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CTA's $20 Baby: Ultimate Boxing Gloves for PS Move
Well, it was only a matter of time before CTA started churning out accessories for the PS Move. Not unlike a similar offering for the Wii, the Ultimate Boxing Gloves are meant to add "realism and excitement to boxing and street-fighting games" by providing "fist-clenching ability" and compatibility "with all PS Move boxing game launches, including The Fight: Lights Out." Also on tap for the company are the Triple Port Charging Station (for simultaneously charging your PS Move Controller, Navigation Controller and Sixaxis controller), Dual Port (charging one PS Move Controller / Navigation Controller set) and Quadruple Port Charging Stations (for two sets of controllers). Sounds great, guys -- but we're still holding out for something incorporating wings or a rowing machine. Charging Stations due out in September, while the gloves should be available October 1 for $20. PR after the break.
Coulomb's CT500 EV charging station now available for residential use
Coulomb Technologies has already managed to get thousands of its electric vehicle charging stations installed across the US (and beyond), but it's now looking to grab an even larger footprint -- it's just announced that its CT500 Level II ChargePoint Networked Charging Station is available for residential use. That will give you a 7.2 kw output and full compatibility Leviton's Evr-Green EVSE "plug-and-play" pre-wiring kit for a supposedly easy installation -- and, of course, an industry standard SAE J1772 connector to accommodate a whole range of electric vehicles. No word on pricing, but you can contact the Coulomb distributor nearest you (there's nine in the US at the moment) for a quote and any additional information you might need. Full press release is after the break.
Coulomb to electrify California with 1,600 shiny new EV chargers
Fret not, Cali residents. Your state government may be desperately sinking into the quagmire of its own extravagance, but cash will always be found to fund good old "private" enterprise. Coulomb Technologies is expected to today announce the rollout of 1,600 ChargePoint stations across the sunny state, aided in part by a $3.4 million grant from the California Energy Commission. The principal aim of these installations will actually be research, as the state tries to figure out EV usage and recharging habits. Happily though, once that academic exercise is over, they should still be operational and might well make Coulomb's home patch the most advanced in terms of EV infrastructure yet. Yes indeed, we'll all be driving our Volts along potholed streets with nary a public servant in sight... it'll be like Mad Max: Beyond Budgetary Deficits.
Coulomb partners with Ford, Chevy, Smart to deliver 4,600 free EV charging stations in US
Looks like Australia and Poland were just the beginning: Coulomb Technologies is looking to roll out nearly 5,000 electric vehicle charging stations in the US, effective immediately. If one of those cherry-red push pins is pointed at your neighborhood, you'll likely see the stations popping up at local businesses soon, and if you're looking to purchase a Chevy Volt, Tesla-powered Smart or one of Ford's two new EVs, you can even qualify to have a free station installed in your home. Partially paid for by a $15 million grant from the Department of Energy, the ChargePoint America program won't necessarily give you free electricity to go with it -- that "charge" in ChargePoint has a double meaning, after all -- but we're happy to see the zero-emissions future is finally on a roll. PR after the break.
Coulomb begins worldwide EV domination with ChargePoint expansion to Australia and Poland
Look around you. Are you at an electric vehicle charging station? If so, good for you! If not, that's okay, because the things are still mighty rare. California-based Coulomb is helping to change that, expanding its operations with deals that will see its ChargePoint networked charging stations appear in Poland and in Australia. The Warsaw-based station is powered by juice from 365 Energy, while the Sydney one is being run by GoGet, a sort of Aussie Zipcar, if you catch our drift, mate. They join the 600 stations that Coulomb deployed in 2009 and are part of the thousands the company hopes to scatter about in this year. Both forward-reaching press releases are included for your enjoyment after the break, either of which make for great reading while your Tesla hungrily sucks down the electrons.
Europe gets first fast-charging EV station, hungers for more
Epyon, a small Dutch startup, is showing the big boys how it's done with its recently unveiled fast-charging station for electric vehicles. Billed as Europe's first commercially available charger of its kind, this unit will recharge anything up to a nine-seater taxi van within 30 minutes, thanks to its 50 kilowatts of power capacity. It's now installed alongside more conventional petrol and diesel refilling points in a fueling station over in Leeuwarden. That's the capital city of Friesland, a Dutch province that has set itself the ambitious goal of having 100,000 EVs on its roads by 2015. That aim is shared by the wider European Union as well, which yesterday agreed on defining a common electric recharging standard, whose universality might attract skeptical consumers and more cautious investors into the field. They've set themselves a deadline of "mid-2011," though the broad outlines and new incentives for buying greener cars are likely to appear by the end of this year.
