(Source)
Clearly, this is a publicity stunt, and in and of itself is of dubious news value. However, it speaks to another facet of Nokia's marketing strategy. Doug couldn't have offered this charging plates if the new Lumia devices didn’t have wireless charging. That might sound like a rhetorical statement, but think for a moment. Of the other phones on offer, what similar accessories are being made by the manufacturers that are as novel and useful? None!
Nokia's Wireless Charging Plate
One of Apple's longstanding benefits has been its hardware ecosystem. Because of the unchanging position and configuration of the iPhone data port, it's easy for other manufactures to come and make dock-like accessories that enhance the experience of owning an iPhone. Meanwhile, the heterogeneous Android environment make such dock accessories difficult to design at best, as you never quite know where the Micro USB port is going to be from device to device!
Charging and music playing at the sametime without the need for a physical connector
It's starting to look as if Nokia has learned that lesson. Furthermore, Apple has just changed its venerable 30 pin port to the Lightning port. Even though an adapter is available for sale, it will make the entire world of iPhone docks difficult to use – i.e. for docks that have the iPhone tilting backward, there will be a lot of strain on the little adapter.
Therefore, the timing has worked well for Nokia who are now offering a whole generation of accessories for transferring data and power. Furthermore, because they are wireless, it will be much easier to maintain compatibility as there are no pesky ports that will change over time.