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Powermat: Charging up without cables — or electricity!
January 7th, 2009, 7:14 am · 12 Comments · posted by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress
One of the more interesting gadgets I spotted at CES so far was Powermat, a wireless charging technology.
Using magnetic induction as the power source, anything from iPods to cell phones to laptops to PlayStation Portables can get their batteries recharged by setting them down on a magic mat — no cables, no electricity, no power outlet necessary. Charging occurs at the same rate for all devices on the mat, says the company.
But the phone was in a snug matching black case, which was connected to the phone’s charging port. On the back of the case, Powermat’s flat adapter was what interacted with the mat and allowed the gadget to charge when the adapter and mat touched. See images below.
Various pieces are needed to make ‘wireless charging’ work.
But imagine, if this idea takes off, I will happily kiss my cables good bye. If cell phone and gadget companies started building these Powermat adapters into their products, then I just need a Powermat mat to take on the road. No more moving furniture around in the hotel in search of enough power outlets to charge all my gadgets!
At CES, the company announced 15 products that range between $50 to $149. If all goes well for the company, Powermat products will be available to consumers by the fall.
This portable Powermat was charging three devices, an iPhone, a Motorola RAZR phone and a PSP, which was attached by a cable to the special round Powermat adapter.
With a custom-fitted case with an attached adapater on the bottom, the RAZR began charging.
The special case has a flat Powermat adapter, which interacts with the flat mat to charge the device.
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Now that’s something we could all use!
we’ve seen this charging technology for a few years now, but will it ever be prevalent in retail stores?
This is only gonna’ be good when cell phone, ipod and other gadget companies start incorporating the receiver portion into their products. I can’t see it getting popular if you have to connect a giant, clumsy receiver to all your devices. Especially since a big selling point on these devices is design. I have a blackberry curve. It’s pretty. I’d like if I could charge it wirelessly, but I’m not going to attach some ugly clunky “receiver” so I can do that. I’ll just plug it in. When they build in the receivers this has potential. It’s gotta be function AND form. Not function at the expense of form.
This seems like a really cool idea. Can’t wait til it comes out and people start using and reviewing it.
I think it’s a fantastic concept and can’t wait for it to hit market so I can try it for myself. It boasts 90% efficiency which is amazing. I would love to have one at home and one at the office so I no longer need to carry cords for my iPod, cell phone, blackberry and laptop everywhere that I go.
This is so awesome, I can’t wait until these are available in stores! I have more than one cell phone and I’m tired of having to unplug the toaster in order to charge them at the same time…ha!
The Powermat is such an exciting product! I cannot wait to get my own!
This would be extrememly convenient especially in hotels where the outlets are in bad locations and you can’t get the cord to reach. The one thing I’ll be curious to see is how much the adaptors cost as you need an adaptor for each thing you are charging.
This thing is so exciting. I need one now!
This would be great to have on my desk!
This is incredible. The convenience will be amazing! I agree, I will happily kiss my cables good bye.
Appears to be a helpful technology that allows all of the gadgets to get charged together without messy cords.
Can’t wait to get my hands on one.