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By Evan Ackerman

When we talked about WildCharge last year, I commented that the practicality of WildCharge was questionable due to the lack of consumer devices directly incorporating the technology. And that’s kinda still true, unfortunately, with only a few exceptions. But WildCharge is tackling this problem head on by releasing a line of plug-in accessories designed to help your gadgets charge with surface induction technology as gracefully as possible.

Unlike eCoupled and Powermat, WildCharge uses electrical contacts to (safely) charge things through a physical connection, but without cables. All you have to do is set your WildCharge enabled gadget down on the pad, and it charges. So, WildCharge has come out with swap-in battery packs for some phones, with contacts on the outside that interface with the pad:

WildCharge also has solutions for cellphones, called the universal adapter. It plugs into the USB jack on the side of most cellphones, and connects to a charging pad underneath the phone, allowing for contact charging. It’s about $45, including one USB tip and one pad.

For everything else, you can get a dongle that connects via USB (mini) and has a little pad attached. It’s about $25, but since you have to plug it IN to your gadget to get it to work, it doesn’t seem that much easier than using the cord that came with your gadget in the first place.

And, if you have an iPhone, WildCharge is coming out with a case on Feb 15 that includes contacts on the back and an integrated dock connector. It’ll cost $35.

The actual charging pad itself, btw, is $50ish and available at Best Buy, Target, and places like that. Oh, and they also have a 90w laptop power pad in the works, with modified batteries with contacts designed to work with some major brands of laptops.

[ WildCharge ]

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We already ran through Powermat’s new wireless charging lineup, but in case you wanted to see it in action — you skeptic, you — there’s video after the break.

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By Evan Ackerman

PowerFilm makes a wide array of rollable and foldable solar panels that are easy to take with you to power your gadgets when you’re in the middle of nowhere communing with nature. Their newest chargers are designed specifically to charge AA batteries, and one of them even comes with an integrated USB charging port. You can charge 4 AA batteries at up to 0.4 amps in direct sunlight, or plug your USB stuff in directly, or charge via USB using the batteries. The PowerFilm USB AA solar charger weighs under 5 ounces and will retail for about $100 “shortly.” The version that charges just 4 AAs will cost about $80.

PowerFilm also has products designed for, shall we say, more power intensive consumers. Like the military, for example, or emergency services. The Solar Quad is a 10 foot square, 190 watt foldable panel array that can put out 12 amps at over 15 volts, which is a lot of juice from a bunch of tiny little photons. The big size comes with a big pricetag, of course: $2000.

[ PowerMat ]

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Remember the Powermat? Unlike other induction-based “wireless power” contraptions we’ve seen, this one came out earlier this year as total vaporware and has now resurfaced as a collaborative effort by Michigan-based HoMedics Powermat North America (HPNA). We finally got a chance to see it work in person and, much to our surprise, it seems to have delivered on its promised… at least in part. We saw three pads that touched base with six different mediators for charging various cell phones, laptops, and handheld games. The devices magnetically “lock on” to the mats and a light comes on to indicate its working. The rep told us devices charge just as fast with the mat as they would via the traditional “plug” method, but it’s not like we waited around long enough to see for ourselves. No price or date, but we’re a lot more excited about it knowing this thing might actually work. We’re hearing some more interesting developments will be shown off later this week, from both Powermat as well as a few of the other companies here showcasing wireless power technology, which we’ll be keeping an eye out for. Hit up the gallery for some sexy recharging imagery.
Gallery: Hands-on with Powermat

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By Evan Ackerman

Last year we saw a couple different stabs at wireless power, including WildCharge, PowerCast, and eCoupled. Power cords suck, and with the potentially beneficial establishment of a Wireless Power Consortium, we’re all hoping that we can do away with those horrible betanglements behind our desks sooner rather than later. Powermat has a consumer solution ready to go, with the familiar hardware combination of a non-conductive charging mat and adapters for various devices. You can either plug (!) your gadget into a Powermat enabled dock, plug (!) it into an adapter which gets placed on a Powermat, or equip it with a case with an integrated Powermat receiver:

Powermat is also apparently able to transmit data through the same system, allowing the transfer of audio and video at unspecified rates, which could be neat. But, the big question is when will wireless charging capability be integrated into the devices themselves, and Powermat’s obligatory answer is that they’re “working on it.” I dunno, guys… I’m a little bit worried that until that actually happens, the rest of us (i.e. the consumer base) are just going to suck it up and keep plugging stuff in rather than have to buy a bunch of expensive adapters.

The mat part of the Powermat system will hit retail in Q4 for about $100, and the adapters will go for between $25 and $35 each.

[ Powermat ]

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