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June 23, 2009 10:29 AM PDT

A wireless charge for your iPhone

by Kent German

The WildCharger is one of those products that creates a problem that you didn't know you had. Though the product is certainly innovative and it succeeds at charging your cell phone without a wired connection, we never really thought that we needed to do so. What's more, unless you're charging more than one handset at a time, we don't consider it a practical purchase.

Yet, WildCharge (the device's manufacturer) continues to surprise us. In April, it greatly expanded its list of supported phones beyond the now ancient Motorola Razr V3. And on Tuesday, the company expanded that list even more when it announced a charging "skin" for the iPhone.

The skins, which will be available in July, are $34.99 each. You'll also need to buy the WildCharger pad ($49.99), but if you ever wanted a cell phone charger with "wow" factor, you can't go wrong.

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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Add a Comment (Log in or register) (9 Comments)
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by Remo_Williams June 23, 2009 11:03 AM PDT
So after two-three years of selling these, who do you know that has one?

Yep, see?

--#
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by project10 June 23, 2009 6:35 PM PDT
...one of those products that "solves" a problem you didn't know you had.
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by iakhtar June 24, 2009 6:53 AM PDT
I think Kent's right. If you're only charging one device at a time, then this is a bit unnecessary.

However, if you've got a Logitech remote, a phone, video game controllers, or other rechargeable devices, having one place to charge different things just by placing them on a mat seems better than plugging in each one and having lots of cables hanging off an end table.
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by BenFlavoredCandy June 25, 2009 7:55 AM PDT
What's that charging pad doing when there is nothing on it? Creating a useless magnetic field? As cool as the idea of wireless charging is, it is ridiculously inefficient. Since I know the response is coming, yes I do unplug my charger when I'm not using it.
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by bdoyle87 June 25, 2009 9:54 AM PDT
According to the website... ROHS and CEC Efficiency Level IV compliance for low environmental impact. Whatever that means.
by bdoyle87 June 25, 2009 9:50 AM PDT
The pad is only 49.99 actually, the bundle packs with the skin and pad are 79.99
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by zhakidd532 June 25, 2009 11:09 AM PDT
It would be cool to have I guess. But it's not like it doesn't have to sit touching something to charge anyway. What's the difference between this and having it actually plugged in? If I had it for free or something I'd use it, but 0 point to buying it in my opinion.
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by bdoyle87 June 25, 2009 11:54 AM PDT
I dunno I think if I had the money for it and several devices that work with it then it would be nice to have just one charger pluged in and then you just lay all your devices on it.
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by JacksonHarry July 20, 2009 10:28 AM PDT
Hi,Nice effort.But device price too high.People will hesitate to buy it.Best USA <a href="http://www.oneworldgift.com/">Nokia Cellphones</a> shop.Thanks
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