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Wireless Charging for the iPhone and iPod Touch
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That's awesome!
I like how you could just throw multiple phone/ipods/etc. on to the same charging pad.
But...
1. How nice are the cases? You're stuck with the case they choose.
2. Charging is just one of the reasons you plug in your phone/iPod. Do you have to take it out of the case to sync with iTunes? (Would be no issue if Apple would get wireless iTunes syncing done).
3. The existing iPhone dock is pretty nice. Not exactly difficult to slap your phone or touch into one of those. This product pretty much solves a problem I don't have.
Still, wireless charging is just plain awesome!
I like how you could just throw multiple phone/ipods/etc. on to the same charging pad.
But...
1. How nice are the cases? You're stuck with the case they choose.
2. Charging is just one of the reasons you plug in your phone/iPod. Do you have to take it out of the case to sync with iTunes? (Would be no issue if Apple would get wireless iTunes syncing done).
3. The existing iPhone dock is pretty nice. Not exactly difficult to slap your phone or touch into one of those. This product pretty much solves a problem I don't have.
Still, wireless charging is just plain awesome!
Hmmm, I found one reference to something seemingly fairly similar...
http://www.springerlink.com/content/p0q1k530x4150k16/fulltext.pdf
That claimed that inductive charging had about 70% the efficiency of charging via shielded cable. I guess that's not awful considering these are low power devices....
Not induction
This is not inductive charging - not even close.
This setup uses alternating strips of + and - on the pad, and a cleaver arrangement of contacts on the back of the case. This arrangement guarantees that no matter how you set the case down, it will make contact with at least on + and one -. Then some diodes in the case orient the power the right way into the phone.
If it was inductive you would put a piece of paper (or say the vynal of a dash board) between the pad and the phone - in this case, the phone has to make direct contact with the pad.
Not inductive. Gizmodo made the same mistake in their post...
This is not inductive charging - not even close.
This setup uses alternating strips of + and - on the pad, and a cleaver arrangement of contacts on the back of the case. This arrangement guarantees that no matter how you set the case down, it will make contact with at least on + and one -. Then some diodes in the case orient the power the right way into the phone.
If it was inductive you would put a piece of paper (or say the vynal of a dash board) between the pad and the phone - in this case, the phone has to make direct contact with the pad.
Not inductive. Gizmodo made the same mistake in their post...
This is not a competitor to the Touchstone because the Touchstone does it the right way. It's integrated, it's seamless. I don't want to keep my iPhone in a case with bulging bits. I don't want to have a giant pad that I have to find room for. This feels like a Microsoft solution, so I'm going to sit by and wait for Apple to offer an official solution.
Do it the way Palm did it, because that's the right way.
Do it the way Palm did it, because that's the right way.
The Pre does this nicely by changing the back of the case so there is no ugly sleeve around the device and the ports are not blocked. While the Wildcharge solution is a nice step, in my opinion it needs to work in much the same way as the Pre. Rather than having a case around the device, find a way to swap out the back of the iPhone/iPod Touch and link the case to the battery for inductive charging. Much sexier solution.
This solution as it sits with Wildcharge as well as the Pre solution is a nice first step, but where this gets really interesting is when you start to cover entire desks and surfaces with the charging plate (in a stylish way that also does not leak power everywhere so to speak). Imagine your iPhone, camera, even wireless mouse / keyboard and laptop all getting power right from the desk they are on without having to plug them in to anything. They need to figure out how to move data down the line as well so it syncs while it is on my desk or nightstand. They also need to make it more efficient so we're not taking more power for the convenience of no cables. For any of this to happen I think we will need some standards built so every device manufacturer can build against that spec. Not a tech for today, but an interesting look at a possible future, IMO.
This solution as it sits with Wildcharge as well as the Pre solution is a nice first step, but where this gets really interesting is when you start to cover entire desks and surfaces with the charging plate (in a stylish way that also does not leak power everywhere so to speak). Imagine your iPhone, camera, even wireless mouse / keyboard and laptop all getting power right from the desk they are on without having to plug them in to anything. They need to figure out how to move data down the line as well so it syncs while it is on my desk or nightstand. They also need to make it more efficient so we're not taking more power for the convenience of no cables. For any of this to happen I think we will need some standards built so every device manufacturer can build against that spec. Not a tech for today, but an interesting look at a possible future, IMO.
uh.. the pad still needs to be plugged in
call me when over the air charging works or I can get a solar panel sticker to put on my ipod to charge it.
call me when over the air charging works or I can get a solar panel sticker to put on my ipod to charge it.
Yeah, I agree with the above, I can't say I have too much trouble plugging in my phone. 70 bucks for a case that saves half a second of time doesn't make sense.
I AGREE. this is cool and nice, but I want wireless sync as an option. If you just want to throw 1 song or update 1 event or contact on your phone. Make it happen Apple!
Are you able to sync the iPhone/iPod through this means of charging like with just using a CABLE/docking station! Apparently not, so this product suggests I can come back form work and show off to myself about how cool the wireless technology is and THEN liberate my iPhone from the disgusting heavy looking charge cover and pop it in my dock??!!
I guess kudos on the technology to an extent, but I can't think how you could make it more impractical WildCharge.
More like WildCard!!
I guess kudos on the technology to an extent, but I can't think how you could make it more impractical WildCharge.
More like WildCard!!
Yeah, I think moving that ugly dongle internally would be great. Wireless syncing(songs/podcasts/photos/etc) should come before this though...