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Microsoft building a smarter charging pad

Posted by Sumocat | 02/22/2010 | 0 Comments

Word trickling out of Engadget is that Microsoft Asia is busy working on a smarter inductive charging pad. Out of blog, I’m Just Being Manan, a patent for the technology was revealed. Later, reader jihuiwen did them one better and shared photos of the actual prototype on his Flickr account.

The device, called a uPad by jihuiwen, is equipped with sensors to detect when and where a device is placed on it, as well as an accelerometer to determine which side is up. Charging is wireless via induction, and the pad is connected to the Internet so it can fetch data, such as news and/or weather, to display on its OLED display.

Though the prototype seems little more than a fancy charging mousepad, I see greater potential here for smart devices. Perhaps, if it ever comes to market, they could work in some means of displaying information about smart device(s) placed upon it and maybe the ability to share/sync between multiple devices placed on it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/huiwen_ji/ / CC BY-NC 2.0

Tags: inductive charging, Microsoft, uPad

Category: Accessories

About the Author (Author Profile)

My name is Mark Sumimoto; I am Sumocat. I dabble in all areas of mobile computing, but my focus is Windows-based Tablet PCs and pen input. They’ve been part of my arsenal since 2004, and I’m proud to have pioneered the field of ink blogging, earning a spot as a Microsoft MVP for Touch and Tablets in the process. My current tools include a Fujitsu Lifebook T900, TEGA v2, and iPhone 4. Email me: sumocat [at] notebooks.com

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