I have to charge a few things every night. Well, “have to”. I opt to charge things every night so that I never run out of power; most of my things can go days at a time without a fresh charge. And these “things” include my phone (AudioVox SMT5600), my iPod (Apple), my Bluetooth headset (Motorola HS820), and my notebook (IBM ThinkPad T41). Obviously each device has its own charger; not that big a deal in my home, but it’s an ugly mess when travelling. How nice would it be to have a “charging pad” that you could just drop devices on and have them charge? Very nice, and according to SplashPower, it should soon be very possible.

I remain skeptical – as any technologist should be of a product description that includes things like “any device that has [insert hardware/software solution here] in it” and “should be available in [insert year here]” – but it’s nice to dream.