Samsung has plans to make its own advanced charging mat

Samsung is following Apple deeper into the wireless charging mat game.

The site Patently Apple found Samsung's plans filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The patent application shows a mat similar to Apple's forthcoming AirPower technology, which Apple says will become available sometime in 2018.

Samsung already offers wireless charging technologies (one is pictured above), but they can only charge one device at a time.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

If realized, it appears that Samsung's wireless charging mat will be able to charge two devices at once, such as two phones or a phone and a smartwatch. The patent explains that Samsung's wireless mat will detect the type of device placed on the mat and then determine the correct charging method to send power to the device.

Samsung's patent shows it will employ two wireless charging techniques: One is the typical type of wireless charging accomplished through a process called "magnetic induction," which uses magnetism (as opposed to a connected wire) to send power into a phone. Samsung's patent also says it will employ a similar charging process called "magnetic resonance," which allows the charging of multiple devices from a single charging pad. These charging methods fall under the increasingly popular "Qi" standard in wireless charging, which you might see labeled at public places like airports and Starbucks.

It's not yet time to ditch your charging cables, but it's clear that wireless charging is now the future of charging. Samsung's latest Galaxy phones, such as the S7 and S6, have wireless charging capability, as do Apple's iPhone 8 models and the soon-to-arrive iPhone X.