Latest news with #Qi2
CNN
40 minutes ago
- CNN
Twelve South's new PowerBug turns any outlet into a floating MagSafe charger
Twelve South is launching its latest charging accessory today with the debut of the new PowerBug. The compact wall adapter merges a 30W USB-C charger with a MagSafe-compatible Qi2 wireless puck for turning any outlet into a magnetic iPhone mount. I've been using this handy gadget and am already sold on its 2-in-1 design. Twelve South PowerBug The new PowerBug from Twelve South packs a 30W USB-C charger and Qi2 magnetic power puck into a wall adapter that fits in the palm of your hand. It can charge two devices at once, making it perfect for use in the kitchen, bathroom or while traveling. Don't let the looks of the new PowerBug fool you. It may appear to just be a typical USB-C charger at first glance, but Twelve South has packed in an even more useful feature. The fact that it doubles as a MagSafe adapter with the same tech as the company's Butterfly 2-in-1 charger means that any outlet can become a compact iPhone wireless charging mount. After using it myself, that versatile design means there are a few use cases where the PowerBug feels like a real game-changer. I had a chance to check this out earlier in the year during a trip to the Twelve South headquarters in Charleston, South Carolina. Ever since then, I've known exactly where I want this to live in my home: the kitchen. Right after unpacking it, I immediately plugged the charging puck into an outlet right next to my stove. I already have a USB-C charger there to power the HomePod Mini that serenades me while cooking, and this is a worthy replacement that adds extra functionality to my current setup. Instead of just powering a smart speaker, it also means I could ditch the cheap MagSafe stand that had been keeping my phone propped up while I whip up dinner. Sometimes it's useful for double-checking a recipe or intently following along with a more in-depth cooking guide, others it's just having my phone away from the cutting board but still within arm's reach. In either case, the PowerBug means I can replace two accessories with one that is far handier and far more useful. I've also explored using this in the bathroom with the outlet right next to my sink. If you have a long morning routine and are looking for a spot to place your phone while you get ready, the PowerBug can certainly deliver. Alongside keeping your iPhone in place, the wireless charger features can also handle sending 15W of power to your device. Twelve South has a long track record of releasing useful and novel gadgets. I've been using (and loving) the brand's charging gear and Apple accessories for years, much like my colleagues. CNN Underscored's tech editor Henry T. Casey recently spoke highly of the company's new Curve Nano smartphone stand after testing it himself. CNN Underscored has a team of writers and editors with many years of product testing experience as well as experience researching and recommending other buys, and they ensure each article is carefully edited and products are properly vetted. We talk to top experts when relevant to ensure we are testing each product accurately, recommending only the best products and considering the pros and cons of each item. Senior deals editor Rikka Altland has personally been reviewing all kinds of tech, gadgets and home goods for nearly a decade.
Phone Arena
17 hours ago
- Phone Arena
Here's the first Qi2.2 wireless power bank with faster charging speeds and much more
If you are a power user, one of the most important tools you need to carry with you at all times is a power bank. With this accessory, you can go about the day carrying your phone, not worrying whether you will be consuming too much battery life by streaming an episode of House on your phone while taking the bus to work in the morning. Portable power banks can carry anywhere from a battery capacity of 5000mAh to as high as 35000mAh or more. The thing to remember is that the higher the capacity of your power bank, the more unwieldy it is. For example, I own power banks with 5000mAh battery capacity, and they fit in my pocket. A power bank with this capacity usually provides the user with one to two full charges, with the lower number more likely. I also have a 35000mAh power bank that will definitely provide me with multiple charges, but it is also the size of a brick, is very heavy, and is not pocketable. The first power bank with Qi2.2 charging, the UGREEN MagFlow Magnetic Power Bank. | Image credit-UGREEN A power bank's charging speed is also important because the faster it charges, the quicker your phone's battery life returns to 100%. With the latest Qi2.2 wireless charging standard announced by the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC), devices like power banks can now charge as fast as 50W in certain implementations. More likely, your charging speed with a Qi2.2 device will be 25W. That is a significant jump from the 15W charging speed available on the Qi and Qi2 standards. -UGREEN Difference between the first Qi standard and the latest. | Image credit-UGREEN Despite the faster charging speeds with Qi2.2, not too many devices offer it. Today, the world's first Qi2.2 power bank has been introduced. The UGREEN MagFlow Magnetic Power Bank carries 10000mAh in battery capacity and a 25W wireless charging speed. It is equipped with a built-in USB-C cable for those times when you want to charge with a wire, and an extra USB-C port in case you want to charge two devices at the same time. A display on the side of the power bank will tell you exactly how much battery life remains on it and whether you need to plug it in to replenish the power bank. The UGREEN MagFlow Magnetic Power Bank will be released sometime this fall with improved magnetic auto-alignment, 25W charging speed, temperature protection that prevents overheating, and more. Pricing remains unknown for now.
