Last week Powermat finally went retail with their wireless charging offering, and within a few days yet another contender has emerged on the market. From the folks at Gear4 comes the PowerPad. It’s not clear if it too uses inductive charging, or takes a similar route to that of the Wild Charge, but one thing is for sure: it’s built specifically for the iPhone.
Aesthetically it doesn’t look half bad and here’s hoping that it’s cheaper than Powermat’s setup, though they offer compatibility with a greater number of mobile devices. Expect more info to arrive sometime in November, with a preorder kicking off 10/15 and official retail launch sometime in December.
October 12th, 2009 10:16 PM | by Christen da Costa
The dreams of Telsa have yet to be fully realized, but that hasn’t stopped a many of a company from releasing products that lay claim to ‘wireless or wire-free charging’. But alas, until that day is upon us we’ll have to settle with a variation there of, such as the WildCharger’s Pad and Skins.
The concept is straightforward: you wrap your mobile device in a rubber skin that contains 5 over sized pin head like contact points on its back. When the device is laid upon the WildCharge Pad, which is plugged into an AC outlet, its contact points form a connection and suck down electricity. I use an iPhone, so the Skin contains a dock connector to transfer energy to the phone’s battery. …Continue reading: WildCharge Pad & iPhone Skin Review
We just got our hands on the Powermat! The packaging is very polished and the Powermat kit includes a unverisal adapter for all your products as well as a carrying case. Unfortunately, they didn’t send over an iPhone compatible skin, but did manage include two Blackberry receivers, which replace the battery door, adding very little bulk to the handset. Check the quick hands on video below and expect a review in a few weeks time.
While we anxiously await Powermat’s offering and Apple to embed a solution directly into the iPhone, Wildcharge has officially announced the availability of their wireless charging solution for iPods and iPhones. Much like Powermat, a ’skin’ containing the necessary components is attached to the iPhone and when placed onto a Wildcharge pad begin to charge sans wires. Of course, the pad has to be plugged into the wall and it is said that inductive charging, the technology currently behind today’s wireless charging isn’t as efficient as the traditional method, which of course gets all the watch dog groups in a huff. The iPhone Wildcharge wireless charging solution ships in early July while you can pick up the iPod version now for the same price of $34.99. Or you can opt for the bundle, which is $79.99.
Later next month (Amazon says June 1st) Energizer will release a charging stand that uses induction technology to juice up your Wiimotes. Induction you say? Yup, you won’t have to remove rubber sleeves and accessories of the same ilk to power up the system’s controllers. Just place the Wiimotes on the dock and they’ll start to tax the proverbial grid accordingly. But, much like Powermat, which we saw at CES this year, you’ll have to retrofit a special case or charging pack to take advantage of the tech and apparently induction charging takes longer than an AC plug. Expect it to cost $50 when it goes on sale.
We’ve already seen wireless charging from PowerMat. Now along comes a competitor and from what little I can garner from their site and videos, they’re essentially offering the same thing. Unlike the PowerMat, Ecoupled appears to be destined for custom installs (homes), commercial applications (work benches) and those in public service (police). Regardless, the race for wireless power is on!
What is it: A wireless charging solution for multiple gadgets.
Features: Uses “Magnetic Induction” to transfer energy wirelessly to portable devices such as iPhones, PSP’s, Laptops, etc. For any gadget under 100 watts, a receiver is attached to the device. Anything that is above 100 watts, such as a laptop, will use a retractable attachment that connects magnetically to the mat. Other uses include being able to use them under a counter top for kitchen appliances or in a wall powering TV’s, lights, and such. Once manufacturers get on board and install the receivers with in their devices, PowerMat will dominate
Buy.com has a nice price for the Intec Dual Charge Station and Turbo Cooler For Wii. This station holds your Wii and provide two slots for charging the Wiimotes. The custom LEDs turn RED when the charging it complete. It’s 
