Coming soon: Charge small gadgets wirelessly with NFC

Juicing up your wireless earbuds on the go may soon become a tad easier. The NFC Forum, the global standards and advocacy association for Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, released an upgraded NFC standard, that allows wireless charging of small gadgets.

"NFC wireless charging is truly transformative because it changes the way we design and interact with small, battery-powered devices as the elimination of plugs and cords enables the creation of smaller, hermetically-sealed devices," said Koichi Tagawa, NFC Forum Chairman.

The new Wireless Charging Specification (WLC) was first published last year as a Candidate Specification, and now the NFC Forum has officially adopted the standard, giving a green light for market implementation. The WLC will be able to charge NFC-enabled electronics at a power transfer rate of up to 1 Watt. And while this power cap renders charging smartphones and laptops through NFC impractical, you will still be able to top up wireless earbuds and fitness trackers.

We might have to wait a couple of years before manufacturers bring this new standard to consumer products, though. It's also not clear if the specification will be backward compatible with existing NFC devices, or a firmware update will be needed.