Two wireless charging industry groups merge

San Francisco

TWO of three global industry groups vying to establish a dominant standard for wireless charging technology have agreed to merge, bringing consumers a small step closer to throwing away their smartphone power cords.

The Alliance for Wireless Power, backed by Intel, Qualcomm and Samsung Electronics, and Power Matters Alliance, a second group, said on Monday they would join in a new entity aimed at accelerating the adoption of wireless charging in consumer devices.