The Verge
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Verge
The Switch 2's next killer app is already here
Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 90, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, hope you're staying cool, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.) This week, I have been watching The Bear's fourth season, preparing for the deluge of Qi2.2 wireless chargers, pondering how I'll use the upcoming Bigfoot emoji to troll my group chats, studying the relaunched EmojiTracker, reading this giant profile of NBA star Joel Embiid, enjoying Pixar's Hoppers teaser trailer way more than I expected, learning who Alex Warren is, and wondering if I should actually watch all of Stranger Things after seeing the fifth and final season's new trailer. I also have for you a new Donkey Kong title, OpenAI's next big AI agent, a customizable gamepad, and more. Let's dive in. (As always, the best part of Installer is your ideas and tips. What do you want to know more about? What awesome tricks do you know that everyone else should? What app should everyone be using? Tell me everything: installer@ And if you know someone else who might enjoy Installer, forward it to them and tell them to subscribe here.) Today, I'm featuring Molly White, who you may know as the author of the incomparable Web3 is Going Just Great, which chronicles how crypto, blockchain, and Web3 technologies are not going great. White also writes the Citation Needed newsletter and is a Wikipedia admin. And I highly recommend her talk at the 2024 XOXO Festival about good things on the web, which I got to see live. Here's her homescreen and her explanation of what's on it. The phone: Pixel 7. I'm of the 'drive it until the wheels fall off' type when it comes to electronics, so this three-year-old phone is actually somewhat on the new end for me. The wallpaper: A photo of my cat, Ruthie. The apps: The apps are all labeled, save for the quickbar ones: Signal, Bluesky, Proton Mail, Google Calendar, and Chrome. The two cut-off names are Pocket Casts and CloudLibrary. Signal is my primary messaging app both for my work and for personal use, and I highly recommend it. Out of end-to-end encrypted messaging platforms, it's an excellent choice — and I think everyone should strongly consider using E2EE to protect their privacy, regardless of whether they think they need it or not. You'll also see Tor on the screen; that's a privacy-focused web browser that I use frequently. I'm a big reader, so it's probably not surprising that three of the apps on the home screen are book-related. CloudLibrary and Libby are the apps my libraries use for their digital lending, which is primarily how I get the audiobooks I enjoy listening to while I walk my dog (when I'm not listening to podcasts on Pocket Casts, that is). StoryGraph is how I keep track of all the books I read, and it's a strong improvement over Goodreads. I just finished listening to the audiobook for Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, which was very good. I'm a very heavy RSS user, and Inoreader is my RSS reader. It's perhaps a bit ironic as someone who writes an email newsletter that I don't like reading newsletters in my email inbox, but I much prefer to sit down and read my newsletters at my preferred reading time than have them interrupt me throughout my day. I've got hundreds of feeds that I follow, and Inoreader also has a great feature where it can convert email newsletters that don't offer built-in RSS feeds (for shame!) into a feed. Probably half of the feeds I follow are food blogs for recipe ideas, and good recipes go into Paprika, a fantastic recipe app that I also use for grocery lists. I've been using that app for years, and as a frequent cook I've collected about 800 recipes in there by now. I also asked Molly to share a few things she's into right now: Here's what the Installer community is into this week. I want to know what you're into right now as well! Email installer@ with your recommendations for anything and everything, and we'll feature some of our favorites here every week. For even more great recommendations, check out the replies to this post on The Verge, this post on Threads, and this post on Bluesky. 'Got an Nvidia Shield TV Pro (2019) for the upscaling feature and watched the best single episode of television — 'The Constant,' Lost. It's like getting a DAC and in-ear monitors to re-listen to your old favorites.' – Allen [Jay note: 'The Constant' is, indeed, the best single episode of television.] 'Donkey Kong Bananza! It's got four main buttons: Smash things in front, smash things below, smash things above, jump. Needless to say it's the most cathartic game I've ever played.' – BaltMatrix 'For reasons surely not related to current events, I've been reading a lot about the leadup to the Civil War. Most recently it has been Charles Sumner: Conscience of a Nation, a newly released biography by Zaakir Tameez about one of the most misunderstood and now largely forgotten figures of the abolitionist movement.' – Hoto 'I've been playing through my Steam Summer Sale haul and having a blast. (Cyberpunk 2077, Besiege, Emily is Away, Nubby Number Factory, A Short Hike.) I've also gotten into Letterboxed recently, having fun there after recruiting some friends to join. Lastly, one of my all-time favorite podcasts, 13 Minutes Presents, just started their third season, this one about the Space Shuttle. Can't recommend the first season about the Apollo 11 moon landing enough.' – trekkie86 'Started reading The Anthropologists. Breezy, lovely writing!' – Jake 'It may be clichéd, but reading Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams. And watching Superman has gotten me into reading the Superman comics, so from a Reddit recommendation, I'm currently reading Superman: Up in the Sky by Tom King.' – pangaean 'Been playing Dance Dance Revolution with a mat I got online as my indoor summer (and air conditioned) exercise! Works on PC with the included USB stick with StepMania and on my old PS2, still chugging along with original discs from childhood. It's been humbling to say the least, but great cardio!' – WhatsTheMatter I'm debating going caseless with my iPhone 16 Pro. I have generally always disliked cases, but I put one on my iPhone 12 Mini years ago after the screen got an errant scratch at the beach, and now I get cases out of habit. Every time I take the case off, my phone just feels way better to hold, but then I inevitably get scared and put the case on again. Should I live dangerously? Or should a case be the base? Help me solve this quandary. Also, do you use a case with your phone, and if so, which one? I've always assumed everyone has a case, but maybe they don't. See you next week!
