No strings attached
One thing I’ve always hated about portable technology is what’s required to keep devices charged and running. A few years ago, I heard about a cool wireless recharging technology on TechTV.
The main company leading the charge (no pun intended) in wireless electricity is Splashpower. Basically, you have a special battery in your mobile device and a Splashpad. The Splashpad is about the size of a mousepad (but considerably thicker). All that’s needed to charge the battery is for you to set your device on the pad. The power is transfered using electromagnetic inductive coupling:
Electromagnetic induction is a technology that is currently employed in a wide range of applications. Applications which currently use induction for power transfer include powering electric vehicles, recharging electric toothbrushes and powering smart-tags and security tags.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that the Splashpad is available yet. I thought that meant we’re stuck with one-shot alkaline batteries, rechargeable batteries, or dragging power cords everywhere.
That was until I listened to the latest Venture Voice podcast with Simon Daniel of USBCell. The USBCELL is such a cool technology, I can’t wait to get my hands on some. From the USBCELL website:
This NiMH AA cell can be used like a normal battery and can be recharged simply by plugging into a USB port.
Close the cap after charging and put the battery into your camera, wireless mouse or whatever; and you’re good to go. Currently, 2 batteries are retailing for about $20 US.
What’s better than splashpower is the fact that USBCELL is available now. In the podcast, Mr. Daniel mentioned that the battery division of his company was profitable in 12 weeks. I guess this is a hit, and I’d anticipate it will be around for a while.