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April 3, 2008 8:26 PM PDT

Charge your cell phone for $3

by Kent German

Juice for your cell phone at the Las Vegas airport.

(Credit: Kent German/CNET Networks)

While waiting at Las Vegas' McCarran airport for my flight home to San Francisco, I spotted one of the most interesting things I've seen during my CTIA trip. Sitting between a water fountain and the restrooms was a nifty cell phone charging stand. For $3, it delivers 30 minutes of charging time, which can be just enough juice if your phone is dying but you left your charger in your checked luggage. The machine included connectors for 12 types cell phones, including Kyocera, Samsung, Nokia, Palm Treo, RIM BlackBerry, LG, and Nokia. It also had connectors for iPods and the iPhone. Though I didn't test the charging station, there was one thing about it that struck me as troublesome. Unless you want to risk your phone being stolen, you'd have to stay next to the machine while it's charging your phone. Who wants to sit outside the bathroom for a half hour?

Kent German is a senior editor for cell phone reviews at CNET. When he's not testing the newest handsets on the market, he's blogging about cell phone news for Crave. In his On Call column, he answers reader questions and gives his take on the rapidly changing mobile industry. E-mail Kent.
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by marsman12019 April 3, 2008 8:48 PM PDT
They have had one of these in the Albany, NY airport for at least a couple months now...
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by raggi April 7, 2008 3:22 AM PDT
There are stands in Iceland that look like small postboxes. You can lock the phone inside while it charges. Seems to me to be far more functional and better designed than the one on the picture.
If you don't have change, you can buy a charge with sms message.
http://www.chargebox.is/ens/index.html
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by boston2008 April 7, 2008 6:26 PM PDT
What a joke - I see these in many many Airports in Asian countries for free.
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