Inductive charging is nothing new and even in the wide-scale consumer arena, Nokia has already made the notion popular by introducing wireless charging pads for its latest Lumia releases. Interestingly, a new patent application by Apple has come to light which seeks intellectual rights for a unique inductive-charging mat. The patent had been filed by the company back in March 2011.
Some of you may wonder how can Apple patent inductive charging given the fact that Nokia is already making use of the technology. Well, Apple has thrown a little something to the mix, making its inductive charging mat sensitive to the orientation of the device placed on it.
Apple describes in the patent application that the charging mat will respond uniquely to different positions of an object placed on it. For instance, the mat may charge the device when it is placed with face down while it may perform syncing and backup if its placed with face upwards.
Similarly, it can perform a number of other functions such as diagnostic checks, backup to a computer or an iCloud account, connecting to speakers or cameras etc. Clearly, Apple is taking a shot at creating an accessory which will do much more than inductive charging.
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