heft

Latest

  • Case-Mate's Hug allows induction charging on the iPhone

    by 
    Mike Schramm
    Mike Schramm
    03.16.2010

    There are a few features that I'd love to see added to the iPhone's hardware (an IR transmitter would be nice, for one thing), but first and foremost among those is probably an induction charger. It's a little lame to have a device that so easily goes wireless, and then have to come back and plug it in again after usage. Of course, Apple will take their sweet time adapting new technologies, so until then, I might have to make do with Case-Mate's Hug solution. It's a $100 case that slides on the back of your iPhone and allows the unit to charge without ever plugging in a cable -- just stick it on and wait. Which sounds good, but then you notice that the case actually blocks the iPhone's dock completely, so you have to take the case off anyway to do your regular syncing. And of course it also adds size and heft to the phone, which is probably more than you want to pay to just have a phone you can stick on a charger. Looks like Apple's reasoning in leaving the technology out of the hardware is pretty solid. Nevertheless, if you can't wait to "give your iPhone a Hug" (clever but cloying), the case is available now.