评论
打印
Last month, it was revealed that Toyota had plans to release a plug-in electric Prius in 2016 that needed no plug at all to recharge, thanks to wireless technology from a U.S. company called WiTricity. The next day, Intel announced plans to release a completely wire-free personal computer by 2016—no power cord, no monitor cable, nothing. Nine days later, Starbucks announced that it would begin installing Duracell Powermat wireless charging pads in tables and counters in its stores across the United States.
据媒体7月报道，丰田公司（Toyota）计划在2016年推出一款全新的混合动力版普锐斯（Prius）电动车，其特别之处在于，这款新车将完全不需要“插电”就能充电，这还要感谢一家名叫WiTricity的美国公司开发的无线充电技术。就在这条消息曝光后的次日，英特尔公司（Intel）也宣布将在2016年以前推出一款完全不需要任何电线的个人电脑，也就是说既不需要电源线，也不需要显示器连接线。9天后，星巴克（Starbucks）不甘落后地宣布，该公司将在美国的所有星巴克门店桌子和柜台上安装Duracell Powermat公司的无线充电平板。
For wireless charging technology, the news headlines in June were, well, rather electric. (This is the part where you groan.)
对于无线充电技术来说，今年六月发布的种种消息，的确是让人挺“来电”的。
Look more closely, though, and you’ll notice that wireless charging tech is poised to break through in the next few years, dramatically changing our relationship with our increasingly mobile, but still tethered, electronic devices. Thoratec, a healthcare company, is working with WiTricity on a wireless way to charge heart pumps and other medical equipment. Lockheed Martin, the aerospace and defense giant, is working on a laser-based system to recharge drones in mid-flight. The list goes on.
不过如果你对这个行业观察得更深入的话，你会发现，我们今天的电子设备虽然移动化程度越来越高，但终究还是离不开一根电线。而无线充电技术却将在未来几年里显著地改变我们与各种电子设备的关系。医疗器械公司Thoratec目前正在与WiTricity公司合作研究给人工心脏和其他医疗设备无线充电的方法。国防航天巨头洛克希德马丁公司（Lockheed Martin）也正在开发一套镭射系统，用来给飞行中的无人机充电。其他从事无线充电技术研究的公司还有很多。
The wireless power market is expected to explode from a $216 million in 2013 to $8.5 billion in 2018 globally, according to IHS Technology, a market research firm. Why, then, are most of us still wrestling with a pile of cords at home?
据市调机构IHS科技公司的数据预测，全球无线充电市场的规模有望从2013年的2.16亿美元飙升至2018年的85亿美元。那么我们大多数人何必还要在家里放一大堆充电器呢？
“The reality is that the overall wireless charging market for consumer electronics is in the very early stages,” says Kamil Grajski, vice president of engineering at Qualcomm and the founding president of the Alliance for Wireless Power, or A4WP for short, one of three groups working on the development of wireless charging technologies.
高通公司（Qualcomm）的工艺副总裁、无线电源联盟（A4WP）的创始人兼总裁卡米尔o格拉吉斯基指出：“现实中，消费电子产品的无线充电市场总体上还处于非常初级的阶段。”格拉吉斯基创立的无线电源联盟是从事无线充电技术研发的三大组织之一。
Induction, the technology behind wireless charging, isn’t new—it’s been around for well over a hundred years. Here’s how it works: an induction coil creates an electromagnetic field (on a charging dock of some kind) that comes in contact with another induction coil (attached to the device to be charged), transferring electricity to it. It’s the same process used to juice up your electric toothbrush in its charging stand, Grajski says.
电磁感应作为无线充电的基础技术，早就不是什么新鲜事物了，它已经存在了足有100多年，其原理如下：首先，充电座上的电磁感应线圈会形成一个电磁场，这个磁场与另外一个电磁感应线圈接触后（这个线圈一般连接在需要充电的设备上），就会向其输送电力。格拉吉斯基表示，它的工作原理跟用充电座给你的电动牙刷充电没什么不同。
But induction technology has limitations that have limited its mainstream appeal. It only allows for a single device to be charged per coil, making it clunky and relatively inefficient in today’s multi-device world, and it requires precise placement of the device to be charged so that the coils are aligned in order to initiate and sustain the charging process.
不过电磁感应技术也有缺点，使它难以成为一种主流技术。首先，每个电磁感应线圈只能给一台设备充电，因此在如今多设备并存的社会中不免显得低效、不便。其次，它需要你把设备的位置放得很准确，才能让线圈启动和保持充电程序。
Proponents of inductive technology like Ran Poliakine, chief executive of Powermat, believe the key to increasing adoption of wireless charging lies not in figuring out the fastest or most efficient connection, but in making the technology available to people where they need it most. “The issue we are trying to address is how do we keep consumers charged throughout the day,” he says. “The barrier to entry was relevancy. Where do we put the charging spots?” He added: “The place you mostly need this service is outside your home and your office.”
