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Powermat’s new Powerpak batteries – The best thing in wireless charging since magnetic induction!

By: , IntoMobile
Sunday, January 10th, 2010 at 7:24 PM

powermat-powerpakThanks to companies like Powermat, Wireless charging isn’t just some sort of far-away future based on the dream of doing away with all those random charging cables and adapters that come with portable gadgets nowadays. It’s now possible to charge your electronics sans wires and cables through magnetic inductive chargers like the Powermat. As it stand today, however, the wireless charging technologies currently available are still awkward and redundant. Soon, though, all that will change, and Powermat may single-handedly revolutionize the wireless charging industry with new integrated mobile phone batteries and truly wireless charging mats.

In order to charge your, say, Motorola Droid with Powermat’s wireless charging mat, you have to put the Droid inside one of Powermat’s custom-made cases which convert the charging mat’s magnetic waves into electrical juice. You also have to plug your Powermat mat into a wall outlet. That’s doubly redundant – you essentially need a charging case instead of a charging cable, and you still need a power outlet. But, Powermat’s soon-to-launch wireless charging solutions will change all that.

First, Powermat is doing away with the need to plug their charging mat into a wall. Their new travel pads feature one or two charging mats that draw power from a built-in battery that’s good for a handful of charges. Second, Powermat has developed aftermarket mobile phone batteries, called Powerpaks, that integrate the magnetic induction wireless charging receiver required to draw power from the Powermat. This second innovation is the technology that might just allow Powermat make wireless charging as common a technology as microwave ovens and TVs.

The Powerpak batteries are the same size as your phone’s factory battery, so there’s no awkward case or aftermarket battery cover needed. Once you pop the battery into your phone, all you need to do to charge the device is place it on one of the company’s Powermats and your phone will automatically start charging. You can use whatever protective case (or no protective case if that’s how you roll) your little heart desires and still take advantage of wireless charging pads. In other words, the new Powermat batteries will finally allow us to wireless charge our devices the way wireless charging was meant to be.

Powermat says their Powerpak batteries will cost about $40 and the dual-pad travel charger will cost about $100. Both will be available later this year. We can’t wait!


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About The Author

Will Park

Will hails from The City of Angels - Los Angeles, California. He spends his time playing with his numerous gadgets and looking forward to seeing what future holds for mobile technology. An avid promoter of a fully "digital" life, he promotes the widespread adoption of truly mobile, paper-less living. He dreams of the day when he can go completely digital. No more snail mail, paper receipts, bound books, notepads/spiral notebooks, credit cards, hard currency. He's a digital warrior - fighting for the converged life. He is an idealist and a realist - he has a perfect view of what the world should be but knows that the world is not perfect. Can we ever hope to see Will's dream become reality? We'll see...

  • Charlie

    Yeah, but where are the Powerpaks – they were supposed to be launched in June or July and it’s now almost September…

    It would be good to find out what is going on, have Powermat hit a snag with their technology? Will they ever launch a Powerpak, or will the company and their products become obsolete once devices with Wireless Power Consortium technology built-in start coming to market?

  • Nx8

    Powermat for the Droid is D-E-A-D. No habla. Shame on you Powermat…you suck.

  • jfjames

    (Okay, but where do I find the Powerpak batteries?…) I hate that the Powermat requires those fat, ugly covers to recharge phones. What if I buy another phone? I’ll have to buy another Powermat cover or battery. When you think about it, this isn’t really advance technology. They just simply combined magnets with nano technology. I know we can do better than this. I sure someone is inventing something better (where you can simply drop anything onto the mat without the use of custom covers or batteries). So far we’re saving time, money and our sanity just charging our phones the old fashion way.

  • Your Mole

    Want some MOLEson ice?