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Huawei Wants To Make Long-Range Wireless Charging A Reality
Short battery life consistently ranks as the top complaint of smartphone users. To increase it, smartphone manufacturers can produce devices with larger batteries, increasing their size and weight, improve the energy density of their batteries, or use different battery technology. Alternatively, they can make it easier for users to charge their devices, and that’s the path Huawei has decided to take by making long-range wireless charging a reality, according to an IT Home report.
The report revealed that the Chinese multinational technology company known for its telecommunications equipment and consumer electronics has filed a patent for a new technology that would make it possible to charge battery-powered devices wirelessly over a long distance.
Currently, wireless charging requires two coils to be placed directly opposite each other. This greatly restricts the potential applications of this otherwise wonderful technology, whose only other major drawback is its inefficiency.

IT Home
According to the patent’s description, Huawei has been able to figure out how to increase the distance between the two coils by sending electricity through a variety of media, including iron, aluminum, copper, alloy materials, metal pipes, humans, animals, soil, earth, seawater, or just about any other material with conductivity greater than that of air.
“IT Home understands that the purpose of this Huawei patent is to increase the equivalent coupling capacitance between the transmitting electrode and the receiving electrode, which can effectively increase the transmission power between the transmitting device and the receiving device, thereby realizing long-distance wireless charging,” writes the technology portal.
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This kind of long-range wireless charging technology could revolutionize the wearables market, but its potential applications extend much further. For example, it could be used to charge embedded medial devices, industrial sensors, and other small devices that can’t be easily connected to a regular charger.
Since the patented technology has yet to be put to practical use, we don’t know anything at all about its safety or potential downsides.
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Lebanon Ministers Meet Visa Over National Digital Payment Platform
Finance and technology ministers say a comparative study and roadmap will follow before any decision on adopting a model.
Lebanon’s finance and technology ministers met representatives from Visa last week to discuss a proposed unified national digital payment platform for government services, according to a readout from the Ministry of Finance.
The meeting brought together Finance Minister Yassin Jaber, Minister of State for Technology and Artificial Intelligence Kamal Shehadeh, a Visa delegation, and experts from both ministries. Discussion focused on whether Lebanon could establish a single platform through which citizens and institutions would pay taxes, fees, fines and other official transactions electronically, using mobile phones and other digital channels.
The Visa delegation presented examples from countries that have adopted unified government payment platforms, including the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Estonia and Jordan. According to the readout, the examples were presented as having increased collection rates and expanded financial inclusion.
Talks covered settlement mechanisms, direct transfer to the treasury account, financial reconciliation, risk management, cybersecurity, fees, and an operational model that would involve the private sector. The parties agreed to continue technical and institutional consultations, prepare a comparative study, and develop an implementation roadmap before any decision on adopting a model for Lebanon.
Jaber said the Ministry of Finance had already enabled citizens to pay using credit cards and e-wallets through transfer companies, but described the proposed platform as a further step. He framed the development of electronic payment and collection systems as a priority within the ministry’s modernization plan.
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Shehadeh outlined the citizen-facing concept as a single mobile application through which users could settle obligations to ministries, government institutions and other bodies.
“The idea, in short, is that any citizen downloads an application on their mobile phone, through which they can pay all service obligations for all ministries, government institutions, or those owned by the Lebanese state, and others as well, as the platform is not limited only to state institutions,” he said.
Shehadeh added that the platform would not displace banks and money transfer companies that currently provide collection services to the state, calling it complementary to their work.
