Power pad: Delaware-based WildCharge has developed an electrically conducting pad that charges phones and other devices via adaptors. Above, the battery cover of a Motorola Razr mobile phone has been replaced by WildCharge’s adaptor, which has four metal contacts arranged in a Y shape.
WildCharge
A metal pad that can recharge devices placed on top of it has come to market.
The chore of recharging cell phones, PDAs, MP3 players, cameras, and laptops is perhaps one of the more frustrating side effects of modern technology. Charger cables are usually tangled in nests near outlets or behind desks. And anyone traveling for more than a day with an electronic gadget has to tote along its clunky charger as well. A Delaware-based startup called WildCharge thinks that it has a better approach. The company is selling a small metal pad, about the size of a sheet of paper, that can simultaneously charge multiple devices laid on top of it--as long as they're equipped with adaptors. WildCharge is now selling an adaptor for Motorola Razr phones, and it's developing others.
"WildCharge is the industry first in wire-free charging," says Mitch Randall, the company's chief technology officer and inventor of the technology. He says that it was easy to bring the power pad to consumers because the technology is fairly straightforward, while other companies and research teams are still ironing out kinks in their approaches. "There are no other competitors on the market because they're still fighting their technology," he says. "Ours just works, and it's cheap."
In recent years, a number of wireless-power technologies have garnered some attention. Researchers at the University of Tokyo have developed a sheet of plastic with printed electronics that charges gadgets using a technique known as inductive coupling. (See "Plastic Sheet of Power.") In the researchers' prototype, electric current flows through a coil, inducing a magnetic field. This magnetic field, in turn, induces a current in a coil within or attached to a device that is touching or nearly touching the pad--the same way that an electric toothbrush charges on its pedestal. Still, the research is early, and the printed electronics aren't reliable enough to be used in a commercial product. At MIT, another group of researchers recently demonstrated a wireless-power setup that uses large coils to charge gadgets up to three meters away; they are currently working to commercialize the technology. (See "A Wirelessly Powered Lightbulb.")
Randall explains that WildCharge took a different, simpler approach. The power pad--originally designed to power action figures for a child's game--consists of metal strips that conduct electricity. In order for a gadget to be recharged by the pad, it needs an adaptor, which plugs into its charging port and consists of four metal contacts. When the contacts touch the metal strips on the pad, electricity flows directly into the battery of the gadget. Essentially, the contacts "close the circuit," says Randall, "just like flipping a light switch." For safety, Randall says, the pad shuts down when an object that isn't WildCharge-enabled comes in contact with it; but the mechanism behind that feature is proprietary, he says. If there are no devices in contact with the pad, then after 30 seconds, it goes into a standby mode to conserve power.
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The solution the the problem has been overcome in a much more elegant way by the splashpad, www.splashpower.com/ it uses inductive charging and any deivce using this needs a SplashModule™ power receiver. This thin receiver module is customized to the shape, size and power requirements of the device and can be easily integrated into the host device. This does not alter the look of the device.
I'd be interested in knowing how they intend to solve the problem of who pays for the base unit. It wouldn't be the manufacturer who isn't going to supply a product that others may use. Will the consumer pay for the base hoping that all electronic devices will incorporate the technology? Splash will have to offer rebates for a free base unit, at least, initially.
If this problem can be solved, I think this technology will beat out wildcharge.
Too bad Wildcharge can't miniaturize its product in order to make an unobtrusive, voltage-specific but otherwise universal product.
Technically charging is wired.
The pad is simply an array of wires. The receiver has 4 contacts that are placed in such a manner that at least two of them are always in physical contact with the wire stripes in the pad, no single contact in the receiver can ever touch more than one strip in the pad at a time (preventing short circuit). Furthermore the receiver must have a rectifier built in that basically routes the positive and negative voltage to the appropriate pin it the devices connector. The pad also shuts down when there is a short circuit, just like in your mains at home.
The technology is really very simple. I even came up with this idea myself more than 3 years ago , when i was 19. I went as far as developing prototypes for it, I had made a pad of 50cmx50cm and powered up my reading light with it, of course i did also a prototype for a mobile phone.
I'm happy to see that the technology in the market, but what i would really love is for it to be license free. I'm not a big fan of patents and i believe that WildCharge has gotten a patent of the technology, i hope this woun't prevent it from becoming ubiquitous.
I really don't see the usefulness of such a device. I have my phone charger near my bed and I plug it in every night. That is much smaller and just as easy to use. It's always nice to see new technologies develop but you still have to plug an adapter into the phone and then place it on the pad which is plugged into the wall. It just seems to me a very roundabout way to do the same thing with no benefits. Hopefully they will be able to develop this technology further to make it more useful.
Well a person like myself with many things that need to be recharged this would be useful.(toothbrush,cell phone,mp3 player, mouse, etc.) Instead of walking around the house to plug something in to its own adapter you could have one device that would charge them all. It would be very useful but thats not how this device works so I guess Ill be walking around the house some more....
I was at the CES Show yesterday and came across a company called Powermat (www.powermatusa.com). They have a wireless charging system that uses magnetic induction technology - you can charge up to 6 devices at the same time using one mat. You simply insert the device into a protective case and lay it on the mat and it takes the same time as the charges that are sold with the device - they have cases for about 15 different devices (cell phones, ipod) and it can even charge the laptop. It also looks real good. I read about the technology few times in the past two years but it was the first time I came across a finished product that works.
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stradric
33 Comments
Adapter is the downfall
Being able to charge multiple devices simultaneously without individual chargers is a great idea in principle. The adapter needs work though. For one, it's ugly. People like the RAZR and the iPod because they're sleek and modern looking. Who's going to want to put an ugly, bulky charging adapter on their device? And if your answer to that is to leave the adapter by the pad, then we really haven't changed much from just having a bunch of chargers. They need to integrate the adapter with the batteries to maintain the aesthetics of these devices. Otherwise, the additional costs of adapters and the charging unit itself are not really worth it.
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deirdrebeth
25 Comments
Re: Adapter is the downfall
I'm just curious if you've seen other versions of this adapter? The one in the picture is very sleek and integrated into the phone (by replacing the battery cover per the article).
Honestly, I'd be happy to try a new battery cover on my phone (PPC) since the one it came with is very flimsy and slips off fairly easily.
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