Israeli Firm's Wireless Chargers
To Boost Starbucks Customers

Soon, clients of the Starbucks coffee-chain in Boston will be able to charge their mobile devices while sipping their coffee. They will not have to connect to a charger in the wall, but to special wireless chargers produced by the Israeli Powermat company.

About This Article

Summary : Starbucks plans to equip several of its coffee shops in Boston with cable-free battery chargers developed by the Israeli start-up Powermat and the battery giant Duracell, Sagi Cohen reports. Publisher: Yedioth Ahronoth (Israel) Original Title: Starbucks proposes: Coffee and an Israeli charger Author: Sagi Cohen First Published: October 30, 2012 Posted on: October 31 2012 Translated by: Sandy Bloom Categories : Israel

Powermat developed charging mats that charge electrical devices without the use of wires. These mats are not sold in Israel, but are highly successful in the United States. At the beginning of the year, the company announced the launching of the new brand together with Duracell, the subsidiary of the Procter & Gamble consumer goods giant.

Now Starbucks has announced a pilot test featuring the introduction of wireless Duracell-Powermat charging-stations in several of its Boston branches. In order to charge cellular devices on the [charging] pads, special cases are needed for the smartphones. Clients who don’t possess these cases can borrow them from the Starbucks counter.

This is another large project operated by Duracell-Powermat in the United States, after it recently announced that it would deploy a network of wireless “hot spots” throughout New York City for smartphones of passersby — who will be able to charge their devices without need for a regular charger.

Some of the sites chosen for the “hot spots” include: the Madison Square Garden arena; the LaGuardia, Newark and Kennedy [JFK] airports; Westfield Garden State Mall Plaza; and rapper [Shawn] "Jay-Z" [Carter’s] night clubs.

Starbucks, AT&T and Google simultaneously announced that they would join the PMA wireless charging standard established by Powermat and Procter & Gamble. This constitutes significant support for the PMA standard, which competes with the WPC standard used by Samsung and Nokia companies, among others. As part of the new collaboration, AT&T will sell charging mats using the PMA standard in its branches.

“We are always looking for ways to help our customers recharge, both literally and figuratively. Wireless charging is not only the most convenient and simple way to recharge a mobile device, but it's environmentally friendly as well,” they said in Starbucks.