Powermat: the device charger you can live in

December 17, 1:08 PMGadgets ExaminerDan Appleman

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The Powermat charges devices through magnetic
induction.

What if you could just set a device down anywhere on a surface and it would charge automatically? You wouldn’t have to worry about remembering to charge it when you get home. You wouldn’t have to juggle chargers – especially the kind that when plugged in block the outlets on either side. And you wouldn’t have to stress about the wasted power of the dozens of power adapters that you leave plugged in all the time.

Powermat technology makes it possible to convert any surface into a magnetic induction based charger. It can be set on a surface, or built into desks, tables, furniture or walls. Plan ahead and use enough of them and you can live inside your very own device charger.

Each charging matt can handle up to four devices, one of them high power (like a laptop). It’s smart enough to detect devices and only send power to the location of the device. It can arguably conserve energy – as one Powermat uses less energy while plugged in than the three or four device charges it replaces.

Some questions still remain unanswered:

• How much power does it really use?
• How much will it cost?
• You obviously can’t just set a device on the mat – there has to be some sort of adapter or perhaps smart battery involved. What will those cost?
• Will they be successful enough in the long run to buy the powermat.com domain from the solar energy company that currently owns it? (They are currently using pwrmat.com).

Will it catch on? It's too early to say. But I'll grant you this: it's innovative enough to belong on this list.