Mobile phone users feeling low on power will soon be able to slip into a café and order a cup of coffee with a wireless phone charge on the side, thanks to a new agreement between Nokia and The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf®.
Through the partnership, the Finnish mobile device maker will place integrated wireless charging plates in select locations in the coffee house chain, which has more than 850 stores worldwide, including several major airports such as Los Angeles International.
Jo Harlow, Nokia’s executive vice president for smart devices, said the wireless access points will offer “total convenience and simplicity” for customers.
“The partnership highlights Nokia’s commitment to making wireless charging as ubiquitous as Wi-Fi is today,” Harlow said.
On the same day, Nokia also announced an agreement with Virgin Atlantic to offer wireless charging in the airline’s London Heathrow Clubhouse.
Both announcements come on the heals of a splashy September 5 press conference at which Nokia launched two new smartphones that can be charged wirelessly: the Lumina 920 and the smaller Lumina 820. Based on Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system, the phones will go on sale in select markets in the fourth quarter.
It’s no secret that Nokia is looking for an energy boost itself. In June, CEO Stephen Elop said that the company would cut 20% of its workforce. A former industry leader, Nokia has fallen behind Samsung and Apple in recent years. The company has said it will continue to invest in new technologies even as it is making cuts. The new Lumina phones and the wireless charging stations are the latest evidence of Nokia’s innovation efforts.
Nokia is part of the Wireless Power Consortium, a group of operators, service providers, component suppliers and consumer electronics companies that supports the Qi (pronounced “chi”) wireless charging standard. Other Qi products include some BlackBerry devices and inductive chargers.
