IKEA Unveiled Furniture That Charges Your Smartphone

As any regular smartphone user will tell you, being near an outlet at all times is a must. With app use on the rise, phones are dying quicker than ever—but who wants to carry around a charger all day? Cords are cumbersome, easily tangled, and generally a nightmare. Luckily, IKEA has the solution.

“People hate cable mess. They worry about not finding the charger and running out of power,” said IKEA's Jeanette Skjelmose.

On Sunday at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the Swedish furniture company introduced furniture that can wirelessly charge your phone. The "Home Smart" collection includes lamps, desks, and tables with built-in charging pads that work via an energy induction transfer. The furniture itself has to be plugged in, but hey, who's going to be lugging around an end table?

The seemingly magic furniture owes its abilities to Qi Wireless, an interface standard that allows for wireless charging. Right now phones that work with Qi are Asus, HTC, Huawei, LG Electronics, Motorola Mobility, Nokia, Samsung, BlackBerry, and Sony, but some crafty techies have found a way to get iPhone 6s to work with it as well. 

The new furniture rolls out in Europe and North America on April 15. If you're not crazy about the aesthetics of the furniture, but love the technology, fear not: IKEA will also be selling wireless charging kits that can be inserted into pre-existing furniture.

[h/t: WSJ.com and BusinessInsider.com]