The global furniture chain IKEA today announced the launch of a line of furniture with built-in wireless charging for mobile devices. The line includes tables, lamps and desks. The wireless charging feature is designed to eliminate the cable mess (something we hate). To charge your mobile device, you’ll just place your phone on the charging area.

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Wireless charging incompatibility

The furniture uses the wireless charging standard Qi that is incompatible with such popular mobile devices as the Apple iPhone. For that reason, IKEA plans to sell wireless charging covers for devices that don’t have wireless charging features built-in. With such a cover, the charging station will work with the last few generations of iPhone and Samsung Galaxy from the iPhone 4 and S3 upwards.

The wireless charging standards war is the biggest challenge facing IKEA and others, as such companies as Starbucks and McDonald’s support a competing standard, PMA, from Power Matters Alliance.

Availability

The furniture will be available in Europe and North America this April, followed by a global rollout.

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