This is totally cool - the mat charges pretty much any electronic device with no cables or plugs. You just throw on of the "receivers" on your device and drop it on the Powermat. It then charges as it normally would, just by sitting on the mat. A light lets you know its charging, and you can do up to three devices at once. This is a great way to clean up your desktop or nightstand and keep it wire-free. The only hassle I can see is having to use the receivers on the various devices. I know I won't want to have the receiver on my BlackBerry all day, and why waste time changing the door just to charge? We'll have to see what pans out, but this is definitely a great idea. The Powermat will be available in the upcoming weeks, but no word on exact pricing just yet. Head over to powermat.com for more info.
Powermat Charges Your Device Without Any Wires
on 2 Oct 2009 10:37 AM34 Comments
We've been selling those for a while now at best buy.. They are cool as hell
Says release date is Oct 4th.
I see no love for the storm on their site. WTF
$190 for the mat and 3 receivers?! No thanks...
wow, looks expensive, especially to have to buy a separate part for each thing you want to charge with it. that and it makes everything bigger. definitely cool though. i wouldnt exactly qualify direct contact as wireless, but i guess technically there are no wires so...
This looks like a generalized take on inductive charging, as is available for the Palm Pre. The problem here is the need for a separate receiver, but incorporating it into a new battery door is a good idea.
My main question is whether the charger will work if you have a case on your device. I'll send them a note and ask.
I wonder if you can put that funky battery door on, and then put a silicone skin or hard case like the Incipio Feather and if it will still charge with those on? Best of both worlds! Sleek appearance and wireless charging!
I suppose it is like for Palm Pre's Touchstone. The idea is great but as Kevin said, I don't want to keep the receiver on my BB - totally adding bulk to it. I can't even use any cases either. But for future BB's, it would be really cool...not $190, though.
I agree with other comments, nice idea but way too expensive. I can get and additional outlet put in for less.
Also, as I understand it, the charging time is much longer.
I wonder if one of their "recievers" would work with the pre touchstone charger. Inductive charging is mad cool and the sounds and lights on this thing make it that much slicker. Not sure I would pay extra for something like this though.
No Storm or Tour support? Lame.
I wonder if this will work with newer berries with just a battery door switch. The newer berries have the charging contacts on the corners of the device rather than on the battery door. I imagine they will have to produce a case like they did for the iphone.
I thought it was cool at first, but too expensive for a wireless setup, especially since I keep things neat anyway and wires don't clutter my workspace. Also, like others, not too happy that there's no love for a storm user, unless you get the "powercube" and have to have a wired charger anyway. Make it cheaper and something for me to use, and I'll consider it. Just because it's a cool gadget, doesn't mean I'll buy it.
it looks like the same stuff there using on the palm touch stone
This is one technology that could really change how we charge. When the phones and devices start coming with built in RX's then this will be taking off.
Adding a part just to charge seems more hassle then plugging it in.
However the idea is solid.
This is available October 4th. Best Buy has it listed on their site for $99.99.
This looks like something I would buy... However it is a little pricey right now... I'll wait till the price comes down a bit... If I wait a long enough they might support the storm by the time I am ready!!!
Sucky product, but dam was she hot.
not really wireless cuz you cant walk around with it its the same damn thing exept with a wired charger you can still use it and with this u cant really even pick it up with out it stopping the charge seems pointless not worth the 100 bux the mad alone will cost and then the 40 bux per charge adapter
great idea but i still prefer to pay $0 and take 1 second to plug in the dam cable into my blackberry.
That girl is totally doing it for me.
haha
I totally forgot, I was going to leave a legitimate comment.
Dell has a laptop that charges the same way. The Lattitude Z. Pretty cool.
...this today at Best Buy. I thought it interesting. The powermat was around $29.99. I can't remember the price of each receiver. Maybe a great birthday present....
I misread the price if you day that it's $99. Maybe that was the price of the receiver.
That is really freaking cool.
I've seen this before.
It's cool, but clunky for the device and expensive.
Boooo
I have the home mat and think it's pretty great. The battery door for the Bold adds about a 1/4 inch of depth and only a little bit of weight, so I plan to keep the battery door attached all the time. No need to remove it. I do not use a protective skin on the Bold, but I can see how that might be a trade off. For me, it's useful at home where there are two Bbrrys and an iPhone competing for counter space and outlets in the kitchen. Right now the Tour is charging next to the Bold using the Powercube (which comes with the mat). Next to that is an iPhone, which has the Powermat protective skin. In our house, it really cleans things up.
As far as I can tell, there is no loss of charge time (unlike what I have heard about the Palm Pre). I like that I just watched the little charging light turn off under one of the phones, indicating that it is no longer drawing power. There is no AC adapter on the plug, so when there are no phones on the mat, it isn't sucking electricity off of the grid. I suppose it would take a long time for the money I save on power to cover the money I laid out for the mat, but it does make me feel "greener."
One of the company's old press releases says the technology will be rolled out at the Loews Regency hotel. It would be pretty cool if hotels actually did that because I'd be able to leave my charger at home when traveling. It also makes me think of getting one for the office, where I have another traditional AC charger (which I probably forgot to unplug yesterday and is likely wasting energy as I type this).
I saw this in BestBuy yesterday and almost snapped it up, but wanted to read some reviews on it first, but I guess it hasn't really been out long enough. BestBuy had the "Power Pad" listed at $99 and the back/adapter for my BB 8900 was 29.99. Looked like most of the electronic backs/adapters were listed at $29.99, was hoping to find em cheaper online. Looks pretty cool!
I dont get it, I got my cordless BB doc for under $20 bucks
I just set it in the doc.... dont most BB's have this pod charger? oh yes i see it on the right hand side of this web page hehe.
Maybe if I had 3 BB's to charge, well that would still only be $60 bucks..
Yea I dont get it.
It's pretty cool. Induction chargers are neat, but Blackberries already have a wireless charging solution that takes up less space... and I <3 my charge-pod.
The idea is way cool, star trekky really, so it gets a ton of publicity, but the pitch is soooo stupid: Save wires???
Just buy a only usb chargeable devices (cameras, gps ect) and you should be fine? $200 for 3 devices?
Tell me can I finance this shiite with a arm loan? or put no money down for a year?
just because the technology exists doesn't mean we want it. Especially at $200?????
Poor consumers...getting it left right and center!
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