back to article Crazy pot smokers get high on wireless power

The Wireless Power Consortium is promising to demonstrate more than 60 new products next week, heralding a new wave of battery charging for people too stoned to plug in their phones. That's according to the makers of one of the products to be shown, the eponymous GetPowerPad, who recently announced it was in the last stages of …

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  1. nichobe
    Flame

    1st cordless kettle 1986

    We should be so proud of how quick we have advanced.....Icon-Kettle-Steam

  2. Mephistro
    Thumb Up

    This sounds good, at least for small, low energy devices, -i.e. mobile phones- but I don't think it's such a good idea for grinders, toasters and such, due to the efficiency loss implied.

    1. Rob Dobs
      Flame

      agreed

      As great as it is for my Pre, if the phone doesn't seat right it can get a little warm. no Big deal for phone, (and it has a tone that tells you its seated, if its on too crooked it wont charge, but tone and screen make it easy to see)

      But you get a blender or toaster, and have it not lined up well and you could really melt some plastic or burn your hand.

  3. Frank Bitterlich
    Coat

    Finally!!!!

    Now I can run a kitchen blender in my car!

    That's been long overdue...

    >> The one with the pack of AAA cells in the pocket, please...

  4. David Pollard
    Flame

    ... some crazy pot smokers ...

    ... must be lighting up a cordless vaporizer.

    They didn' t need hi-tech in the good old days.

    1. Suburban Inmate
      Holmes

      What's the point of cordless?

      I love nothing more than a mind-emulsifying digi-vape night, but once I've piled up the drinks and munch, fired up the vape and stuck the Sneaker Pimps on the system... I aint goin' *nowhere*

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Hint

        It's so you don't trip over the lead when you wobble off to bed.

        Got the black eye from walking into a door, honest

  5. james 68

    meh

    ill be happy when they make a mousemat that charges my wireless mouse as i use it - those buggers eat batteries

    other than that im really not bothered until they can keep devices charged WHEREVER you are (a la teslas wireless energy ideas) or better yet keep electric bikes and cars running nationwide without the need for enormous battery packs and 13 hour stop offs to recharge every 100 or so miles.

    that would be a proper technological advancement - but remember the priorities, wireless mouse = first pls.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      so then you would have a wireless mouse on a wired mat . . .

      1. Oninoshiko
        Go

        It's not as silly as it sounds

        The wire-less-ness of the mouse is to keep the wire from getting in the way. Because the pad is fairly stationary most of the time, there is no need to worry about it as a limiting factor. Even so, taking it off the pad wouldn't cause the mouse to stop working, just to stop charging... AFAICT (who knows for sure? maybe I sleep-surf!) every night my mouse sits stationary on the pad.

      2. Mark_W
        Go

        I have one of those

        It's called a Wacom Tablet, with a Wacom mouse. A cordless mouse that has no intelligence at all in it, plus I can use a pen too. :)

  6. Rob Dobs
    Facepalm

    Big Fail on LEO and HP

    Only reason palm did not sell more of their phones was not promoting the hell out of this neat feature.

    I love just dropping my phone its stand and having it grab in place and charge, super easy, no more finding a plug, fiddling with plastic covers (or having dirt/lint in your open port) just drop/grab and go

    This was a great device! and if Palm/HP had been smart, they would have made sure that EVERY store selling these had their devices resting on these pads for display - they would have sold millions more, especially since it was the one physically visible feature that set this phone apart. Once they got people to take a look, they would have seen it did everything the iphone did and more. Instead Verizon, Sprint etc all had the phones attached to their same lame bolted on displays, with the power cord hanging out. You had to go over in the corner to the accessory shelf, and ask the uniformed staff what the heck it was. I bought two Pre and two chargers for less than $100, and have loved it since.

    1. The First Dave
      Boffin

      Come on! Almost every DECT phone ever made charges up by "just being dropped in a cradle"

  7. Stevie

    Bah!

    Think of the psychotronic side-effects, man!

    This is just a way for Big Brother to insert low-level wetware hacks into the general population, forcing them to vote Green and buy iPads and stuff.

    Oh the humanity!

  8. Gene Cash Silver badge
    Headmaster

    Lackluster Touchstone sales?

    Would that possibly be related to lackluster Palm sales? Everyone I know that has a Palm has a Touchstone. Do they work on anything else?

  9. AlexH
    Stop

    Efficiency

    How much power are we losing just so we don't have to sacrifice a few seconds every day plugging things in?

    Also, I quite like being able to plug my phone in and still use it to make calls, thanks to the magical properties of old-fashioned wires!

    Finally - I'm not sure how much I trust all this wireless power stuff. I consider myself a rational believer in science and evidence - but even still, there's something about the whole thing I don't like. I'd struggle to sleep with one a few inches away from my head. Yes, this is completely irrational - no two ways about it!

  10. John King 1

    New Wall Socket?

    Would it be more economical for new homes to have USB charger ports as well as the usual 3 pin sockets? It'd be safer if you could just jack plug most of your low-power devices into the wall, than have a transformer heating up.

    Or have I got my physics wrong?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      @John King 1

      Since the mains is 240V Ac (or possible 120V depending on your location) you would still need a transformer *somewhere* to provide the correct DC output at the wall. I don't know whether having one single large transformer humming away permanently would be more efficient than a cluster of 'now and then' smaller units but I suspect not.

      1. jon 72

        Decepticons

        Transformers are not the only way of stepping down 'mains' voltages to lower levels.

        Capacitor dropper circuits are being now being used more freaquently for low power devices such as bluetooth headsets or mobile phone chargers and these could fit into an existing wall socket.

  11. Alister

    misquote

    It should be:

    "Turn the radio on, Man"

    "Hey, radio, I really lurve you!"

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Cars...

    Pave the streets in those and charge my car (as N. Tesla dreamed of) and I'm sold.

    And yes, wireless mice go through batteries like a chain smoker. I went back to corded.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Lovely but ...

    Faster charging batteries with longer life.

    everything else is a long way behind

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "But perhaps we're just not stoned enough to see the appeal."

    No, I'm absolutely battered I & still can't.

    AC coz, well, I'm probably just being paranoid...

  15. Barry Rueger

    Death rays!

    Oh Lord. people here are up in arms over the introduction of smart electric meters for fear that the radio waves that emanate from the devices will scramble their chromosomes or cause brain tumours or something.

    Now you want to put magic electric charging pads into their furniture and cars!!

  16. Displacement Activity
    Thumb Down

    Yawn....

    Those of us who spent several years watching SplashPower circling the drain aren't impressed.

  17. rciafardone
    Mushroom

    Where are the greens were it really matters?

    Considering that there are campaigns everywhere to save energy by doing "small" things like unplugging the cell phone charger when not in use, how come no one is screaming like crazy for this?

    The waste of energy in this wireless devices is obscene.

    What i mean is: FU environmental charlatans ... u don't know jack.

    1. Displacement Activity

      > What i mean is: FU environmental charlatans ... u don't know jack.

      That's a bit of a generalisation. If you've got nothing on a charging mat, then you're obviously not pumping energy into whatever it is you're not charging. Then you're down to no-load losses. Maybe 1%, or a few hundred mW, at a guess.

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