电磁感应技术的支持者，比如Powermat公司的CEO兰o波利亚凯恩等，都认为推广无线充电技术的关键，并不在于怎样实现最快速或最有效的连接，而在于如何让人们在最需要的地方用上它。波利亚凯恩表示：“我们试图解决的问题是，如何让消费者整天都能充电。最大的阻碍就是关联性，我们应该把充电点放在哪里？”他补充道：“你最需要这项服务的地方，是在家或办公室以外的地方。”
He has a point. Placing charging stations in Starbucks locations is one way to do that, saving customers from the inevitable outlet search that comes with a drawn-out session at the café. Placement in airports and hotels, also in the works at Powermat, are two more ways. (One thing people may not know about Powermat’s charging stations: when used in conjunction with a cloud-based management system the company provides, a retailer can monitor who is at which station and for how long. Which means Starbucks could either give you the boot for squatting for six hours or beam you a coupon for a free refill to keep you there.)
他说的很有道理。把充电点放在星巴克的门店里不失为一个好办法，至少可以避免消费者在咖啡厅里长聊时不得不到处找电源插口。另外我们也可以把它放在机场、酒店或Powermat的充电站里。（大家可能不知道Powermat充电站的一个功能，如果它与该公司提供的一套基于云端的管理系统协同使用的话，那么一家零售店就可以监测谁在哪个充电站待了多久。也就是说星巴克可以选择让你在那儿坐六个小时，或给你发送一张免费续杯的优惠券把你留引过来。）
Another reason for the technology’s slow adoption? A good old-fashioned standards war between industry groups. The Power Matters Alliance, or PMA, backs one type of induction standard and counts Duracell, Procter & Gamble, Qualcomm, and WiTricity as members. The Wireless Power Consortium, or WPC, backs an induction standard called Qi (pronounced chee) and counts Hitachi, IKEA and Verizon as members. Some companies, such as Microsoft and Samsung, are members of both groups.
电磁感应充电技术推广较慢的另一个原因，则是两大阵营之间爆发的标准之争。其一是电力事业联盟（PMA），代表成员包括金霸王（Duracell）、宝洁（Procter & Gamble）、高通和WiTricity等。其二是无线充电联盟（WPC），该联盟支持一套叫做“Qi”的标准，日立（Hitachi）、宜家（IKEA）、威瑞森（Verizon）等都是它的成员。但有些公司同时加入了两大阵营，比如微软（Microsoft）和三星（Samsung）等。
The two standards use what is essentially the same technology but apply it with different specifications, creating problems for the companies that must embed the technology in their products. According to John Perzow, vice president of market development for WPC, 63 phones on the market today support the Qi standard, including those from Nokia, Google, and Sony. Meanwhile, Google Nexus and LG phones, among others, will have Powermat compatibility built into them.
这两大标准基本上使用的是相同的技术，但技术规格不同，导致企业在产品中嵌入无线充电技术时往往会因为标准问题伤脑筋。据WPC的市场开发副总裁约翰o珀尔泽表示，当前市场上63款手机支持Qi标准，包括诺基亚（Nokia）、谷歌（Google）和索尼（Sony）旗下的部分机型。同时谷歌的Nexus和LG旗下的部分机型则兼容Powerbat的充电标准。
To up the ante, Powermat has plans to give away free “charging rings,” similar to those made by the Finnish firm PowerKiss it acquired last year, to Starbucks customers to encourage them to use in-store chargers. (It plans to sell them at retail for less than $10.) Meanwhile, the PMA struck a deal with A4WP in February to support its Rezence standard, which uses another kind of wireless charging technology called magnetic resonance.
Powermat公司还计划向星巴克的顾客免费发放能连接店内充电器的“无线充电环”。这种充电环有点像Powermat去年收购的芬兰公司PowerKiss的产品，目前的计划零售价还不到10美元。另外PMA今年二月与A4WP达成了一项支持其Rezence标准的协议，Rezence标准使用了另一种叫做“磁共振”的技术。
Both industry groups look to magnetic resonance technology as the likely second-generation standard for wireless charging, thanks to its ability to transfer larger quantities of energy and therefore support larger devices such as kitchen appliances. (The WPC says it is working on its own version of the tech.) The wireless PC that Intel demonstrated at Computex last month—you can see it in a video here—uses the Rezence standard.
