The highlight of day one here at CES 2009 had to be our visit to the Powermat booth in the central hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center. The company formally unveiled their magnetic induction technology-based product this week and I have to say that I’m a total believer.
Now before I get into this, let’s consider the following. Most of us carry at least one, if not two consumer electronic devices on a daily basis – whether it’s a mobile phone, a portable music player, a PDA, a notebook, or a digital camera. What’s one common activity we perform with all of these devices? We need to charge them on a near daily basis.
Charging a device can be a real pain at times because 1) we need to remember to charge the device and 2) if we do, we still need to get the charger or dock together and then insert or connect the device to the charger. If you ever walk into my home office, I’ve got a myriad of wires and AC adapters running all over the place simply to charge several small devices. Things get even worse on the road because you need to carry all sorts of chargers and cables – many of which are larger than the devices you actually use.
In comes Powermat – the first company to truly create a consumer-friendly wireless charging platform. The secret to the platform? Powermat’s magnetic induction technology which according to the press release “renders traditional conductive charging technology obsolete”.
The product line boils down to a simple ultra-thin charging mat, which you plug into the outlet, (there are 5 models to choose from for different scenarios) paired with a variety of receivers designed to work with different consumer electronic devices. The receivers attach to the respective device’s charging port and then begin delivering power to the device when placed on the charging mat.
As we mentioned above, there are five different Powermat charging mats designed for different situations. For the home environment, you can choose a simple rectangular charging mat. Going back to the scenario above, think how cool it would be to simply come home, take your devices out and place them on the charging mat. No charger to find; no cables to connect.
Here’s a real world example of Powermat would be used and deployed. The following picture is an iPhone receiver which also doubles as a case for the iPhone. No need to remove the receiver – simply carry the entire package with you wherever you go. Once you come home, simply place the iPhone and receiver/case onto the charging mat and watch the wireless charging begin. How nifty is that?
Here’s a close-up of some of the devices on the charging mat. You can place up to four Powermat- enabled devices on this mat.
Want to charge your devices by the bedside? Not a problem. Powermat will have a charging mat designed with the bedroom in mind. Here are pictures of that scenario which includes a wireless alarm clock that Powermat will also offer.
You charge up to three devices on this bedside mat.
My favorite mat? The travel mat of course! Again – think about it. You now only have to worry about packing your devices, a small travel mat, and their small respective receiver devices. No wires or charging bricks to deal with.
I absolutely love how the Travel mat folds into a compact form factor. Like the bedside charger, the travel charger supports up to three devices.
Speaking of notebooks, here’s a picture of a Powermat charging this Dell notebook.
Walking out of the booth, I couldn’t help but be truly excited with the premise of Powermat. Seriously – if I could have one now, I would take one in a heartbeat. Finally, a wireless charging platform that’s easy to use, easy to integrate with existing devices, and even fashion conscious to boot. Consolidate all your charging needs and accessories to charging mats and their wireless receivers. Oh yeah and the best thing? Each of the Powermat enabled devices will charge at the same rate as if the device was charging with its own charger.
What about pricing? No official word but it will in fact be affordable for consumers. And as far as availability – expect the Powermat this summer in retail stores all around the country.
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Technorati Tags: Powermat, Wireless Charging
