A home-grown tech business is set to turn Portsmouth into the UK’s first wirelessly-charged city.
SupaPowa®, the wireless charging solution for smartphones and many other smart devices, was officially launched last night (Monday November 24) in front of nearly 80 guests at the Spinnaker Tower.
Reflecting the vivid colour of the newly-unveiled brand, the 170-metre landmark was lit up in neon pink.
The clever technology, the size of a beer mat or hockey puck, means phone users can recharge a handheld device on the go, without the need to locate an electrical plug socket.
And SupaPowa®’s retail products are likely to become a common sight at public and private spaces, with glowing
chargers integrated into the tables and counters of coffee shops, pubs and offices and restaurants.
The SupaPowa® brand has been developed by QiConnect, the UK’s first wireless charging experts, based at Portsmouth Technopole, the landmark business innovation centre by the M275 city gateway.
Karen Murray, Supapowa®’s business manager, said: “There are 83 million mobile subscriptions in the UK, but until
now little attention has been paid to how mobiles can be charged away from home.
“Battery life anxiety is a very real phenomenon – You can see your smartphone draining, especially if browsing on the
internet, but you have no way of charging it up unless you connect to the mains power.
“And if you are away from home, stuck in traffic, or late for that vital appointment or pick-up, this can be extremely
stressful.
“We’ve created some game-changing products that not only meet this challenge but could make traditional chargers
redundant.”
Individuals can buy their own SupaPowa® wireless chargers, with SupaStartTM kits available on Amazon and in the
SupaPowa® online shop for £115 while forward-thinking retailers, such as coffee chains, can have integrated SupaPowa® points enabling their customers to charge up their mobile devices while they eat and socialise.
It really is simple – just place your phone on the table or counter and see it start to recharge instantly.
Karen said: “Given that Supapowa® was developed here in Portsmouth, it was only fitting that the launch was at the
city’s creative symbol, the Spinnaker Tower.
“Our intention, with the support of dozens of businesses and organisations, is to make this the UK’s first wirelessly-charged city.
“We are working closely with Portsmouth University to help us develop testing for the technology as it is brought to the market and also to introduce wireless personal power to students who are heavily dependent on regular access to their mobile devices.
“We want Portsmouth to be the first major city in the UK to acknowledge and adopt SupaPowa® as the future standard
for wireless personal power.”
She added: “Wireless charging is here to stay, and it’s going to radically change the way the world uses power.
“Customers will begin to demand charging points where they eat, work, socialise and shop, as well as at home.
And if you are a business which creates or maintain these lifestyle spaces, you need to be ready for this demand.”
According to recent research by Which? battery life in smartphones using 3G ranges from 135 mins-726mins.
Pete Turner, MD of QiConnect, the technology developers behind SupaPowa®, said, “‘I have always seen Portsmouth as a forward-thinking city which is keen to embrace current and future technology.
 “In October 2013, my son Ross and I visited an expo in Hong Kong to investigate the mobile charging business.
“There we found a product featuring tight coupled inductive charging for small mobile devices.
“It was blindingly obvious to me that that the world needed this and so we returned to the UK and formed a company to
exploit possibilities and to rigorously test and market an effective consumer-facing product.”
SupaPowa® is a registered trademark of QiConnect Ltd.
