Dell brings wireless recharging to laptops
The Latitude Z on wireless charging station, and wireless dock adapter on the right.
(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET)That Dell is releasing a new laptop for business customers is the opposite of surprising. But the fact that it contains notable features not seen in any other laptops certainly is.
Most everything about the new Latitude Z is expected: It's yet another very thin notebook (a metric which PC manufacturers keep using to try to one-up each other), with a different kind of exterior finish (soft-touch, in this case), and comes in a black cherry. It measures 16 inches across, and is 14 millimeters thin at its most narrow point.
But you probably wouldn't guess that the Latitude Z charges wirelessly. And as far as we can tell, it's the first laptop to do so. Surprised that this is coming from Dell? You're not alone.
The wireless charging is handled elegantly enough. An inductive pad that's built into a laptop stand can accomplish a full recharge in "about the same amount of time" as a standard-issue cabled charger, according to Dell. While smartphone maker Palm has a similar (albeit smaller) wireless charging system for the Pre, and companies like Visteon and Wild Charge have debuted wireless charging accessories for phones, no PC maker has incorporated the idea until now.
The wireless charging stand.
(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET)It's part of what Dell is terming its new "wireless eco-system." Besides being able to get juice without wires, the Latitude Z will also be able to dock without them. A smaller separate adapter can hook up the laptop with any accompanying monitor, whether it be one in a cubicle, or in a conference room.
Both cost extra, and are by no means cheap ($199 for each), but the intention is for companies to buy, not necessarily individual consumers.
Other cool things Dell is introducing: touch-sensitive controls on the screen's bezel, and its first take on "instant on."
The sliding touch controls--not visible to the naked eye--are located on the right side of the bezel and appear when contact is made. Any controls can be customized and placed there, such as screen brightness, volume, or easy access to specific applications. When controlling an application like Excel or a Web browser, the right side of the bezel can be used as a sort of touchpad for scrolling through a spreadsheet or Web page.
The instant-on capability works exactly the way it sounds. Instead of waiting for Windows to boot up, the computer uses a second smaller motherboard and a separate ARM processor. Through a separate, non-Windows interface, it allows e-mail, contacts, calendars, and a Firefox-based Web browser to be accessed right away. E-mail, contacts, and calendars are always running in the background and are constantly being synced.
The ARM processor doesn't have access to the main motherboard or the ports, which should alleviate security concerns, according to Todd Forsythe, vice president of Dell's commercial client product group. The secondary processor--used mostly in smartphones--also draws much less power than a more robust desktop or notebook processor and so while it's running in the background it doesn't drain the battery as fast: using just the instant-on mode will provide up to two days of battery life; when using Windows and the accompanying Intel Core 2 Duo processor, it will get four hours.
Companies like DeviceVM and Phoenix have built businesses out of instant-on capabilities--basically a quick-booting interface built right into the computer's BIOS that isn't dependent on Windows. Dell said it decided not to go with either of those because they wanted to use the separate low-power processor for the background syncing.
What Dell, and DeviceVM, and Phoenix, and plenty of others are doing is part of a trend that's gaining steam: doing a sort of end-run around Windows. HP came out with its own interface on Touchsmart PCs last year that allows for quick sorting between photos, e-mail, and Web browsing on a few models. Lenovo recently introduced a new touch-screen interface for its tablet, and Asus has its own for its popular Eee PC Netbooks and touch-screen desktop called TouchGate.
Most people aren't used to seeing Dell trying new things like this, some of it actually ahead of competitors. Last year, we wrote about how Dell was starting to be a little more risky about the types of products it was trying out. Not new to the market, just new to Dell, which has traditionally had a habit of waiting, analyzing the market's response to new products, and jumping in later with a more efficient, and less expensive way of making that product.
But that way of doing things is over for Dell now. The company has struggled to find the right mix of products and now has less opportunity to be picky. But it's a good sign that the company is trying out smaller, more innovative, and more practical ideas like wireless charging, docking, instant on, and touch interfaces. Though it's only in the Latitude Z right now, we hear these features are stirring a lot of interest in other product groups at Dell. It's easy to see how, for a cheaper price (the Z starts at $1,999), these new features could find much broader acceptance with retail customers.
Erica Ogg is a CNET News reporter who covers Apple, HP, Dell, and other PC makers, as well as the consumer electronics industry. She's also one of the hosts of CNET News' Daily Podcast. In her non-work life, she's a history geek, a loyal Dodgers fan, and a mac-and-cheese connoisseur. E-mail Erica. 
Other than that, it looks very much like any other docking station.
Like a Sonicare, or a Pre, or hopefully a ton more household devices. It's great to see this combined with the "instant on" and touch controls. If they can bring the price for this tech combo down quickly, it could be very disruptive...
If you wish to see something that actually uses an induction charger, go look at the sonic care tooth brush. Mine only charges when you place the toothbrush back into the cradle.
And what happens when the contacts on the bottom of the laptop get worn or dirty?
And for that matter, what are the odds of someone getting cancer from such a large induction area? (hey, someone will bring it up))
So I suppose if you wore completely through the surface and shorted the induction loop you'd have a problem. And that's the same problem you'd have if you just wore through the base of your laptop and shorted random circuitry under its surface.
