Posts Tagged induction

Powermat portable

If you’re a road warrior who packs a lot of gear—cell phone, GPS, music player, bluetooth headset and more—you’re probably used to carrying many different chargers and searching hotel rooms to find enough power outlets.

But there’s a new way to eliminate the tangled spaghetti of wires and the need to carry different chargers.  Powermat offers a well-designed solution for charging your gear, on the road or in the office, with just one AC plug. It can charge several gadgets at the same time—as easily as laying them on a mat for some devices.

Plus, there’s a “wow” factor with the Powermat, which charges using magnetic induction and the company’s own patent-pending technology.

There are two versions. The portable charging mat folds into a compact size for travelers. The company also makes a non-folding mat for home and office use.

Here’s how it works. First, the mat is plugged into AC power. It can handle 110 or 240 volts for international travel. The cord winds up neatly for storage.

Powermat iPhone case

Then, each device connects and charges by setting a receiver on top of the mat. Powermat makes a cradle dock receiver for iPods and iPhones, receiver cases that fit the iPhone 3G and iPod Touch, back receiver panels for Nintendo and a special battery door for the Blackberry Curve.

For other gear, a small Powercube receiver sits on top of the mat with a short cord to plug into the device. There are interchangeable tips including micro and mini USB, Apple, Nintendo DSi, Nintendo DS Lite, LG, Sony PSP and Samsung, enough to power hundreds of devices. A beep confirms that the device or receiver is properly placed and charging.

There’s also a handy tip-storage case that attaches to the universal Powercube receiver. Another interesting feature is a full-size USB plug on the mat which can be used to charge even more gear.

I’ve seen some concern that the Powermat takes longer to charge than plugging in a device directly, but that’s not been my experience. My iPod Touch, HTC smartphone and Bluetooth headset all seemed to take about the same time to top off with the Powermat as using conventional chargers. The company claims, in some cases, devices might charge even faster.

I’m impressed with thoughtful design and build quality of the Powermat. It works on a similar principle as the much-discussed Touchstone charging dock for the new Palm Pre smartphone.  The Touchstone requires a special back cover to work. The Powermat’s advantage is the number of different devices it will charge.

In the future, I hope Powermat will make a bigger variety of cradles and cases to fit other popular devices.

List prices are $99.99 for either the home and office or portable Powermat, which includes one universal receiver with eight tips. Additional charging backs, cradles, cases and Powercube universal receivers range from $29.99 to $39.99 each.

For the electronics power user on the road—or in the home or office—Powermat offers a convenient, high-tech way to keep your gear going.

Get the home Powermat or portable Powermat at Amazon.

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