Samsung Galaxy S4 to get wireless charging?
Getting closer
It looks like we may get our wish, as a Korean website reported on Thursday that the Samsung Galaxy S4 will feature wireless charging.
The site, DDaily, claimed that Samsung will sell a special back cover for the Galaxy S4 and a wireless charging dock separately from the phone itself.
There's no word on how much the accessories will cost or, more importantly, when the Galaxy S4 will be released, unfortunately.
Interestingly, the site also reported that Samsung almost went with a more advanced form of wireless charging, similar to one that Apple filed a patent for more than a month ago.
Is magnetic charging the future?
This alternate, more advanced wireless charging method is called "resonant magnetic coupling," according to SamMobile, and it allows devices to be charged up to two meters away from the power source.
Magnetic wireless charging requires no contact with a power source, unlike the backing-and-mat method, which requires users to rest their devices on a charging mat or other surface.
One can argue that requirement defeats the purpose, and that you might as well plug the phone in to charge it at that point, but that's neither here nor there.
In any case, DDaily reported that the resonant magnetic coupling (sounds like how robots make love, doesn't it?) method would have been too expensive at market, so Samsung is going with the more standard wireless charging tech.
Wireless charging on the rise
In recent months, the Nokia Lumia 820 and Lumia 920 were the most high-profile devices to feature wireless charging.
The two Windows Phone 8 devices even have their own set of colorful wireless charging accessories.
HTC's Windows Phone 8X has it built in as well.
And third party makers like Zens and Powermat have been producing wireless charging accessories for phones ranging from the Galaxy S3 to iPhone and BlackBerry devices.
There are plenty of rumors surrounding the Galaxy S4 - the new Samsung phone hasn't even been officially unveiled yet - but given that wireless charging is on the rise, this one seems more than plausible.