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Apple Experimenting With 'New Way of Charging' for 2012 iPhone

cvaldes said:
Interesting.

The link from the MacRumors page went 404, however, there seems to be some sort of product. There appears to be some sort of attachment necessary to accomplish the induction charging.

No support for the iPhone 4 though.
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I found a couple other solutions on Amazon too, but they also required an attachment and had no iPhone 4 support.
 
NT1440 said:
If not inductive charging, perhaps we will see those mobile device magsafe patents actually being put to use?
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Yes! I mean, the first thing I thought when I saw the slick magnetism used to connect the ipad 2 cover was how sweet it would be if this was how they connected a cable to the next iphone and ipad!
 
funman895 said:
I kinda doubt that's an option, given the low weight of an iPhone, the magnet connecter itself would need to be extremely low-strength, presenting the same problem that some say plagues mag-safe today, which is the cable detaching itself too easily.
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That is a very good point, because Apple isn't going to be making their devices any heavier. Ah well. Woulda been nice.
 
Most likely it will be the best selling iPhone by a wide margin compared to previous models. Like millions of units.

And AAPL shareholders will be laughing all the way to the bank.
 
cvaldes said:
Most likely it will be the best selling iPhone by a wide margin. Like millions of units.

And AAPL shareholders will be laughing all the way to the bank.
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Not denying that. People will buy it just to buy it. I remember the Iphone being the innovator, the technology leader that others followed. Now they got left behind in hardware but their superior OS and style is keeping them ahead (for now). I want it all and expect it all with Apple. Just seems like they got 'lazy' with the 5. Hopefully these rumors are false and Apple blows us away.
 
korndawg said:
Not denying that. People will buy it just to buy it. I remember the Iphone being the innovator, the technology leader that others followed. Now they got left behind in hardware but their superior OS and style is keeping them ahead (for now). I want it all and expect it all with Apple. Just seems like they got 'lazy' with the 5. Hopefully these rumors are false and Apple blows us away.
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I wouldn't be surprised if they do. I think people are just expecting the same level of pre-information as there was with the iPhone 4 [an incredibly leaked phone], and are starting to think that a lack of rumors is equal to a lack of new features.
 
AppleMactablet said:
Solar panel casing. Thanks Apple
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Ha, solar panels have horrible energy conversion rates, are expensive to make, and would add significant weight. Not to mention the phone is gonna be in your pocket most of the time (there isn't much light in my pockets, yours could be different though ;) ). you can have a solar powered iPhone when it needs as much power as a four function calculator.

What you really need is a really small radioisotope thermoelectric generator. :p lol
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-gb) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

I think solar panel is the way to go. I have this keyboard called logitech k750 .. Its a wireless keyboard with solar panels ... You never have to charge it up or change any batteries or anything .. It doesnt even require sunlight, any light will do. I love it and something like that in an iPhone would blow my mind .. As long as you use the iPhone in some sort of light, your battery will always be charged.
 
Dumb me, when I first read 'charging', I thought it is referring to a different way Apple is going to charge money for the iPhone ;)
 
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waterproof iphone?

Ok, I'm putting this inductive charging rumor together with the previous rumors of a touch (not physical) Home button, then add bluetooth headset, syncing over the net, and the previous rumors of Apple being interested in a programmable GSM (instead of the card). That about does it! Completely sealed iPhone! And it'd be just like Apple to do, wouldn't it? :)
 
You have to think like Apple. You have to also think like a geek without going all bonkers.

They will use a technology that's relatively mature, yet innovative in their sector. It will possess characteristics of high volume, relatively low cost production and ease of manufacturing.

While inductive charging is a possibility, it's not cost effective and it's not closely tied to their business model of doing things.

Solar, is a a tricky one. Most solar panels which are cheapest to produce tend to store very little energy over long periods of time. How often do your iPhone see light? Not only will they have to use high solar absorbing panel tech, but it will most likely be too costly to use.

I personally think it will be kinetic energy. They use it in watches and it's somewhat a mature technology. However, the biggest drawback is the amount of energy it produces. Very miniscule. Using this tech will be a form of battery assistance, so regular plug-in is still required.

Think about it. When you play games on the iPhone, a lot of the games are require physics and that's where kinetic will come into play. How often do take out or play with your phone? Is your phone low on battery? Take 5 minutes and swing it around (just don't toss it) to make emergency calls.

Apple's great at re-inventing the wheel and I will put my money down on this if I had to choose.
 
funman895 said:
Yes, it would be quite awesome if apple made the back of the next iPhone photovoltaic so it generates energy, but I doubt the technology has evolved enough to make its design really minimal, but who knows what Apple will do.
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It could be done, but your phone would cost double or more. Plus, my phone is usually in my pocket...not great for catching those rays!
 
n8236 said:
You have to think like Apple. You have to also think like a geek without going all bonkers.

They will use a technology that's relatively mature, yet innovative in their sector. It will possess characteristics of high volume, relatively low cost production and ease of manufacturing.

I personally think it will be kinetic energy. They use it in watches and it's somewhat a mature technology. However, the biggest drawback is the amount of energy it produces. Very miniscule. Using this tech will be a form of battery assistance, so regular plug-in is still required.

Think about it. When you play games on the iPhone, a lot of the games are require physics and that's where kinetic will come into play. How often do take out or play with your phone? Is your phone low on battery? Take 5 minutes and swing it around (just don't toss it) to make emergency calls.

Apple's great at re-inventing the wheel and I will put my money down on this if I had to choose.
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So it's vegetable oil diesel engine then? :)

I like your kinetic energy idea. I think it could work all the time- just while being in your pocket while walking would charge it.
 
monaarts said:
I would love to see someone build some sort of a kinetic energy system into a cell phone.
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That's the the first thought that popped into my head when I read "new way of charging" Kinetic Energy Recovery System would be pretty sweet if it could be made to work given the low (kinetic) energy levels that phones are exposed to.
 
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Insolence said:
Damn, now that I'm upgrading to the upcoming iPhone 5, they gotta throw out a "major re-vamp" rumor about the iPhone 6 in 2012? Booo :(
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Poor guy looks like he would be waiting to buy an iphone for his entire life
 
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