Fresh from CES 2010: PowerMat for Droid

[Slick86]

Hey Everyone,

Today was a very exciting day for Droid users at CES. At the PowerMat Booth, I got a chance to get inside and learn about all of the new technology that PowerMat has been Developing. Before now, if a cell phone user wanted inductive charge, you either needed the goofy adapter or you had to put the bulky case on your phone. Now, thanks to PowerMat, this is no longer needed. PowerMat has unveiled a new inductive charging system for the Droid!

This sytem replaces the battery and back cover of the phone with their special battery and inductive charging system. The new cover contains the RFID tag that PowerMat uses to tell the charger to stop when the battery is full and has connectors that align to a special set of connectors on the battery.

Being that this is a magnetic based charging system, I did ask if this would interfere with the dock features of the Droid but they were unable to answer at this time.

Another cool feature was the powermat car charger. It plugs into the cigarette lighter and you set your phone into it. This automatically charges the phone for you.

Release date for this is June 2010. You can get it at amazon and also Wal-Mart and Target.

Please feel free to ask any questions and I will answer them if I can

 

[Tegamal]

What's the life on the PowerMat battery? More/Less/Same?

 

[Backnblack]

Me Want!........

 

[Mr Steve]

In the second photo it looks like the battery door increases the thickness of the Droid. If so, you're back to the "It won't fit in the Dock/Car Mount/Case/Skin" problem.

On a desk the charging cradle is easy enough to insert/remove the Droid from and tilts the screen for easy viewing of the clock/temp/etc. which wouldn't be as visible if the Droid was parallel to my desk. And since I've got to run a power cord to the Powermat I might as well just run that cord to my dock.

Now if they made an adapter for the dock and I could mount the Powermat on the underside of my desk (thus getting rid of the wire to the dock) I might be interested based on the price. As it is, I'm happy with the dock and if pricing is in line with other Powermat options I'm really happy with the price of the dock.

 

[Backnblack]

Naked Droid here so no "fit" issues with me. Wife has one for her work iphone and it works well.

 

[MNTNBKR]

I knew the day that I got my phone that it would only be a matter of time before they came out with this exact product. It's just not practical to expect people to wrap a bulky cover over their phone just to charge it.

The only reason I'm really interested in this is for car docking. I hate having to plug in and unplug the charger (and the audio wire in 2 of my 3 vehicles without bluetooth). Hopefully they make a cradle that will just snap onto the ball of the Motorola windshield mount. I hope there's no issue with the magnetic dock mode though.

It would be sweet to simply snap the phone into the car dock and instantly have it charge and stream your audio via bluetooth...no wires to deal with.:icon_ banana:

 

[RolandOG]

Too bad it makes the phone thicker because it won't work with my Innocase. Oh well, it would have been a great solution for me otherwise.

 

[aaf709]

On a desk the charging cradle is easy enough to insert/remove the Droid from and tilts the screen for easy viewing of the clock/temp/etc. which wouldn't be as visible if the Droid was parallel to my desk. And since I've got to run a power cord to the Powermat I might as well just run that cord to my dock.

Now if they made an adapter for the dock and I could mount the Powermat on the underside of my desk (thus getting rid of the wire to the dock) I might be interested based on the price. As it is, I'm happy with the dock and if pricing is in line with other Powermat options I'm really happy with the price of the dock.

Yep. The cost of the Powermat (which I have no room for) is $99 and each adapter runs $30. The dock does the same thing for $30 with less room and has a nice display. Paying at least $129 just to charge a phone doesn't float my boat. Also, like Tegamal, I wonder how good the battery is.

 

[Slick86]

What's the life on the PowerMat battery? More/Less/Same?

They were saying life was supposed to be the same as with the normal battery. the only real change to the battery is the addition of the charging port on the top of it.

Charging time was supposed to be the same or faster than charging throught wire.

 

[Slick86]

In the second photo it looks like the battery door increases the thickness of the Droid. If so, you're back to the "It won't fit in the Dock/Car Mount/Case/Skin" problem.

On a desk the charging cradle is easy enough to insert/remove the Droid from and tilts the screen for easy viewing of the clock/temp/etc. which wouldn't be as visible if the Droid was parallel to my desk. And since I've got to run a power cord to the Powermat I might as well just run that cord to my dock.

Now if they made an adapter for the dock and I could mount the Powermat on the underside of my desk (thus getting rid of the wire to the dock) I might be interested based on the price. As it is, I'm happy with the dock and if pricing is in line with other Powermat options I'm really happy with the price of the dock.

One of their big goals was furniture integration. They are currently talking with manufacturers to begin having this technology integrated. They wanted the traveling consumer to walk into a hotel room, set their phone on the counter and it starts charging. Just one example.

 

[Spartan]

In the second photo it looks like the battery door increases the thickness of the Droid. If so, you're back to the "It won't fit in the Dock/Car Mount/Case/Skin" problem.

On a desk the charging cradle is easy enough to insert/remove the Droid from and tilts the screen for easy viewing of the clock/temp/etc. which wouldn't be as visible if the Droid was parallel to my desk. And since I've got to run a power cord to the Powermat I might as well just run that cord to my dock.

Now if they made an adapter for the dock and I could mount the Powermat on the underside of my desk (thus getting rid of the wire to the dock) I might be interested based on the price. As it is, I'm happy with the dock and if pricing is in line with other Powermat options I'm really happy with the price of the dock.

One of their big goals was furniture integration. They are currently talking with manufacturers to begin having this technology integrated. They wanted the traveling consumer to walk into a hotel room, set their phone on the counter and it starts charging. Just one example.

I like the idea, but would need to work with my Seidio Innocase on as I'm not taking it off everytime to charge.

 

[hutch3837]

Let me tell you why I have been interested in this product. The MOST common failure that causes me to buy a replacement I have in any gadget (cell phone, GPS, or laptop) is the jack where you plug the power into fails. This product would not only be convenient, but would eliminate this problem for me.

 

[Brandon314159]

Let me tell you why I have been interested in this product. The MOST common failure that causes me to buy a replacement I have in any gadget (cell phone, GPS, or laptop) is the jack where you plug the power into fails. This product would not only be convenient, but would eliminate this problem for me.

I was thinking the same thing, although in this case you could always buy it "after" it failed...maybe cheaper then too! haha! No more USB though

 

[Lafond]

Cool idea, but it would be nice if it didn't buldge out. Still an improvement over the other options for wireless charging.

I wonder why they can't make one like the Rocketfish Wii charger where you charge through any case. We have the rubber sleeves on our Wii controllers and it charges just fine and the batteries don't add any bulk to the controller design.

Rocketfish™ - Wii Induction Charger Bundle for Nintendo Wii - RF-GWII052

 

[Slick86]

Cool idea, but it would be nice if it didn't buldge out. Still an improvement over the other options for wireless charging.

I wonder why they can't make one like the Rocketfish Wii charger where you charge through any case. We have the rubber sleeves on our Wii controllers and it charges just fine and the batteries don't add any bulk to the controller design.

Rocketfish™ - Wii Induction Charger Bundle for Nintendo Wii - RF-GWII052

There is a chance it could get smaller before it hits production. The back cover has to be replaced because it is metal and the induction does not work through it. Other phones with plastic cases dont need to replace the back cover.