WildCharge
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Duracell myGrid USB Charger gives your Kindle 100 extra hours of life for $35
While Energizer's moving forward with its newfound Qi partnership, its bunny-less arch rival seems content right where it's at. Duracell's WildCharge-based myGrid charging mat, which was actually introduced over a year ago, is finally gaining a second good reason to purchase one: the myGrid USB Charger. The nugget you see above is a rechargeable Li-ion battery with a USB output, and according to Duracell, there's enough juice in there to extend the life of most smartphones by four hours and the life of most e-readers (Kindle included) by up to 100 hours. It's available today at CVS, Walmart, Target and Amazon for $34.99, and that does indeed include both mini-USB and micro-USB adapters. The full release awaits your eyes after the break.
iGrip mount brings inductive charging to your windshield (video)
At CES this past January we took a look at a number of high-end concept dashboards destined to fill up the insides of the car of the future. One of those concepts, from Visteon, even had an inductive pad upon which you could throw your phone and have it charged up by the time you got where you're going. Cool, but it doesn't do those of us driving the car of the present much good. The iGrip could, based on WildCharge tech and installable into any car, so you can just insert your handset into this windshield mount and get juice on the go -- if it's wearing the appropriate WildCharge-compatible case, of course. That's the idea anyway, but rather sadly this too is just a concept that may or may not ever make it to production, so don't throw away that tangle of car adapters just yet.
Duracell announces myGrid wireless charger, WildCharge feels a little KIRFed
No, someone didn't just Photoshop the Duracell logo on a WildCharge pad -- this actually is the newest product from the ubiquitous battery maker. Available this October, myGrid kits (including charger and one power sleeve) will be available for Nokia, Motorola, and Blackberry handsets, as well as the many flavors of Apple's iPhone and iPod touch. No price yet, but you'll know as soon as we do. Update: Of course, this is probably the product of some sort of licensing deal -- but you'd think someone at WildCharge or Duracell would have mentioned it, right? [Via PhoneMag]
WildCharge brings 'wireless' charging to hundreds of devices
We know you're jealous of your friends' ability to charge up their RAZRs and iPhones sans wires, so how would you feel if we told you that WildCharge's newest solution -- the PowerDisc -- would allow you to use its WildCharger with literally hundreds of devices? It's true! All you need to charge your previously incompatible hardware wirelessly is this one little wire that attaches the PowerDisc to the PowerLink adapter for your Nokia, Palm, LG, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Micro USB, or Mini USB device. Available on its own for $19.99 or bundled with the WildCharge pad for $64.99. And it looks like the PowerDisc also includes a lanyard -- we know how much you love lanyards! So, have you ordered one yet or what?
If Apple had a huge, shiny Touchstone: WildCharge for iPhone checked out
By far the slickest, most mystical way to charge a smartphone these days comes courtesy of Palm's Touchstone system -- but that doesn't do iPhone owners much good, which is where WildCharge steps up to the plate with a jacket that makes all iPhone models compatible with its wire-free charging mat. It's not as elegant by any stretch of the imagination, but if you squint a little, the jacket (or "adapter skin," as WildCharge calls it) looks like a totally believable case that you might buy in your local Apple store, especially if you can get past the hump at the bottom. iPhone Buzz took the $79.99 pad / jacket combo for a spin recently, and while they've yet to post impressions, the shots of the system doing its thing in its natural habitat might be enough to turn folks on or off. Ultimately, we still think we fall on the "just drop it on the dock before you go to bed" side of this argument -- especially considering the weird hump-laden jacket with exposed metal contacts on back -- but if you're looking for an easy way to charge from a second location that doubles as a conversation piece, WildCharge might have your answer.
Wireless charging comes to Apple's iPhone 3GS, thanks to WildCharge
Envious of your Pre toting pals and that Touchstone charging rig? Don't sweat it -- WildCharge is coming through in the clutch to bring similar wireless charging technology to Apple's own handset. Starting today, iPhone (3G and 3GS included) and iPod touch users can order up a WildCharge Skin along with a WildCharger Pad in order to bring wire-free charging to their smartphone. Just slap the skin on, plug the pad in and toss the handset down on said pad. Just like that, you've got fresh energy flowing without having to scour the house for that little AC adapter. The pain? $34.99 for the skin, or $79.99 for the skin and pad.
PS3, Wii users get Psyclone TouchCharge pads, too
We caught sight of Psyclone's WildCharger-based TouchCharge kit for the Xbox 360 a few weeks ago but, in case you missed it, the company is also offering similar kits for the PlayStation 3 and Wii. At $49.99 the PS3 version is actually the cheapest of the lot, due to the fact that it's able to use the controller's own rechargeable battery, while the $59.99 Wii version and $69.99 Xbox 360 version each include some rechargeable batteries of their own courtesy of Psyclone. The charging pads themselves are, of course, interchangeable, and you can even charge more than one device on a single pad, although finding the necessary controller adapters separately seems to be another matter.[Via The Gadgets Weblog]
WildCharger pricing details emerge
WildCharge has updated its website with more information about its pad-based wireless WildCharger solution. The company has revealed that adapters for the Motorola RAZR (which replaces the back cover) and the iPod nano (via a dock adapter) will set you back $34.99. The dock itself will be $59.99, meaning that it could cost you as much as $130 to wirelessly charge -- assuming you own both an iPod and a RAZR -- your phone and MP3 player. Still interested? If so, you should be able to pick up all three sometime this month.[Thanks, David; via Slippery Brick]
WildCharger wireless charger poised for pre-order
With MIT's recent breakthrough in wireless electricity, we've been pretty hyped up on cutting the final cord that keeps our gadgets tethered to the wall and one another, so our ears certainly perked up when we learned that WildCharge's WildCharger powerpad is set to go up for pre-order. First revealed late last year, the multi-device induction charging surface is finally poised to begin taking orders come July 7th -- or 07/07/07, if you're into the whole numerology thing. Curiously there's no word yet on how much these things will set you back, but as usual, we're willing to pay through the nose to be the hippest kids on the block.
WildCharger charges your gadgetry sans wires
While it's taken Wireless USB quite awhile to gain its footing, we're hoping wireless charging will follow suit – and soon. While we've seen snippets of charging solutions using wind, bicycles, sunlight, and other oddities, charge-by-contact pads have a real shot at practicality. Aside from Splashpower's often overlooked offerings, and DoCoMo's "contactless" recharger, we haven't seen too much action on the wire-free charging front in quite some time. Thankfully, WildCharge is apparently stepping to the plate, and hopes to show off its WildCharger pad at CES; the device requires a single AC power cord, and then can reportedly recharge any device you lay atop its surface, be it cellphones, PDAs, or awkwardly-shaped headphones. While we presume a special module will need to be installed on each battery that hopes to receive its share of electromagnetic induction, we're still down with the idea. With "initial reports" suggesting that pricing will be somewhere in the $40 to $100 range, this may not be too bad a deal if it'll rejuvinate our Dell M2010 as well.[Via Textually]
