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Sony patent hints at wireless phone-to-phone charging

Sony has filed a patent concerning NFC-based power transfer between consumer electronics devices.
By
March 17, 2017

Sony may be exploring the possibilities of phone-to-phone charging over NFC after filing a patent concerning wireless charging between electronics devices.

Though not specifically about smartphones, the patent, which was filed last Friday, discusses the process of locating and accessing hotspots used for sharing power. These hotspots could theoretically come from a smartphone, tablet or other gadget, though Sony doesn’t go into details about how the technology actually works.

It’s a neat idea, but there is always some loss of energy when it is transferred between two devices: your 2,500 mAh battery pack can’t charge your 2,500 mAh phone battery to maximum capacity for this reason. If Sony was going to pursue that idea it would have to ensure there wasn’t significant energy loss during the process.

Don't expect to see an 18:9 phone from Sony any time soon
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As always, the patent’s existence isn’t confirmation that Sony will ever put the tech into a consumer product. If it was integrated efficiently, it would be a useful option to have, but even if Sony could provide a near-1:1 power transfer ratio, the person sharing their power likely won’t want to do it for very long. Battery life depletes fast enough as it is.