More and more mobile phones are being fitted with wireless charging capabilities, and it’s a technology that looks like being standard pretty soon.
Along with a few other manufacturers, Ikea has been offering furniture and accessories such as lamp bases with built-in wireless pads for a while now.
They can often be quite expensive, and you can only charge your phone in that specific place – usually with a discrete ‘X’ marking the spot.
You can also buy wireless charger pads that you can sink into furniture, but this involves making a place for it to sit.
Now, the Swedish furniture giant is releasing a gadget that can turn your regular desk, table and other surfaces into a wireless charger without the need for drilling a large hole into it.
The Ikea Sjömärke is designed to be placed under an appropriate surface and transmit its Qi charging abilities through the material.
However, there are some limitations regarding the material that the device is able to work with.
Device can transmit wirelessly through wood and plastic
It won’t transmit through metal, but Ikea says that it works through all other materials.
It also works best through materials that are less than an inch thick, with Ikea commenting that the optimal thickness was between three and seven eighths of an inch.
It should also be noted that the Sjömärke is only designed to be used through material and at a remove, so you shouldn’t place your phone directly onto it for charging.
The gadget can be attached to the underside of your desk, table or other surface using provided sticky tape, making it versatile and portable.
It can also be screwed into place if you want to designate a more permanent charging area.
Screw holes are already in place on the device mounting, though the screws are not provided as the correct ones can vary depending on the material it’s being affixed to.
The phone still has to sit pretty much straight above the device, so there are also stickers you can use to indicate the correct charging spot on the top surface.
The Sjömärke is listed at under $40 (£30) on the US Ikea website, though it is currently marked unavailable.
It will reportedly ship in the US in October, with a European release hopefully to follow soon.
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