From the press release:
The king of fast food convenience is making the dining experience even better with Qi wireless charging in the United Kingdom. At CES 2015, Aircharge announced an expanded partnership with McDonald’s UK to add 600 wireless charging hotspots at more than 50 McDonald’s restaurants in London and elsewhere.
The expanded rollout comes after a successful initial market test between Aircharge and McDonald’s UK aimed at delivering additional value to customers, while also benefitting the McDonald’s operation.
According to a report from one McDonald’s location, customers were clamoring to access the Qi wireless charging service, prompting many to wait up to 30 minutes so they could.
The Aircharge charging spots were specially designed to be water resistant and easy to wipe clean – perfect for a public environment like a restaurant. And because they’re using Qi, many consumers already have devices that are ready to charge. There are already more than 70 Qi-enabled smartphones on the market.
Sounds idyllic, despite '50' restaurants only being a drop in the proverbial bucket. Though the quote above might be slightly disingenuous - I did also note this line from the press release:
Even customers who don’t have a Qi-enabled smartphone can use the provided Aircharge wireless charging receiver. So next time you’re in the UK, make sure you get a wireless charge to go with your chips!
This appears to mean a flying microUSB lead, as an alternative to Qi charging - free microUSB charging points [in use in the photo above!] makes more sense of the 'clamoring' claims, however much I'd like to think that Qi is truly mainstream.
But let's not get too down, 50 McDonalds in the UK fully kitted out with Qi kit is a great start.
[For more information, visit www.air-charge.com]