What they had to show there was quite interesting, though. They showed us their standard array of Powermat cases which let you charge your phone simply by placing it on the special Powermat surface. It works nicely on BlackBerry models, where you can simply replace the back cover with a Powermat-enabled one, but somewhat clumsy on the iPhone 4 which requires a case whose design we didn’t particularly like, but Powermat plans to introduce colored versions soon, which will hopefully improve the visual impression. The iPhone 4 bundle, which includes the case and the receiver, will set you back $59.99.
The chargi ng process takes about the same amount of time as standard charging, and doesn’t hurt the battery in any way; actually, it might even save its life thanks to Powermat’s technology that makes sure the mat delivers the “exact amount of power needed.”
The company, we were told, plans to expand from the U.S. and the UK to many other European countries this year, and of course, they plan to launch Powermat cases for many of the new devices presented at the MWC this year.
The most interesting bit is probably Powermat’s plan to integrate its wireless charging technology into many objects in your everyday life, such as airplane seats or a desk lamp.
Also, Powermat claims it has a deal with General Motors to integrate the charger into the Chevy Volt (or Opel Ampera, if you’re in Europe). We’ve seen the prototype and it looks really nifty, as it’s basically the same storage compartment between the seats, only with Powe rmat’s charging...
