$10 USB power outlet leaves no plug behind
By Donald Melanson 
posted December 5th 2009 10:28AM
posted December 5th 2009 10:28AM
posted December 5th 2009 10:28AM
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Darn you, engadget!! I don't need more "lessons in the dangers of electricity."
it's stillll a mac.... what the fack?
@(Unverified) ACTUALLLY it looks like they are playing pong, and they are scared because the puck went wayyyy up there by his ear...
@nuck44 Unfortunately engadget, looks like they are retailing this for twice that, $20 now. That sucks.
if u guys can, please remind us when this ships. U guys should hire samuel l. jackson to say "engadget motha f*cka"
@dkbraves
I agree. Please post another article when this is released! I'd like to have one (or three!), but want to wait until install video is up and hear back from initial reviews.
@dkbraves Ha! That'd be rad.
I would also like to see a follow up article. I'm sure I could install it myself, but it would be nice to see some more reviews of items like this on engadget.
@dkbraves
Chiming in to request a follow up like everybody else. For $10, I'll have these all over the house.
@dkbraves I would love to hear him say "I'm tired of these mother f*cking chargers all over my mother f*ucking walls!
@dkbraves
Yep another post to remind us when it us out for purchase would be amazing.
If the FastMac rep is reading this right now it would be a good idea to "tip" engadget about this again when you release it. I already know of at least two outlets in our Condo that will be getting changed over to this unit.
@dkbraves
I agree. I'm buying a house that already needs work, so buying a few of these would be another cool little thing I could do to it.
sad face
@feelthevibe
D=
$10 Dollar Shipping... I hope its hand delivered on a pillow to my front door...
@aad4321 It's ten dollars. Ten dollars to put it on a truck/plane and bring it to your postal office or front door. Not bad considering I have to pay out of the arse to have the lowest form of shipping deliver to Canada.
@aad4321 And Installed too for that matter lol.
Those sockets look miserable.
@SamUK
Actually they look a bit more shocked (ba-doom ching!)
@SamUK They look like they're saying "What the heck man? What the heck are those???"
@(Unverified) ACTUALLLY it looks like they are playing pong, and they are scared because the puck went wayyyy up there by his ear...
@SamUK
D= D=
@SamUK
Turn that ground upside down!
what's awesome is that these sockets consume/waste/leech power even if nothing is plugged into them, right?
AWESOME!
@artist
Way to NOT read the Source.
From Source:
"Please also note that the USB ports only draw power when something is physically connected to the port. We didn't want a vampire port that continually sucks and wastes power when not in use so this was one of the features on the top of our priority list during the design phase."
@artist from the site:
"Please also note that the USB ports only draw power when something is physically connected to the port. We didn't want a vampire port that continually sucks and wastes power when not in use so this was one of the features on the top of our priority list during the design phase."
But, you know, whatever. Spread your FUD.
@artist Then attack a switch to the outlet and flick it on when you want to charge something.
Yes! I've been looking all over for one of these for a long time. I definitely want to get one when they start shipping.
240v australian sockets and i'll buy 10
Looking at the specs it only outputs 600mA; doesn't the Apple mini charger put out 1A? Would the lower amperage cause problems for iPhone or other devices?
@Jose I don't think so , lower amperage means that it will take longer to recharge.
@(Unverified) No, it would be the same thing as plugging your device into a computer powered USB port, which only puts out 500mA maximum I believe. Unverified is correct, it would just take longer.
@Jose It depends on how this device identifies itself. USB devices aren't supposed to draw power from a sleeping host, and that's what a USB socket with no host on it looks like to the device. So there are various ways of indicating that the socket is actually a power brick, not a host and it's okay to draw power. Depending on how this device identifies itself, the Apple device will either draw 100, 500 or 1000mA. Or it might draw nothing at all, because it doesn't understand how the device identifies itself.
The problem is no brick identification system is within the USB spec, and devices don't all use the same system. So it really depends on what ID system this uses and whether your iPhone understands it. It likely shows as a Chinese standard (PRC) brick, which means that recent iPhones will take 500mA off it and charge slowly but older iPhones won't take any power at all because they don't understand PRC bricks.
@spin cycle wow, I just learned more about USB in the past 90s than I've learned in the the past few years. Thanks for that.
@spin cycle
I don't care that this article is almost 4 months old now.
I'm making a connection here.
The USB is indeed being currently worked on so that there is way of identifying as to what currents can an USB host deliver. This power delivery identification system is an absolute necessity and hopefully will be implemented and more importantly standardized as soon as possible.
http://www.semiaccurate.com/2010/04/01/notebook-charging-over-usb-being-researched/
Someday USB might even become an universal low voltage power plug. Judging by the number of devices currently made to be powered by USB not just communication, and after the recent universal micro-USB charging plug ratification by most phone manufacturers it certainly is on the right track to become a standard wall outlet plug...
Oh, and it also better come in other colors besides white. SOme of us have black and brown outlets :)
@Jose
They have this new stuff...payn, pai..oh yeah - paint.
Why am I being so snarky today? Probably lack of sleep.
@decypher44 Yeah, you should take a nap. And you know how you can pretty much paint over an electrical outlet because the contacts are way too far back for that to matter? I wouldn't assume the same is true for a USB outlet. But you go ahead and paint your laptop if it's not in the color you like. But get some rest first.
@Jose spraypaint FTW?
@Phrank painter's tape cute in the shape of a female usb slot would fix that.
@Jose
They might only do the standard colors like white, ivory and electric ivory
nice smiley faces to go along wif the USB ports
This thing is pushing all my nerd buttons!
"Please also note that the USB ports only draw power when something is physically connected to the port."
I wonder if this means that if you leave a charging cable plugged in it leeches power, or if it's actually smart enough to detect the device at the end of the cord.
@rlobrecht
Only if there is an indicator light on that chord somewhere will it use power. If there is just a chord and nothing else, then no it's not using power. There actually has to be something drawing power to actually use power.
@rlobrecht This is almost certainly a lie. Unless it has a physical switch that closes when you plug in a USB plug, then it has to have some circuitry on to create regulated +5V even if it isn't used. Or even if it uses electrical detection of a USB device, that's still taking power to do it.
@rlobrecht
Some sockets are setup so that the act of inserting a plug makes a connection that switches on the socket. (usually by pushing a spring loaded contact to close the circuit)
@spin cycle not exactly. There have been smart ac/dc converters around for quite some time, which don't draw power until a load is applied.
@rlobrecht Unverified: you're wrong. You cannot do anything without electricity to do it. So unless it has a mechanical switch to turn it on when something is plugged in, it takes electricity even when "off". It may take very, very little. But very little is not the same as none.
@rlobrecht Forgive me if I seem ignorant, but wouldn't it only draw power if the circuit is completed by something plugged into the cable?