Wireless Charging With The WildCharger
Living in a sea of trailing wires and uncharged mobile phones? Not in the mood to use a solar powered, battery powered or even dance powered phone charger? Then have we got a device for you!
This flat panel which contains the science part may look like a cross between a grill, a solar panel and a heater, but is the future of charging. No chance of losing the charger, no drawer full of old wires for phones lost in the mists of time. Simply place your device onto it, and it boosts the battery just like it was plugged into the wall!
Except that’s not quite the case. Obviously the panel connects to the mains, but the Wildcharger also requires a special adapter which clamps onto the back of your phone, and it is the special contact points on the adapter which transfer the charge from the pad to your handset. So it only requires that your battery cover be replaced with this adapter, and away you go!
Except that it is not quite that easy just yet. So far, only the Motorola RAZR v3 is supported by this technology, which sounds quite a narrow audience but some recently released stats indicate otherwise… So all the shots of iPods and the like charging are planned for the future, but is not ready to boost your batteries just yet. How they have dealt with the immovable iPhone battery also poses an interesting question, as it sits on their ‘coming soon’ list amongst all manner of kit.
Despite the many articles and plaudits this device has accrued including one of Time Magazine’s Best Inventions of the Year (2007), it still seems to be stuck in 1st gear, busy asking the consumers which adapter to introduce next, and whether they would prefer it “with sparkles,” whatever that means. Hey, why not try an adapter for any other phone? That could be a start…
For $90, the charger pad and adapter are yours, which is a small price to pay for quite a cool concept. However, until it works in a more versatile fashion and shares more in execution with the beautiful Microsoft Surface, this technology is destined to be consigned to the “nice idea, but who cares?” pile.
Tags: motorola razr
