That's because Intel just chose Integrated Device Technology to develop an integrated transmitter and receiver chipset for its wireless charging technology. The receiver chipset is based on resonance technology.

IDT says its wireless charging integrated circuits will provide size and cost reductions while also simplifying product development and integration . Intel and IDT will work to deliver validated reference designs targeted for deployment in Ultrabooks, All-in-One PCs, smartphones and stand-alone chargers.

A Fully Mobile Experience

"We think the ability to have a wire-free charging experience with a broad ecosystem of devices like keyboards, mice, storage devices, cameras and smartphones will be realized in the near future," said Gary Huang, director of PC Growth and Innovation at Intel. "Customers and consumers alike have asked for a fully mobile wireless charging experience, and it is our objective to deliver it through the power of PC."

IDT is targeting samples of a resonance receiver IC by the end of the year, and the transmitter IC is expected to sample in the first half of 2013. IDT is betting its experience developing the integrated IDTP9030 transmitter and multi-mode IDTP9020 receiver will help it get the job done right.

IDT is no stranger to wireless innovation. The firm recently announced a low-power, low-distortion diversity mixer for 4G wireless base stations. The Zero-Distortion family of devices promises to reduce distortion while simultaneously reducing power consumption in LTE and time-division duplexing wireless communication architectures.

Standardized Charging

Brad Shimmin, an analyst at Current Analysis, told us the coming innovation from Intel points out how much people depend on mobile devices. Considering that most devices people work from are mobile -- a smartphone, a laptop , a tablet or all three -- it's even more important.

"Whether you are at home, at the office or on the road, ensuring that these mobile devices have electricity is not always achievable," Shimmin said. "If something can be developed so you don't have to plug into the wall, that's a great innovation. It removes the clutter and the mess of having to deal with so many cords."

Shimmin said sometimes consumers do not get power cords plugged in correctly and they think the device is charging when it's not. In an environment where you are dealing with multiple devices, he called the capability of having one central location that could literally send out a charge to all of them without having to worry about maintaining multiple plugs "fantastic."

"Even if the ports are standardized, the phones change so rapidly in terms of form factor that it's impossible to go with something like a charge mat. It has to be a mechanism that's inside the unit that doesn't make the consumer buy something extra to go with the mobile device," Shimmin said. "It has to work natively through the device because the life span of mobile phones is four to six months."

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