Telekom Austria to turn phone booths into EV recharging stations, stave off obsolescence
For most Engadget readers, telephone booths rank somewhere up there with smoke signals in the annals of communication devices -- old, primitive, and bypassed by newer and better technology. Ah, but wait, what if we used all those cables we have wired into those boxes for something actually helpful? Telekom Austria's trying to do just that with its newly unveiled plan to roll out 30 electric vehicle recharging stations over the rest of this year. Attached to what are admittedly rather swish phone boxes, these stations will juice up one of the 3,782 currently registered electric or hybrid transporters in Austria at remarkably low prices. The testing phase will allow free recharging, and even after that it'd be a single-digit Euro cost to boost your battery back up. Ironically, the fastest way to pay will be via your mobile phone, but let's just get this project off the ground first, then we can worry about how to save the precious talker boxes from extinction.
New York gets its first solar EV charging station, you can't use it
What do you do when you've got two disused shipping crates, some photovoltaics, and a couple buckets of toxic green paint? Why, you make a solar electric vehicle charging station, the first in New York as it happens. It was created by Beautiful Earth Group, which whipped up this self-contained charging station to juice the company's car, a similarly painted BMW Mini E that just so happens to fit nicely inside -- so long as you don't want to open the doors too wide. About three hours charges the little sucker up for its maximum range of 100 miles, which ought to be just enough to get you out to the Hamptons. Not that you'd want to go there this time of year. Update: We searched for an earlier solar station and came up empty, but vyper0 commented to let us know that this is indeed not the first for NY state, just the first for NYC. There was one installed out on Long Island earlier this year, which would mean you could not only get out to the Hamptons, but get back!
SolarCity charging stations on Highway 101 give Tesla owners a little more time in the sun
The Tesla Roadster is by far the best-known electric car of the moment -- despite the company only having sold about 700 of the things. A high price point hasn't kept the car from capturing the minds of enviro-minded gearheads everywhere, of which there must be quite a few working at SolarCity. The California-based solar installation firm has created four Tesla charging stations along Highway 101 between Los Angeles and San Francisco, with a fifth coming online next month. The (apparently free) chargers provide a 240V charge at 70 amps, blowing away Eberhard's RFMC rapid charger and bringing the cars to full capacity in only 3.5 hours. Why, that's just enough time for a nice lunch and a bit of shopping. Sadly the plugs only work with Teslas, but will be retrofitted once some other suitable EV comes along in suitable numbers.
Mini Docking Station is, surprisingly, not completely hideous
Let's be frank: West Elm's lacquered wood Mini Docking Station isn't a multitasker. All it does is provide a place to attractively "seat" for your gear while it charges. That said, decent retail stores don't usually carry a lot of good-looking products that catch our geeky eyes. This one doesn't boast any other functions -- no alarm, no speakers -- just a charging station plain and simple, but it's not insanely ugly -- and it's only $34. And sometimes, that's enough.
McDonalds to offer ChargePoint electric vehicle charging stations
Mind you, we're talking just one of the 30,000 or so McDonalds around the world. Nevertheless, the first "green" version of the ubiquitous US "restaurant" will offer NovaCharge ChargePoint electric vehicle charging stations when it opens in Cary, North Carolina on July 14th. The idea is to recharge your plug-in Electric Vehicle while "enjoying your meal." Unfortunately, the current generation of EV batteries won't likely benefit from the 10 minutes or so it takes to gulp down a value meal. However, Mickey D's might be on to something should drivers choose to stay for the additional 2-hours of regret that follows.[Via RedFerret]
Companies planning massive electric vehicle charging network for Australia
There may still be a dearth of electric vehicle charging stations in the US, but it looks like some cities in Australia could soon be overflowing with 'em, at least if a group of companies' rather ambitious plans actually pan out. That group is led by US-based Better Place, which has previously helped bring charging stations to Denmark and Israel, and now hopes to out-do those previous efforts in a big way by outfitting Australia's three largest cities with 200,000 and 250,000 charging stations apiece. That, the company says, would cost $1 billion Australian dollars (or roughly $667 million US), which is where Australian power company AGL and finance group Macquarie Capital come in. The company's would also apparently scatter about 150 battery switch stations throughout each city, and drivers would have to sign up for cellphone-like contracts to make use of the network. As lofty a goal as that may seem, the companies seem fairly confident that they'll be able to pull it off, and that the charging stations could be in place as soon as 2012 -- after which, they hope, folks will finally start buying electric vehicles en masse.Read - AFP, "Australia plans electric vehicle network"Read - AP, "Sparse plug-ins for electric cars spark creativity"[Via Daily Tech, image courtesy Better Place]
Oncore Power wants to charge every MacBook battery all of the time
