years, I drove a MINI E electric car. Since then, I've been of the mind I will never again buy an ICE vehicle. ICE is dead to me. The same has happened with wireless charging. I will never buy a cell phone that requires I fidget with a wire to charge it. Connecting a wire is dead to me.

I am baffled that laptops and tablets are still behind the wireless charging curve. I want to drop my Surface on a charging plate.

Indeed. There are disadvantages. I guess what you're saying is that my Surface would charge more slowly on a pad than it will with its wire?

So be it.

I still want the convenience of wireless charging for my tablet/laptop. Here's the thing: my devices that charge wirelessly are in practice more often charged than those that require a wire. The speed of charging with a wire is immaterial if by requiring a wire, you have reduced the frequency of charging.

And if it's about efficiency (cost) of charging, then fine, let me know it will use a bit more electricity. I'm still going to do it. I've got way bigger fish to fry there.

Here efficiency is not only about costs but also about energy saving / protection or the environment.

Duracell must've payed Starbucks, because wirelessly chargeable phones are all using Qi. The only way I can imagine Powermat making a dent is by getting Apple to put it in the iPhone.

Interestingly enough, the new Samsung Galaxy S6 natively supports both Qi and PMA (Powermat) charging, so its possible to make devices that support both types of chargers.

I expect Starbucks will switch to whatever Apple picks. Along with everybody else.

Your expectations of Apple's market power are a bit inflated. Starbucks has not switched to ApplePay and neither has everybody else.

i agree with as Apple will go so will the market because switching out payment systems is an order of magnitude different (because of money and politics) than choosing an inductive power standard

Chargespot makes a charger that has both Qi and Powermat, it isn't a difficult problem to support both: http://www.chargespot.com/documents/ChargeSpot-Product-Sheet... WPC 1.1 is Qi I belive the only reason Starbucks has Powermat only is because they were provided for free by Powermat. The fact is that built into devices, Qi is far more common, but where or where is Apple?

Powermat and A4WP are merging, btw.

Lets wait and see what McDonald's use.