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Ten One Design this morning debuted the Stella, a premium laptop cord that offers several compelling features over a standard extension cable for the MacBook, MacBook Pro, and other machines.

Made from a flexible fabric-covered material, the Stella has a built-in LED located near the plug prongs that activates when it's near a power outlet, so you can easily plug in your Mac even when it's dark.

stellatenonedesign2-800x478.jpg

Stella is able to detect faint electrical fields near common electrical receptacles, and when power is detected, the small LED turns on. Ten One Design says the Stella cord is safer to use because it eliminates temptation to feel around near live outlets when you can't see.

stellatenonedesign3-800x606.jpg

Stella is available for Apple's Mac lineup as a replacement for the standard power cable and for various 2-prong PC power adapters. For Macs, you can choose between a blue plug or an aqua plug.

stellatenonedesign4-800x517.jpg

A built-in slide-out clip is included in the version of Stella made for Macs so you can wind up the cable when not in use, storing it right with your power adapter.

stellatenonedesignled-800x500.jpg

Stella laptop charging cables can be pre-ordered from the Ten One Design website for $34.95. Ten One Design plans to begin shipping the cables in July.

In the future, Ten One Design plans to partner with other companies to bring its technology to additional products.

Article Link: Ten One Design's 'Stella' MacBook Power Cord Uses Light to Guide You to an Outlet
 
What a bunch of negative nancies!

I’ll go the other way and say that it looks innovative and useful. The cord itself even looks nice.

I spend a lot of time in hotel rooms - with plugs in random places (often behind furniture). This looks perfect for adding a bit of light to some of those late night plugins
 
Neat idea, but I find the cord clip is a much more practical part of it, because the new USB-C adapters don't have a way to wrap the cord around anymore like the old MagSafe ones had the foldout ears.
 
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Ten One Design this morning debuted the Stella, a premium laptop cord that offers several compelling features over a standard extension cable for the MacBook, MacBook Pro, and other machines.

Made from a flexible fabric-covered material, the Stella has a built-in LED located near the plug prongs that activates when it's near a power outlet, so you can easily plug in your Mac even when it's dark.

stellatenonedesign2-800x478.jpg

Stella is able to detect faint electrical fields near common electrical receptacles, and when power is detected, the small LED turns on. Ten One Design says the Stella cord is safer to use because it eliminates temptation to feel around near live outlets when you can't see.

stellatenonedesign3-800x606.jpg

Stella is available for Apple's Mac lineup as a replacement for the standard power cable and for various 2-prong PC power adapters. For Macs, you can choose between a blue plug or an aqua plug.

stellatenonedesign4-800x517.jpg

A built-in slide-out clip is included in the version of Stella made for Macs so you can wind up the cable when not in use, storing it right with your power adapter.

stellatenonedesignled-800x500.jpg

Stella laptop charging cables can be pre-ordered from the Ten One Design website for $34.95. Ten One Design plans to begin shipping the cables in July.

In the future, Ten One Design plans to partner with other companies to bring its technology to additional products.

Article Link: Ten One Design's 'Stella' MacBook Power Cord Uses Light to Guide You to an Outlet


Also missing a Ground pin
 
Ten One Design says the Stella cord is safer to use because it eliminates temptation to feel around near live outlets when you can't see.
I think Ten One Design have forgotten that outlets are designed to be safe to feel around...
If you ever were to get shock you are properly holding it wrong
 
Why isn't it grounded o_O

Also missing a Ground pin

That was a bit of a change for me going from my grounded plug MacBook Air to my MBP which only has 2 prongs. You can run your fingers along the metal body and it feels different when plugged in. Drove me nuts how the case seem to "vibrate" -- eventually bing'ed the problem and ... oh, plug only has 2 prongs. Unplugged my MBP and it didn't "vibrate" as I ran my finger along the metal body. lol.
 
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Hold on... What is powering the LED?

Edit -- In the FAQ, it says the light should work for up to 10 years, so it would seem they are hiding a battery inside somewhere.
 
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The blue is a lovely colour, and I like how the cord comes out at an angle - never understood why American and European plugs have the cable poking straight out into the room to make them extra hard to position behind or underneath things. Speaking of which - if I can't see a socket it's usually because it's behind something, not because it's dark. Not sure I have much use for a plug lighting up.
 
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That was a bit of a change for me going from my grounded plug MacBook Air to my MBP which only has 2 prongs. You can run your fingers along the metal body and it feels different when plugged in. Drove me nuts how the case seem to "vibrate" -- eventually bing'ed the problem and ... oh, plug only has 2 prongs. Unplugged my MBP and it didn't "vibrate" as I ran my finger along the metal body. lol.

It's the same with a ground pin, depends also on the country, I have travelled around quite a bit and stayed for years in Indonesia, you could feel it quite well.
Where I am from the Ground is sometimes connected to the common before the main switch in a house, if that's the case you would feel it much less.

The blue is a lovely colour, and I like how the cord comes out at an angle - never understood why American and European plugs have the cable poking straight out into the room to make them extra hard to position behind or underneath things. Speaking of which - if I can't see a socket it's usually because it's behind something, not because it's dark. Not sure I have much use for a plug lighting up.

This is because the plug is reversible, if it would stick out from the bottom for instance and you plug it in it the other way around it will stick out on top which is not recommended.
 
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Hold on... What is powering the LED?

Edit -- In the FAQ, it says the light should work for up to 10 years, so it would seem they are hiding a battery inside somewhere.

Look up non-contact voltage tester.

Actually, look at your profile picture. It's the same concept.
 
It’s astonishing how companies spend their resources on completely useless innovations.
 
Yep, blue and... aqua! :p
Would have been perfect of the original iMacs!
It’s astonishing how companies spend their resources on completely useless innovations.
Hard to know what innovations lead to success until you try-- this solves a problem I recognize, though I probably won't buy it. I still think that hot-or-not site and what it eventually evolved into are completely useless, and address no problems I need solved, but what percent of our global wealth is now held by Facebook?
 
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