Fabulous parties and celebrity appearances aside, the Powermat booth tour may have been my best blogger experience at CES this year. And while I won’t make it out to Mobile World Congress later this month, I do have a few educated guesses on what the wireless-power company will be launching there.
The Powermat folks graciously guided me on a back-room tour at CES to show off several upcoming product lines. In the queue are new single- and dual-position charging mats (charge one, two, or three products at once), higher-powered mats to support netbooks (!), and sleeker mobile device cases. All of these products are officially due out in the spring, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Powermat jump the gun on that projection. The company recently sent out MWC emails inviting media to visit its booth at the show for the introduction of “its next line in wireless charging.” Hmm…
Just as important as Powermat’s near-term product launches, however, are the price reductions on the way (expense being one of my pet peeves), and the innovations planned for later this year and next. Currently Powermat offers a full-size charging mat for $99. That will drop to $79 for a three-position mat, $59 for the dual-position, and $39 for the single-position version.
On the innovation front, Powermat will soon start offering mobile device batteries that do away with the need for a custom case or Powermat charging tip. This is where wireless charging gets good. Imagine replacing the battery in your new Nexus One with a premium Powermat version. Then all you need to do when you get home is drop the phone on your charging mat, and you’re good to go. Best of all, Powermat is working with a programmable chip that lets it take standard silicon and adapt it for new mobile devices as they’re introduced. According to the company, it will be able to bring new Powermat batteries to market in a short four to six weeks – fast enough to keep up with the most popular new phone launches.
Oh yeah, and Powermat isn’t stopping with phones. Camera batteries are in the works for 2011. And I just gotta believe Powermat’s put in a few calls to Apple about that iPad. I can just hear the Power Pad jokes now.
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Got a ‘mobile’ pad and a back for a BB Curve….Yeah, not impressed.
I spend more time getting the charger to engage than I would had I just plugged the damn thing in.
Just keeps making that stupid connect then disconnect sound. After 3-4 tries it finally connects and stays connected, charges fine after that. I’m just glad it’s my wife’s phone and not mine, would have thrown it out the window by now.
RightCoast- Nothing beats hands-on experience. Wonder if it will improve with embedded batteries.