Posts Tagged Callpod

I’ve long been a fan of the Callpod Chargepod, a device that allows me to leave a whole collection of chargers and cords at home. (God forbid the electronics companies can manufacture standardized connectors for the simple task of delivering A/C power to a battery.) You just pack the mini hockey puck, one cord, and the little adapters for each device. Then you can recharge everything simultaneously with just one plug.

This new Fueltank item from Callpod is similarly cool, but it solves a different problem: not having the time or the ability to recharge your devices while you’re on the go. For business travelers moving from place to place, it provides a round of charges when and where they need them: on a plane, in a foreign country, in the back seat of a car—whatever.

It’s essentially a battery pack that you charge up from your wall socket, then you take it along with you, armed only with the connector tips for your particular devices. You you can get charged back up several times over without ever plugging in or crawling around an airport floor searching for an outlet. For a trip that’s only going to last a few days to a week, this is all you need to take and you can even charge two devices at once.

It took less than three hours to charge up the device itself, then I got seven total charges out of it for a hodge-podge of cell phones and two different iPods before the Fueltank ran out of juice. The charging time was about the same as the phones/iPods take from a direct source, so there was no “slow trickle” effect.

The Callpod Fueltank is a bit larger and thicker than an iPhone, but weighs less than 8 ounces and comes with its own soft carrying case for the device and the adapters. There’s a fair bit of up-front expense since you have to lay out 10 bucks for every adapter you need and every phone seems to need something different—even two different adapters for two Nokias we have! On some gadgets you can double up though, as in one adapter for most Apple devices and a USB or mini USB will work for more than one kind of phone/device if you’re lucky.You get one mini USB and a voucher for the adapter of your choice when you make your inital purchase for $70 list.

This is a pretty basic gadget that does what it does without a bunch of frivolous extras, but there are a few nice touches. Voltage regulator technology senses the amount of power required to charge your devices and stops pumping out electricity when you don’t need it anymore. Then LED fuel capacity indicators display when charging indicator button is pressed, so you know how much power is remaining. You can check out a video demo on their site to see how it all works.

Get the Fueltank direct from Callpod.

Get the Callpod Fueltank Dual Device Charger at Buy.com