Yesterday, we looked at a grand project which will take years and billions of dollars to be completed. Today, we'll be less ambitious and look at a basic technology that can improve your life now.
Aren't you tired to have as many power adapters as you have electrical devices? Laptops, cell phones, PDAs, cable modems, digital cameras, alarm clocks, you name it, all have their own rechargers.
A new company, MobileWise, claims it has solved this problem.
MobileWise has a clever solution: technology that lets a flat surface (like a desk pad, or maybe even a desk itself) transmit power to little conductive contacts on the bottom of a device (notebook computer, PDA, cell phone, etc.) when it's set down. The power flows right through an exposed grid of contacts via direct current, and yet the recharger never shorts out or presents a danger, because it doesn't turn on until it recognizes a device. (MobileWise dismissed induction and microwave as inefficient and possibly more dangerous.)
Multiple devices with different power requirements can recharge all at once on a single pad (the size can vary): When equipment is placed on the pad (at any angle), it communicates its power requirements through its exposed contacts, and then the pad's hardware sends the right voltage to the right contact points. When a device moves, the pad reconfigures itself instantly.
Here is a picture of this device -- for a larger one, please visit MobileWise's website.
This single pad will -- hopefully -- replace all your rechargers and greatly simplify your life when traveling.
I wish good luck to this startup.
But will it deliver? Rafe Needleman tells us that MobileWise has 15 employees. But the company has one CEO, one President and CTO, 4 Vice Presidents, and even 4 Directors. It seems that the management team could handle more employees than they have.
Source: Rafe Needleman, Business 2.0, ber 10, 2002
6:05:36 PM
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