Powermat is advertising a lot lately. Engadget has a good rundown on their wireless chargers, here. They’ve put a big ad spread in the latest Wired Magazine, also. Plug a small device in the back of your cellphone, and then when you throw the device on the Powermat, it charges up, automatically, as Engadget says:
If you don’t recall the details, the Powermat is a one pad, one plug system designed to charge all your gadgets in one place — refreshing! Your phone or DS or whatever you want to charge will need a Powermat Receiver sleeve, enabling it to lock onto the mat and charge in the amount of time it takes to charge up traditionally. At $99.99 (plus around $40 per receiver), it’s not the cheapest charging method
From an environmental perspective, these things are a big waste, however. Wireless transmission of power is far less efficient than using a wired connection.
There’s a better idea: standardize batteries and connectors from AC transformers to them. Then we’d only need a single charger for everything.