It seems that students over at MIT have been hard at work for the past 2 years on what would go on to become WiTricity. You know, WiFi + electricity = WiTricity?

If you haven’t figured it out by the name, WiTricity is brand new technology that uses magnetic induction to wirelessly power peripherals. This means that you’ll theoretically be able to charge your phone (or laptop/any other rechargeable device) by just having it within the station’s perimeter.

There are currently no working prototypes that WiTricity Corp. is willing to share but they are hopeful that the technology will see primetime sometime within the next 18 months. Count me in.

via Engadget

Tags: Accessories, Cell Phones, charging, Laptops, mit, MP3 Players, netbooks, Portable Devices, technology, wireless charger, witricity

There’s good news for everyone charging their phones in Europe. It looks like there’s a phone charging standard coming to all those European handset owners. The European Commission has received today confirmation for that micro-USB charging socket from the most important names in the mobile business. Nokia, Sony, Ericsson, Motorola, Apple, LG, NEC, Qualcomm, RIM, Samsung and Texas Instruments are all going to play ball and we should expect them to launch devices ready to be charged via a micro-USB charger sometime next year. On the long run the micro-UBS standard could be adopted by other markets too since CTIA, OMTP and the GSM Association also support it. Can’t wait for the day when I won’t hate myself for forgetting a certain phone charger! What are your thoughts on this?

via Yahoo

Tags: Apple, Apple, charging, ctia, Ericsson, European Commision, GSM Association, LG, LG, micro-USB, Motorola, Motorola, NEC, Nokia, Nokia, OMTP, qualcomm, Research In Motion, RIM, Samsung, Samsung, Sony, Sony, Sony Ericsson, Standard, Texas Instruments

It looks like the Pre has spawned a new phenomenon! I am not talking about the phone itself but about a certain accessory that costs just $5 to make according to some sources and will charge your phone without using any wires. That’s right the Touchstone is an ingenious inductive charging solution and this model might be copied soon by other carriers.

Nokia is apparently one of the most important names in the cell phone business interested in providing such a device. Nokia is taking a different approach than Palm. It will get that precious energy from the electromagnetic radiation that’s emitted from the cellphone’s antennas, WiFi transmitters, TV masts and other similar items. With such a technology into place you won’t have to charge your phone again with a regular charger. Nokia is currently testing it but we’re probably looking at more than a few years until the technology will be available for the public. Currently Nokia has managed to get up to 5 milliwatts from that electromagnetic waves but that’s nearly not enough. We’ll tell you more once Nokia has made more progress but in the mean time you can tell us all about your Touchstone experience. Are you happy with the device?

via technology review

Tags: charging, Inductive Current, Mobile News, Nokia, Nokia, Palm, Palm, pre, Touchstone

I was looking forward to see who was going to invent a device that would charge up your mobile phone wirelessly. And it looks like my prayers have been answered. Powermat has shown its new prototype technology at CES 2009.

Others have tried to come up with a wireless charging device but no one really succeeded. So let’s take a look at Powermat. All you have to do is place your cell phone, iPod or batteries on the pad and it will start to charge them. The lights indicate that the devices are currently charging so you will have to patiently wait until they are done. Or sleep through the charging itself. Imagine not needing any more wires to charge your gadgets. Simply have this Powermat technology built into your furniture and go about your business. Could it charge up a laptop battery?

Powermat will start massive production sometime at the end of Q3 but we’ll be there waiting to get more info about these products.

via unwired

Tags: charging, Mobile News, Powermat, wireless

The new Philips GoGear SA5225 digital audio/video player just cleared the FCC hurdle. The player handles WMV and MPEG4 video files as well as WMA and AAC audio files. It also has a picture viewer, and is capable of displaying album art. There’s an on-board FM radio receiver, while the recording utility lets you record not only voice memos but also FM audio.

The GoGear player can also stream audio and transfer files using Bluetooth wireless technology. The player features an Options button which throws up useful options depending on the current menu, as well as volume controls at the bottom. There’s a 5-way control point that lets you play/pause, skip forward/back and scroll up/down. It comes with a USB connector to aid in data transfer.

The Philips GoGear SA5225 can be charged over USB, which is convenient. It takes a good 4 hours for a complete charge (80% charge takes 2 hours).

No word on the pricing or availability, but check back with us for that later.

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Tags: bluetooth, charging, gogear, MP3 Players, Philips, Portable Devices, usb, wma, wmv

Polk Audio announced the new miDock Portfolio, a dock for Sirius Satellite Radio’s Stiletto portable radios. The miDock is a portable speaker system that runs on AA batteries or AC power and conveniently docks the Stiletto 10, Stiletto 100 and even the new Stiletto 2. Featuring a rugged design, the miDock allows subscribers of Sirius satellite radio to acccess live content anywhere. It holds flat and comes with a protective case, so you can also carry it around on your travels.

The dock is equipped with high resolution micro speakers, designed to deliver quality audio. When connected to an AC adapter, the miDock doubles up as a charger for the Stiletto when playing audio at the same time. With the included remote control, you can wirelessly control playback. And if that’s your thing, you can also connect another audio device to your Portfolio through the aux input.

The Polk Audio Designs miDock Portfolio for Stiletto comes with a window-sill antenna, AC adapter and adapters for different Stiletto models.

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Tags: ac adapter, charging, dock, portable, Portable Devices, satellite radio, sirius