Mint
5 days ago
- Mint
Ambrane MagSurge Qi2 wireless powerbank launched in India: Price, features, and availability
Ambrane, an Indian tech accessories brand, has unveiled its latest wireless magnetic power bank, the MagSurge, to the Indian market. The power bank comes with a battery capacity of 10,000mAh and carries Qi2 certification, indicating compliance with the latest wireless charging standards. This article provides an overview of MagSurge's specifications, features, pricing, and availability. The main feature of the Ambrane MagSurge power bank is its Qi2 wireless certification. This certification allows the powerbank to wirelessly charge smartphones that support Qi2, including popular models such as the latest iPhone series and Samsung Galaxy S flagship phones. The Qi2 protocol helps reduce heat during charging and uses magnetic alignment to maintain a stable connection between the charger and the device. Additionally, Ambrane includes a magnetic charging ring with the power bank. This accessory enables users to convert phones without built-in magnetic charging capabilities to work with the MagSurge. The MagSurge delivers wireless charging speeds up to 15 watts. It also supports wired charging with a maximum output of 22 watts, including 20 watts for normal charging and 22 watts for Programmable Power Supply (PPS) charging. The powerbank features a USB-C port, which serves both as an input to recharge the powerbank and as an output to charge other devices. A five-segment LED indicator displays the charging status and remaining battery level. With a 10,000mAh battery, the MagSurge can charge an iPhone 16 approximately 1.5 times on a single full charge. The device incorporates Ambrane's SafeCharge Technology, which offers safeguards against overload, overcharging, overvoltage, electrostatic discharge, short circuits, and incorrect circuit connections. The powerbank also has a built-in metal stand designed to hold smartphones in either vertical or horizontal positions, which lets users watch videos comfortably while charging. The Ambrane MagSurge is priced at Rs. 1,999 on Amazon India and is available in purple and golden colour options. The device can also be purchased through Ambrane's official website at Rs. 2,499.
Phone Arena
6 days ago
- Phone Arena
WPC teases major announcement for next week about a "new era of wireless charging"
The Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) has posted a teaser on "X" that says, "Heading into a new era of wireless charging in T-Minus 1 week… Stay tuned." This could be exciting, and the announcement, based on the aforementioned comment, would be expected to come on July 23rd. The teaser shows a green lightning bolt icon with the phrase, "It's coming" underneath the image. The WPC owns the Qi trademark which is the most well known wireless charging standard in the mobile space. Qi 2.2 will not only allow Apple to improve wireless charging speeds for the iPhone, but it will also charge more efficiently, better align the magnets, and be backward compatible. The latter means that older iPhone models will be able to use Qi 2.2, although the platform won't be able to run at its full potential on those models. The WPC's teaser about a new era of wireless charging. | Image credit-WPC The big announcement could also simply introduce more features for Q1 2.2 or announce the first smartphone series to employ the new standard, which could be the Google Pixel 10 line. Even if the upcoming Pixel line does support Qi 2.2, no Pixel yet has ever shipped with magnets to help the user properly align the phone with the wireless charging circuitry. That could soon change. Last month, we told you that Google is supposedly working on a feature dubbed "Pixelsnap" that would debut on the Pixel 10 series. This would include accessories available for the Pixel 10 models that would allow for the use of magnetic alignment. It's possible that we will learn more about this next week when the WPC makes its announcement. However, the organization's statement about "a new era of wireless charging" would seem to indicate that whatever the WPC announces next week, it will be about more than juat offering Qi 2.2 support for one new phone series. So now we have to sit back and eagerly await next Wednesdays announcement to learn all about the upcoming new era of wireless charging. Secure your connection now at a bargain price! We may earn a commission if you make a purchase Check Out The Offer
