Powermat charging system took my iPod Touch hostage
(Credit:
Powermat)
I originally planned on writing my review of the Powermat magnetic inductive charging system by highlighting the innovation in the technology and the lack of necessity for a product that costs a serious amount of coin--$99.99 for the wired mat plus $40 for the charger--for achieving the same goal as a simple wire.
But then the Powermat took my iPod Touch captive.
First, the straight shooting: the Powermat system is indeed very cool. It does what it advertises and brings "wire-less" charging to devices that normally don't have the ability: the iPhone, iPod Touch, select RIM BlackBerry models, and so forth.
But the problem with the product should have been evident from the drawing board: it doesn't fill a need, and comes off like a proof-of-concept product. Sure, "wire-less" charging is neat to observe, but you're buying a boatload of equipment (a mat that comes with wired adapter, plus device-specific "receiver") for the price of a new smartphone on contract to replace something that took a moment to achieve in the first place.
Read more of "How the cordless Powermat charging system took my iPod Touch hostage" on ZDNet's The Toy Box.
Powermat should work with Apple, Blackberry, Nintendo and other companies for putting their product inside those devices so that it works on the mat without the extra add-on.
It's gonna happen sooner or later, but whether Powermat will have a majority part is another question.
Im not saying that is not a good idea, just not very elaborated
I can see my wife putting her iPod Touch on this thing every night. But that physical act of plugging in a cable often keeps her from bothering to do it, and eventually it runs out of charge. This is even more of a problem with the iPod cable, which requires a higher-than-usual amount of alignment fidgeting to get it in the cable port.
Or, should I buy one of those wood cabinets where you put your surge protector within in it and just plug your devices in as usual?
- by jgreer18 December 25, 2009 7:37 PM PST
- I wish that people would start to see things for what they are. I have just received the powermat as a gift and I love it. You have to have used it to see how convienient it is. No more cords hanging everywhere. You can tuck the power cord safely behind a night stand and not have to worry about having cords in your way. I don't know about all of these other negative people but I have multiple small devices that all have chargers. Not having to unplug 1 charger and plug in another is so useful. And as for the powercube, the cord is only a few inches long, has adapters for multiple devices and still allows for you to not have cords running every where.
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