A wireless recharging pad

This sounds almost too good to be true: a wireless technology that can be used to charge all devices simultaneously, regardless of type or brand. Yet that's what a company called WildCharge claims to do with its new product.

All you need to do is lay your cell phone, PDA or other device on or near its "WildCharger," a flexible roll-up pad with a power adapter attached to one edge. The devices, which can even include laptops, then absorb their electrical charge wirelessly, the company says.

Pricing for the WildCharger, which is slated for debut at CES in January, has not been released (though early reports put it somewhere between $40 and $100). The company refers to it as "wire-free," but the WildCharger needs a cord that connects to a power source. Still, we can live with one wire if this product works as billed.

[bigbrazilianboy]

SAFETY/OTHER USE'S

i think this is very amazing and i was wondering since its connected to a wall jack won't it electrocute you!!!

and if this really charges well and quick they can make a easy charging station for electric cars and thats good for the eco system except the fact of people falling on it and electrocuting them self's so if you have any comments cnet or readers please e-mail me!!!

[e-mail]

[migafre]

It's called charging by induction

using some frequency of microwaves and it is the same way your electric toothbrush charges with it's stand(and noone's been shock by it have they?). Personnaly I thought the battery needed to be made for it. It seems too good to be true. They might be selling batteries specially made for popular devices though, in that case I could see it working just fine.

[tomrouse]

No more of a hazard than other low-voltage charger

The design of this charging pad shows that it has an area on the left side which obviously knocks the voltage down to the low-voltage required by those devices. It should pose no more of a safety hazard than any other charging device, or it would not be allowed on the market.

[eagle33199]

I've wanted one...

Imagine combining this idea with a wireless mouse - it turns into a mousepad that recharges the mouse as you use it! The batteries give you the flexibility to use a mouse wherever you want, so long as you occasionally use it on the mousepad (or leave it there over night) to charge it up - a much better solution than having a docking station, which makes your computer next to useless while the mouse recharges.

That being said, there are a few problems. On the surface, they give the impression that you can buy the pad and drop your cell phone on it, and it works. However, digging deeper into the technology, you have to use a special adapter they have, or have the adapter built into your wireless device. This adapter is what actually receives the charge from the pad, and through it charges your phone much like the battery powered cell phone chargers that were posted a while back.

Also, the term wirelessly is a bit of a misnomer here - They utilize conduction to charge the pads, meaning that the device has to be physically touching the pad (probably spanning several of those black lines in the picture) in order to receive a charge. The closest analogy i can come up with is a power strip - you buy the special adapter for your device, but instead of plugging it into a power strip, you just have to set it on top of this pad.

That makes this product nothing more than a glorified power strip - one that isn't universal across all products, as you need to buy a special adapter for every item you want to charge, instead of using the adapter that comes with the item.

[ryvlad]

This have been done, by company named splash power

This have been done, by company named splash power
I have been wating for them to bring this on the market for several years now.
http://www.splashpower.com/

[ikhmelin]

A wireless recharging pad - A microwave oven?

I would very much like to see the readings of periodic electromagnetic fields in the vicinity of the device. I have strong reasons to believe that very strict usage rules are required in order not to exceed the admissible exposures to electromagnetic radiation of the human users. The device is also bound to create electromagnetic interference to TV's etc.