Tech Phone

You know how it goes when you switch from one handset maker to the other one? Your old cables are useless with the new phone. Handset makers know that but they don't seem to care much. No more!

At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the GSMA along with 17 leading mobile operators and manufacturers committed to implement a cross-industry standard for a universal charger for new mobile phones. The idea is to adopt a common format for mobile phone charger connections as well as energy-efficient chargers, to reduce up to 50% in standby energy consumption and make life easier for the mobile phone users, as the some time. In other words, the move could eliminate up to 51,000 tonnes of duplicate chargers!

As for the timeline, the group has set an ambitious target that by 2012 a universal charging solution (UCS) will be widely available in the market worldwide and will use Micro-USB as the common universal charging interface. Moreover, it has been agreed that by the January 1st, 2012, the majority of all new mobile phone models available will support a universal charging connector and the majority of chargers shipped will meet the high efficiency targets set out by the Open Mobile Terminal Platform (OMTP).

The initial group of companies who have joined the GSMA's UCS initiative include 3 Group, AT&T (NYSE: T), KTF, LG, mobilkom austria, Motorola (NYSE: MOT), Nokia (NYSE: NOK), Orange, Qualcomm (NSDQ: QCOM), Samsung, Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE), Telecom Italia, Telefónica, Telenor, Telstra, T-Mobile and Vodafone.

We received an email here at IntoMobile not so long ago from the folks at USBFever. Looks like they have a new 3-in-1 external rechargeable battery for the iPhone 3G. While I don't know too much about it yet (of course, haven't had a hands-on with it), it does look pretty solid. Check out the video above for a demonstration.

The unit integrates nicely with your iPhone 3G. There are 3 pieces to it, a 'base shell', a 'top shell', and the actual rechargeable battery. When you put the whole package together, it fits around your iPhone 3G so nicely, it acts almost like a protective shell. Kinda cool.

Unlike other external batteries for the iPhone 3G, this one lets you sync with your Mac or PC while the external battery is in use. The whole unit also fits very snugly to the device… Looks to have a fairly solid fit and finish from what I can tell.

At the very least I thought this was an interesting one for a Thursday morning. Enjoy a few more images below, and full specs are after the jump >

iPhone 3G 3-in-1 External Rechargeable Battery:

Features:

• Provide extra battery life for iPhone 3G
• Access to all ports of your iPhone 3G
• As a protective case to your iPhone 3G
• Perfect integration, almost no seams, no longer bulky
• To Sync with your PC / Mac even when the battery is on
• No need to take off the battery even you need to Sync your iPhone 3G
• To control when to sync and when to charge
• Sleek surface
• LED Power Indicator

Specifications:

• Input Voltage: DC 5V
• Output Voltage DC5V
• Output Current 700mA
• Battery Voltage / Capacity 3.7V / 1900mAh
• Product Size: 128×66x20mm

For more info visit USBFever.com.

I arrived at Powermat's booth at CES 2009 with a feeling of curiosity. All I found was a large blocked-off room and security as tight as the hottest clubs in Vegas. What was so important, I wondered, that would make Powermat feel so cocky about their product? Most booths at CES were completely open and had nothing to hide.

Later I discovered that Powermat just preferred to show off their new technology a few people at a time, without a crowd of eager tech press fighting their way in closer to the presentation.

Many members of the press who had an appointment were let in, and I patiently waited my turn. To be honest, it was worth the wait. Powermat is the latest offering in the field of wireless charging, and is the most convincing I've seen thus far.

Powermat showed off several different methods of utilizing their wireless charging — the most popular was a pad large enough to fit 3 devices on; one device was a Blackberry, which sported a case with the technology built-in, another was a place to charge batteries, and finally an iPod docking station that was placed on the pad wirelessly to charge the device.

The blue lights you see on the front show that each device is being charged. I was impressed that the Powermat instinctively knows when your device has been fully charged and will automatically stop charging.

On this particular pad I found devices you would typically see on the endtable next to your bed; phone, bluetooth, and alarm clock, all being charged wirelessly as you sleep. In the middle you notice a Plantronics Bluetooth earpiece being charged up courtesy of a circular device — that device is capable of sporting several different types of tips, for any type of electronic device that just simply won't fit on the pad.

Not pictured, I also noticed a travel pad which was easy to fold up into a small package, perfect for suitcases; I also saw a pad that charged a laptop as well as a phone.

Powermat plans on mass producing and selling these products sometime Fall 2009.

Sarah at the Powermat booth was nice enough to take me into a separate room which showed the company's newest innovation; a home complete with tables, desks, and walls with the wireless charging built-in. She showed me picture frames lighting up the paintings without any wires; same with TVs mounted on the wall. She demonstrated a wireless mixer working on the countertop.

She also took other wireless kitchen appliances and dropped them in water — and they still worked.

Needless to say, this technology will take a while to become popular. It is mainly between Powermat and various furniture/countertop manufacturers to agree on getting the tech built in. But we are anxious to see what comes out this fall. Keep a close eye on Powermat. They will continue to keep me curious.

The Battech Solar iPower Charger launched today with a veritable armoury of connectors, allowing you to charge just about any mobile device out there. The only other solar charger I had so much as glanced at was the Solio, but renewable chargers are very handy accessories to have, even if they just sit in your glove box for those emergency situations. One little projectI was always wondering about was a wind charger that was being developed for Orange - very cool idea, but I don’t think it ever saw the light of day.
Battech Solar iPower SX Specifications:
Size: 98 x 60 x 16mm
Weight: 75g
3.7v (2,200 mAh) Lithium Ion battery
5.5v (80 mAh) Solar Panel
5v (500mAh) USB Charging cable
Can provide standby times of: 100hrs on mobiles; 52hrs on PDA, 50hrs on iPods, 6hrs on MP3/4s, and 5.5hrs on game consoles.
Long standby time of month

You’ll be able to grab this for £39.99, or $US 60, but probably not shipping in time for Christmas.

In an attempt to reduce the energy waste in the UK, O2 has just launched a new energy efficient mobile phone charger that works with most of the handsets currently on the market.

Named O2 Universal Charger, the new product is approximately twice more efficient than a regular mobile phone charger, cutting up to 70% of the wasted energy.  

The charger meets the energy efficient guidelines of the US Energy Star rating and features a power control system.

The O2 Universal Charger is the first product of this kind released by a UK mobile carrier. It can be purchased as of now, from all of O2's UK stores, for £14.99. When bought together with a new handset, the Universal Charger costs only £7.49 (offering available until December 31, 2008), while separate connection cables are sold for £4.99.   

O2 says that about £30 million are wasted every year in the UK because of the improper use of cell phone chargers, so its new Universal Charger might save quite a lot of money, provided that most of the mobile consumers will use it.

I'm sure this is a very useful tools for you. Featuring a solar panel, our new device will allow you to charge any kinds of mobile devices like PSP, iPod, mp3 player, or your mobile phone. It delivers an output of DC5.0-5.5V/600mA, and comes with a battery of 1,350mAh. Here some time estimation for the charging process 3.5 hours to charge via an AC Adaptor, 5Hours via USB, and 15Hours via Solar panel. It comes with seven different colors : black, white, silver, red, pink, blue, green. No information about the price yet.