If you find yourself burning through your MacBook or iBook batteries at an alarming rate, perhaps you require a charging solution that's, shall we say... more robust. That's where Oncore Power's psychotic 6-bay charging station comes into play. Never again will you have to suffer the indignation of a powerless laptop with the company's all-in-one solution to charge every brick in your arsenal at once. The device will juice up three batteries at once, letting you stagger the two bays of three slots so you're always one stylish wrist snap away from sweet, sweet power. Sure, it costs $395 (and presumably more for the version with included batteries), but you can't put a price on peace of mind, can you? Oh, wait. You can. It's $395.[Via Macworld]
Penguin United offers its own quad Wiimote charging station
Two 4x Wiimote charging stations in a week? Um, okay. If, for whatever reason, the Nintendo-licensed charger we saw just days ago wasn't right for you (read: too expensive to import), we've got yet another option for you to consider. Penguin United -- which gets brownie points on name alone -- has just unveiled the Quad Charge Station for Wii, which utilizes Li-ion batteries that promise 13 full hours of playtime from each Wiimote. Additionally, it can juice up your controllers in just 4 hours, and there's even LEDs to inform you of how close to full each one is. The real kicker? The colored Wiimote straps that PU tosses in -- huzzah! Include one in your next party for $44.99.[Via IGN]
Samsung brings mobile charging stations to MSP airport
Not that charging stations are a total rarity at airports, but Samsung is giving a nod to the little guy by adding a new fleet of 'em at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Unlike some alternatives, Sammy's stations deliver juice to cellphones, laptops and all manners of other gadgets gratis, which -- let's be honest -- is exactly how it should be. 22 new stations will be installed at MSP and ready for use prior to July 4th, so feel free to drain your lappie right on down prior to landing / connecting in the great state of Minnesota.[Image courtesy of Really Sarah Syndication]
blueLounge's The Sanctuary keeps your gadgets encased, charged
We'll be honest -- we weren't exactly feeling blueLounge's grossly overpriced SpaceStation, but its boldly-named The Sanctuary actually strikes us as quite useful. The gadget organizer allows technophiles to stuff their handhelds into this black or white container for easy carriage / storage, and moreover, it includes a built-in panel of labeled plugs in order to connect all your gizmos to power at once. The unit comes with a dozen connectors for the most popular items around, but since it's universal, your options are bordering on limitless. Heck, there's even a USB port thrown in to charge any oddball device you may have laying around. Yeah, $129.95 is still a touch steep, but for the avid traveler who can never find room for 12 or so AC adapters in that carry-on bag, it's probably well worth the cost.[Via iLounge] %Gallery-20427%
Gomadic QuadCharge reviewed, better than sliced bread
Every so often you get to play with a device you haven't used before and suddenly wonder how you ever got by before you had one. The QuadCharge from Gomadic is such a creature and after our extended play date with it -- by play, of course we mean left in place charging stuff -- we can't live without. Click on through the continue link for our thoughts and more pics.%Gallery-9944%
Pelican intros Controller Charging Station for PlayStation 3
Nyko's SIXAXIS charging dock may serve the same purpose as Pelican's forthcoming device, but we'll give the sexy award to the latter. The Controller Charging Station for PlayStation 3 boasts a very unique, if not admirable design that holds two SIXAXIS controllers above ground and juices 'em up through the exposed mini USB plugs. Additionally, the base of the unit is home to two full sized USB ports (shown after the jump), so there's always the option of charging up four PS3 controllers at once should you choose. The price? $29.99 when it lands in just a few weeks.
A budget remote cradle that doesn't suck
We've had some laughs over Dragon Electronics' ill-conceived accessories in the past, but the Chinese manufacturer really seemed to hit all the right notes with its latest charging dock. Taking more into account than just bundling battery covers and rechargeable AAA batteries, the cradle has every feature we're looking for in a budget solution -- USB adapter, unobtrusive design, room to charge two controllers simultaneously, and LED status indicators.Play-Asia has the charging station listed for $14.90 ($6.70 s/h), while eBay auctions have it priced a few dollars higher. To compare, Nyko's dock sells for about $30. Check past the post break for the full fact sheet.
Brando offering the old Wiimote dock / battery combo on the cheap
If there's one thing the world can't have enough of, it's certainly food compassion iPod peripherals Wiimote dock-cum-charging-stations (battery usually included). We've already seen these hot products range from $25 for Thrustmaster's T-Charge NW to $30 for Nyko's Wii Charge Station to $39 for JoyTech's Wii PowerStation, so the $17 Brando's asking for its no frills Wii Charger Stand should come as good news to the cheap gamer in all of us. Other than the low price, however, not much stands here: you get an extra battery -- unlike the Joytech and Nyko models, which each give you two additional packs plus two slots for charging -- and cradle which glows a shade of red that's sure to drive you mad. So if you're short on cash or do most of your gaming solo -- hey, nothing wrong with that -- this could be the dock / battery combo that you've been pining for.