As far as cancer, that's about as likely as getting cancer from your stereo speakers. I know the Luddites can't help but jump on any invisible phenomenon (because they're all the same and therefore scary!), but we're talking about a magnetic field. There's no ionizing radiation involved.
* MagSafe works just fine.
* Apples don't have docking stations
* The charge rate can't be very fast if you're doing it wirelessly.
* I wouldn't want the power bill jack-up.
* what if I wanted to type on the thing while it was charging? Do I have to type with my arms lifted that far up?
@Random_Walk:
The article states the charge rate is about the same as a normal plugged in method.
The power bill jacked up? Okay... then don't ever charge your laptop. I don't see how this applies. How would the power bill be jacked up? I would suspect the charging station would be in standby mode until the inductive coil detects there is a device present. That's exceedingly simple first year electrnoics design. Hell, I did that in sixth grade. It's not terribly difficult.
The platform you see is avariation of another of Dells most popular docks. It elevates the laptop to put the screen at the same height as your desktop monitor so that you can have both in use without shifting up or down in your gaze. You would use an external keybaord/mouse plugged into the replicator next to it there in the picture. Targus, Belkin, HP, Toshiba, etc, all have variations of this laptop stand. You don't type on it- that would be silly for the reasons you gave.
@Penguinisto: the article clearly states that the wireless system charges at "about the same amount of time" as cabled adapters. Try reading the article again.
The wireless dock integrates with a full-size monitor AND a regular keyboard on your desk, plus whatever other peripherals you want. If you want to type, that's what the regular keyboard is for... duh! It's why the dock is raised... you know, so a regular keyboard can slide underneath?
The electric efficiency of an induction system is about the same as using a small 65w power adapter vs a standard 85w adapter (~30% difference). Even assuming a big adapter (125w) with the laptop is plugged in and drawing full power for 24 hours a day for an entire month, we're talking maybe 20 kWh more usage depending on where you live.
That's about $2.40 a month, and who leaves their laptop drawing full power for the whole month? Penguinisto must be pretty broke if that margin makes an appreciable difference in his monthly expenditures. Friendly advice: stop buying overpriced Apple products.
Lookit kids, I understand your burning need to take one small point, blow it way out of proportion, and try to claim some sort of victory with it whilst ignoring everything else, but seriously? Get a grip.
PS: Dell has a "normal" and a "rapid" charge setting on their ordinary laptops these days (the setting's in the BIOS if you don't know where to look). I made no comparisons between two specific states, but I usually leave mine on rapid charge. But please continue to dance around a light set of subjective points and pretend they're world-shattering, eh? ;)
Chill out. You brought up concerns and they were addressed. Don't be upset or chastise others just because the answers aren't what you wanted them to be.
I addressed all your points. Take that as you will.
But then, this PC laptop is frightfully expensive too. Maybe that's because it doesn't use Windows to power on instantly.
Funny, isn't that?
Shouldn't a well-written press review call a company out on BS like this, or at least forward only the information important to the consumer?
Also instant on? Jeeze that problem was solved ages ago, with you know, sleep mode! Creating a whole ARM computer just for this feature? Ridiclious.
The laptop may still have a normal power DC IN jack. That isn't made clear on the article and would be an easy thing to add to the design.
I do agree on the Instant On feature. That's pretty much just a gimmick. It's been tried before and you end up with a crippled system that you can't do much with.
The article mentions "HP came out with its own interface on Touchsmart PCs last year that allows for quick sorting between photos, e-mail, and Web browsing". Does that interface use Linux as a starting point ... or I am just getting confused...
Phoenix uses Linux in their Hyperspace Instant-On technology:
http://www.hyperspace.com/front-page
I've been wanting wireless charging for a long time, and with wireless docking and instant-on capabilities to boot, this laptop beats the pants off everything else.
http://www.ted.com/talks/eric_giler_demos_wireless_electricity.html
I beg to differ, I've had my Dell laptop for around half a year now and it has instant on for email etc on it (it's a Latitude E4300 if you want to check).
The wireless charging deal may not seem like a great deal now, but this paves the way for more applications. We've already seen wireless electricity in the UK... and when it finally comes down to putting those wireless nodes INTO homes, we can look into a future where setting your notebook down on any surface with a node on it can charge your notebook... wirelessly.
It's touted as "wireless" charging, but don't take it as wireless as in wifi; think more like Tesla, but safer and more enclosed.
Oh, but you knew that, didn't you? ;-)
Sounds a bit misleading...
- by ekholbrook September 29, 2009 7:49 AM PDT
- So what would you like to carry around to the local Starbucks... This "wireless" metal shelf that won't fit in your briefcase and that still needs to be plugged in.... or a small AC brick that fits in your pocket.
- Like this Reply to this comment
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- by mbenedict September 29, 2009 9:39 AM PDT
- What are you talking about?
- Like this
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Showing 1 of 2 pages (71 Comments)This is silliest use of technology I've seen in some years. Why would ANYone buy something that makes it MORE of a pain in the rear to drag around a laptop on the road?
The wireless dock is optional. In many office settings you'll probably see it "hidden" as part of the desk. You get to the office, and by just placing the laptop on your desk it automatically starts charging & wirelessly connects to your desk monitor, full-size keyboard, printers, etc.
If you want to go to Starbucks just use the laptop's internal battery, or bring the regular charger, like any other laptop.