MWC 2015: IKEA launches wireless charging furniture Home Smart

IKEA has unveiled a range of furniture fitted with wireless charging spots for mobile devices at this year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC).

The Home Smart range will initially include lamps, bedside tables and a coffee table as well as individual charging pads for any surface.

IKEA has used the wireless charging standard QI, which is also supported by Samsung in its latest handset, Galaxy S6.

Environmental group Friends of the Earth urged caution over the recyclability of such products.

The Swedish furniture giant will sell charging covers for incompatible iPhone and Samsung models.

There are currently more than 80 QI-compatible handsets and 15 QI-enabled cars on the market according to QI’s backers the Wireless Power Consortium, an industry body whose members includes Belkin, Motorola, Panasonic and Sony.

However, it is not the only charging standard in development.

Samsung Galaxy S6 will also be compatible with PMA, a rival wireless charger solution provided by the Power Matters Alliance, whose members include Starbucks, Duracell Powermat, Huawei and Lenovo.

At the Consumer Electronics Show in January a company called Energous demonstrated WattUp, a non-inductive system which it claims can charge gadgets that lie in a 30ft radius around the charger.

Environmentalists said they hoped recycling was a priority for designers incorporating wireless charging equipment into their work.

IKEA said in a statement that its wireless charging products are “easy to fraction at end of life”.

“By adding wireless charging to home and office furniture, we minimize the amount of separate chargers needed,” it added.

The IKEA range will go on sale in the US in April 2015, the company said.