3 ms·

This might be a big advantage for wireless charging. Although it can be slower than a USB charger, there is no risk that it will be doing something other than c

This might be a big advantage for wireless charging. Although it can be slower than a USB charger, there is no risk that it will be doing something other than charging.

moritonal 4y ago
Firstly, I believe the QI scheme includes a process for communication, mostly restricted to "how much power should I send" for now, but it's obvious this will be expanded to more functionality as people basically replicate NFC over it. Second, I'm still waiting to see a QI charger than just pumps 100W of power straight through any piece of metal above it. Don't know what would happen, but I naively imagine forced induction would brick most devices.
- spacetime_cmplx 4y ago
  >I'm still waiting to see a QI charger than just pumps 100W of power straight through any piece of metal above it A charger so good it's the last time you'll need to charge
- im3w1l 4y ago
  Hard disagree. If physical proximity was all it took to compromise a phone everyone would immediately protest. USB requires an active action. Blaming the user is still wrong, it really should be safe to charge in a mall or get a file from your friends usb stick. But it's less obvious so here we are.
- amluto 4y ago
  As I understand it, Qi has a digital communication channel from the phone to the charger but no digital communication from charger to phone. So any exploit over Qi would have to somehow compromise the phone’s charging system with just analog field variations (frequency, field strength, or whatever else the phone measures).
JustSomeNobody 4y ago
Only need a 6 hour layover to take full advantage.
rtsil 4y ago
Or just replace them with electrical outlets. Why we are using high-risk systems in public infrastructures when low-tech, low-risk systems exist is beyond me.
- rtkwe 4y ago
  You can provide a lot more USB outlets than it's feasible to provide regular AC outlets. If they're USB A outlets you know they're only ever going to draw 7.5W give or take max so you can slap many more of them on a single circuit than you can AC outlets where people could plug in a bunch of 60+W laptops or USB-C PD chargers.
expertentipp 4y ago
Additional advantage is you can warm your coffee by putting the cup on the phone, for all the hours it will take.
makeitdouble 4y ago
As most phones now have NFC, this would be more of a new vector than a safer procedure IMO. I am not sure how many places properly accept non authentified (no phone unlock nor biometrics) contactless transaction in the US, but it's a thing at least in Japan. I'd also assume the non secure area is readable without any unlock either way, but might be wrong.
- seanmcdirmid 4y ago
  You can do unauthenticated with your watch assuming you’ve authenticated it at least once and haven’t removed your watch from your wrist since. Also, you can unlock your car with with your phone unauthenticated, or even if the battery is out.
imp0cat 4y ago
Couldn't you just plug the wireless charger to the public charging port and then charge your phone wirelessly off of that? An airgapped solution. :)

This might be a big advantage for wireless charging. Although it can be slower than a USB charger, there is no risk that it will be doing something other than charging.

moritonal 4y ago

Firstly, I believe the QI scheme includes a process for communication, mostly restricted to "how much power should I send" for now, but it's obvious this will be expanded to more functionality as people basically replicate NFC over it. Second, I'm still waiting to see a QI charger than just pumps 100W of power straight through any piece of metal above it. Don't know what would happen, but I naively imagine forced induction would brick most devices.

spacetime_cmplx 4y ago
>I'm still waiting to see a QI charger than just pumps 100W of power straight through any piece of metal above it A charger so good it's the last time you'll need to charge
im3w1l 4y ago
Hard disagree. If physical proximity was all it took to compromise a phone everyone would immediately protest. USB requires an active action. Blaming the user is still wrong, it really should be safe to charge in a mall or get a file from your friends usb stick. But it's less obvious so here we are.
amluto 4y ago
As I understand it, Qi has a digital communication channel from the phone to the charger but no digital communication from charger to phone. So any exploit over Qi would have to somehow compromise the phone’s charging system with just analog field variations (frequency, field strength, or whatever else the phone measures).

JustSomeNobody 4y ago

Only need a 6 hour layover to take full advantage.

rtsil 4y ago

Or just replace them with electrical outlets. Why we are using high-risk systems in public infrastructures when low-tech, low-risk systems exist is beyond me.

rtkwe 4y ago
You can provide a lot more USB outlets than it's feasible to provide regular AC outlets. If they're USB A outlets you know they're only ever going to draw 7.5W give or take max so you can slap many more of them on a single circuit than you can AC outlets where people could plug in a bunch of 60+W laptops or USB-C PD chargers.

expertentipp 4y ago

Additional advantage is you can warm your coffee by putting the cup on the phone, for all the hours it will take.

makeitdouble 4y ago

As most phones now have NFC, this would be more of a new vector than a safer procedure IMO. I am not sure how many places properly accept non authentified (no phone unlock nor biometrics) contactless transaction in the US, but it's a thing at least in Japan. I'd also assume the non secure area is readable without any unlock either way, but might be wrong.

seanmcdirmid 4y ago
You can do unauthenticated with your watch assuming you’ve authenticated it at least once and haven’t removed your watch from your wrist since. Also, you can unlock your car with with your phone unauthenticated, or even if the battery is out.

imp0cat 4y ago

Couldn't you just plug the wireless charger to the public charging port and then charge your phone wirelessly off of that? An airgapped solution. :)