Ikea is literally supercharging its furniture. The Swedish purveyor of do-it-yourself home decor says it’s debuting a new line of desks, lamps, tables that will be able to wirelessly charge your phone or tablet.
The furniture will use the Qi wireless charging stard, which is one of the main competitors in the wireless charging lscape. The wer ers liance (A) is another key player, which has its technology in stores like Starbucks McDonald’s. There’s also the liance for reless wer (A4 which is expected to merge with the A later this year, hopefully paring down the fragmentation to two options.
Ikea st set your phone down for it to recharge with Ikea’s upcoming smart furniture line.
The furniture is to debut in the U.S. U.K. in April, then exp worldwide. Ikea says the pieces start at around 40 Euros, or about $45. Ikea also plans to sell a kit that will allow you to add a wireless charging spot to existing furniture.
y this matters: Ikea doesn’t want to be left out with the move towards the smart connected home. You may want to be cautious about jumping in given the uncertainty over which wireless stard will win out—you don’t want to have an set of tables lamps that are the furniture equivalent of HD DVD.