两大行业组织PMA和A4WP都认为，磁共振很有可能将成为无线充电技术的第二代标准，因为磁共振可以传输更多的电力，足以为厨房用具等用电量更大的设备充电。（WPC则表示它也正在开发自己的磁共振技术。）英特尔上月在台北国际电脑展上展示的无线PC也正是使用了Rezence的标准。
Magnetic resonance technology relies on resonant magnetic coupling, which creates a magnetic field around each coil that transfers power without having to align coils precisely. It can charge a device across small distances (about two inches) rather than requiring near-direct contact—a table can be retrofit with a charging pad attached underneath it instead of embedded in its surface.
磁共振技术主要依赖电磁共振耦合原理，它会在每个线圈周围形成一个能够传输电力的磁场，不需要对线圈进行精确排列。另外它还可以隔着一段较小的距离进行无线充电（大概两英寸），不需要让设备与充电器直接接触。因此你可以把充电板镶嵌在桌子底下，而不是放在桌面上。
Magnetic resonance also allows more than one device to be charged at the same time. The Rezence standard uses the Bluetooth connection already present in many mobile electronics to detect the presence of a compatible charger. The technology is not yet on the market, but Grajski anticipates products using Rezence could be seen in stores as soon as this year. “Some of the barriers are just getting the right players in industry to adopt the technology and make it available at a reasonable price,” he says.
磁共振技术的另一个优点，是可以同时支持一台以上设备充电。Rezence标准就利用了很多手机都具备的蓝牙功能，来搜索能够与手机兼容的充电器。目前这项技术还没上市，但格拉吉斯基认为，使用Rezence标准的产品最早可能今年就会到店开售。他表示：“这项技术的障碍，只不过是如何让行业里正确的选手采用这项技术，然后以一个合理的价格提供给消费者。”
Still, two inches is two inches. What about beaming power across a room? That’s where WiTricity comes in. Born out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2007, the company continues to develop what Kaynam Hedayat, vice president of product management and marketing, calls “highly resonant wireless power transfer” technology.
但是两英寸的距离毕竟还是太短了。如果要是隔着一间屋子也能充电那该多好？这就是WiTricity公司正在努力的目标。WiTricity是2007年从麻省理工学院孵化出的一家公司，它一直致力于开发公司产品管理与营销副总裁凯纳姆o希达亚特所谓的“高振谐的无线电力传输”技术。
Imagine an opera singer who can break glass with her voice—that’s how the technology works, Hedayat says. “Objects have a certain frequency by which they start vibrating,” he says. Tune a receiver and a device to the same frequency and they begin communicating with each other. “The energy is only transferred to devices that are tuned to that frequency,” he says. This allows electricity to transfer over distances of up to four feet. “With that, a lot of possibilities open up,” he adds.
想象一下，一名歌剧演员可以用她的高音震破玻璃，这就是这项技术的原理。希达亚特表示：“任何物体都有一定的共振频率。”将一台设备和另一台接收设备调到相同的频率，它们就会形成共振。“电力只会传输到共振频率相同的设备上。”这使得电力的输送距离可以达到4英尺。希达亚特补充道：“凭借这一点开启了很多可能性。”
Such as charging vehicles or medical equipment wirelessly. “Wires in hospitals are a big issue because you have to sterilize every device,” Hedayat says.
比如我们可以借此给车辆或者医疗设备进行无线充电。”希达亚特指出：“医院里的电线是个大问题，因为你必须给每样设备消毒。”
Or use in military applications, where robots in the field can be recharged while in position. Wireless charging tech could also help soldiers cut down on the nearly 40 pounds of battery that many soldiers carry on their backs, Hedayat says. And charging sensors on submarines would enable battery charging in deep-sea conditions, where it’s unsafe to run wires.
这项技术也可以应用于军事用途，比如执行任务的机器人可以就地充电。另外它也可以使很多士兵不必再背负重达40磅的电池。另外深海中的潜艇也可以利用这项技术向艇外的传感器充电，因为在深海中拉电线显然是不安全的。
For now, the wireless charging standards war rages on, and the technology remains a novelty at best. But it can’t go on forever. Just as Wi-Fi became the standard protocol for wireless data exchange between computers, so shall one wireless charging standard emerge as the winner. Only then will we see what wireless charging is capable of.
目前，无线充电技术的标准大战还在继续，无线充电技术本身也仍然是个新鲜事物，但这种局面不会永远持续下去。就像Wi-Fi已经成为电脑之间交换数据的标准协议一样，很快也将会有一种无线充电标准胜出，成为通用标准。直到那时，我们才将真正见证无线充电技术的潜力。
“In four or five years, there will be one standard for wirelessly charging devices,” Hedayat says. ” You will forget about different adapters and connecters. You will find a hotspot and it’s just going to work.”
希达亚特表示：“在四五年内，就将会有一种无线充电设备的通用标准。你将忘掉不同型号的充电器和连接线。你会找到一个无线充电热点，而且它很好用。”
