LG Electronics joined the Alliance for Wireless...

LG Electronics joined the Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP), founded last spring by Samsung and Qualcomm, according to an article from ETnews.com in Asia. It wasn’t clear from the report whether LG plans to continue supporting two wireless charging formats, having introduced the first phone compatible with the Wireless Power Consortium’s Qi charging standard in 2011 and launching what it called the smallest wireless charger at Mobile World Congress two months ago, also using Qi technology. A spokesman for A4WP would only say “the WPC website still lists LG as a member.” In the ETnews.com article, forwarded to us by A4WP, an LG executive said, “We had initially planned to focus on developing and commercializing both magnetic induction and magnetic resonance wireless charging technology. … We joined A4WP as a means to check the market.” A4WP focuses on “magnetic resonance” wireless power transfer technology that provides “spatial freedom for charging,” the spokesman said. WPC’s technology requires devices to be placed directly on a charging pad in a fixed location. A4WP will release “more formal” news about LG’s membership in A4WP in coming weeks, the spokesman told us.