induction charging
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Mojo Mobility's induction charging tech: best thing to happen to discs since Tron
We are absolutely, completely ready for wireless induction charging to make it big. Have you seen our gadget charging station? It's like some Lovecraftian nightmare; our latest intern went over to plug in his BlackBerry two days ago and we haven't seen him since. For years we've been getting teased with limited, proprietary solutions (mostly for sweaty videogame controllers) but we seem to be firmly and disappointingly locked in the competing standards phase. While we hate to see yet another contestant enter the fray, Mojo Mobility Inc. might just have a winner with its Near Field Power technique, relying on thin, inexpensive coiled discs to both send and receive up to 4 watts of power with 70 percent efficiency. Unlike the competition no exposed contacts are required, and while it looks like you'll still need to place the device onto a charging pad, with multiple transmission discs that pad could charge all your gadgets at once. Mojo plans to supply the receiving discs to battery and device manufacturers in the near future, and to that we can only say hurry up. Think of the interns!
AAK's AA induction battery: recharges in a cup?
Well lookie here, induction charging has reared its electromagnetic head in the convenient form of a AA battery. That's right, instead of custom modules fitted to your battery powered devices a la the SplashPad, the AB-001 from AAK Corporation of Japan claims to provide contactless charging to any device sportin' them AAs. The NiMH battery is rated at 1.2-V and takes about 11 hours to fully charge over a lifetime of about 500 charges. Sounds great, right? Now the rub: instead of just setting your camera, toothbrush, penlight or any other AA-powered device near (or on) the charger for a top-up, it appears that you have to remove and then drop these induction AAs into the charger's cup, turning all that contactless charging into nothing more than novelty. While it's all a bit dubious at the moment, our Japanese bureau is on it and we'll holler back atcha later once they get the scoop.[Via Engadget Japan]Update: This just in from our Japanese bureau, you dont have to remove the battery(s) IF you can stuff the device into the small recharge pot, and if the device will not be affected by the presumably strong magnetic field.
