By Evan Ackerman
When we talked about WildCharge last year, I commented that the practicality of WildCharge was questionable due to the lack of consumer devices directly incorporating the technology. And that’s kinda still true, unfortunately, with only a few exceptions. But WildCharge is tackling this problem head on by releasing a line of plug-in accessories designed to help your gadgets charge with surface induction technology as gracefully as possible.
Unlike eCoupled and Powermat, WildCharge uses electrical contacts to (safely) charge things through a physical connection, but without cables. All you have to do is set your WildCharge enabled gadget down on the pad, and it charges. So, WildCharge has come out with swap-in battery packs for some phones, with contacts on the outside that interface with the pad:
WildCharge also has solutions for cellphones, called the universal adapter. It plugs into the USB jack on the side of most cellphones, and connects to a charging pad underneath the phone, allowing for contact charging. It’s about $45, including one USB tip and one pad.
For everything else, you can get a dongle that connects via USB (mini) and has a little pad attached. It’s about $25, but since you have to plug it IN to your gadget to get it to work, it doesn’t seem that much easier than using the cord that came with your gadget in the first place.
And, if you have an iPhone, WildCharge is coming out with a case on Feb 15 that includes contacts on the back and an integrated dock connector. It’ll cost $35.
The actual charging pad itself, btw, is $50ish and available at Best Buy, Target, and places like that. Oh, and they also have a 90w laptop power pad in the works, with modified batteries with contacts designed to work with some major brands of laptops.
[ WildCharge ]
