Wacky — 10 October 2005

How would you like to eliminate the regular plugin charging of your iPod or cell phone? What if you could walk into your house, put down your device – anywhere – and it would automatically charge?

A company, created as the result of a Cambridge University competition, called Splashpower, has created a technology that wirelessly charges your portable electronics. The new technology uses “electromagnetic induction to accomplish wireless charging of devices.”

“It’s basically the concept of creating a magnetic field that goes parallel to the surface of the pad rather than out of the pad and this has many benefits,� said Lily Cheng, chief executive officer and cofounder of the company, speaking at a news conference. “It enables us to deliver a very uniform output across the pad and enables us to make a receiver coil that is very thin.�

As of right now, you have to place the device directly on their Splash Pads, but the technology most certainly opens up the door for anywhere-charging, wirelessly.

Splashpower, who demonstrated their product at Ceatec 2005, hopes to bring the product to market in 2006, and depending on Splash Pad size, will range in price from $30-$200. An adapter (see pic), so you can charge your device wirelessly will cost about $15-20. The company hopes to eventually get their adaptors integrated into products during production and thus increase demand.

If anything, the pads are a nice aesthetic touch and elimnates the ‘rat’s nest effect’ of cord clutter.

This article traveled some ways to reach our pages – thanks Slashdot.org by way of Erik.

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Grew up back East, got sick of the cold and headed West. Since I was small I have been pushing buttons - both electronic and human. With an insatiable need for tech I thought "why not start a blog focusing on technology, and use my dislikes and likes to post on gadgets."