There are 23 of these “Quickcharge kiosks” in City Convenience stores throughout the Sydney CBD. That there is a 19-inch LCD screen, and its 10-minute “rapid charge” claims to be 50 per cent faster than regular chargers. Two bucks for 10 minutes. Pop-tart temptation included.
Josh
Friday, October 29, 2010 at 12:16 PMI can’t seem to think why it would be nesserary to have a 19″ LCD built into the damn thing. Surely that would be a bit of a waste?
Gary Lim
Friday, October 29, 2010 at 12:26 PMIt makes the machine more appealing..
I’m more concerned about spending 10 minutes loitering in a convenience store waiting for the bloody thing to charge..
ruffles
Friday, October 29, 2010 at 12:35 PMFrankly, I’m more interested in which convenience store that is. Do you know how badly I need pop tarts right now?
Seamus Byrne
Friday, October 29, 2010 at 1:21 PMIt’s under Martin Place in Sydney, in the section near the McDonalds and the Wrapz fast food outlets.
Essex
Friday, October 29, 2010 at 2:55 PMI wish it was in Melbourne
Its so hard to find Pop Tarts!
Ben
Friday, October 29, 2010 at 12:49 PMThey have had these at the University of Technology, Sydney for months now.
Yet to see anybody actually use them however, not too sure people enjoy leaving their phone in the open for 10 minutes
Jo
Friday, October 29, 2010 at 1:05 PMI want to see what happens if you plug a pop-tart in…
David Wyndham
Friday, October 29, 2010 at 1:10 PMThere was one of those at La Trobe University about 5 years back.
dan
Friday, October 29, 2010 at 1:12 PMhow do they charge your phone extra-fast??
and why can’t i get an extra-fast phone charger for home/work/etc??
matt
Friday, October 29, 2010 at 2:05 PMThey pump two or three times as much current into the phone as a standard charger. You can sometimes buy these fast chargers at an electronics store. They are bad for batteries though (can shorten it’s useful lifespan).
Drew
Friday, October 29, 2010 at 1:21 PMWouldn’t the input on a phone have a certain limit for electricity, for the current to flow through?
Why would this be any faster than a regular charger, that’s what I want to know!
Seamus Byrne
Friday, October 29, 2010 at 1:25 PMI’ve probably got my wires crossed on this, but I believe a lot of devices have a fast charge mode that is triggered through the attachment. It isn’t necessarily appropriate for daily charging, so it isn’t the ‘default’, but a rapid charge can be triggered. Someone out there probably knows this hardware trickery a lot better than I…
Ads
Friday, October 29, 2010 at 2:39 PMI’m pretty sure it is just the same voltage, but with a higher current rating. Like how USB is limited to 500mA, but a USB cord plugged in to an AC transformer can get more (i was looking at a 700mA one yesterday, so the phone can “suck” more down faster (in this case, 700 being 40% faster than 500) but yes, there is also a limit, but as it is with the amps, all it means is wasted potential as it is up to the device to “suck” the amps, where as the charger “throws” the volts (this is why too many volts = bang and too many amps = nothing but a faster charge if the device can suck more)
i hope that makes sense..
Anthony Tam
Friday, October 29, 2010 at 2:05 PMIm more interested in the pop tarts. Havent seen them in years and years!!
And yes what if multiple people used this? Will you see a group of people loitering around the machine for 10 minutes at a time? Awkward to say the least.
Terry O'Fee
Friday, October 29, 2010 at 2:15 PMI also think it’s rather bad for the internal battery as well. Wears it out much more quickly.
My mophie pack works just fine and dandy :P
Matt
Friday, October 29, 2010 at 2:17 PMI love pop tarts!
plw
Friday, October 29, 2010 at 2:26 PMI used one of these in the Singapore airport about a year ago. Its a normal charging outlet, but its free. The way it works is that you put your phone in a “locker” (the charger cable is inside) and you lock it and take the key and you’re free to do whatever you want.
I think that’s a better system :D
Matt
Friday, October 29, 2010 at 2:52 PMThey have these all over the place in Japan – one of the benefits of each of Japan’s carriers having identical charging adapters regardless of mdoel. Only difference is each machine can only take 3-4 phones in individual phone lockable case. You enter a pin number when you lock your phone in, and need the pin number to open it back up to get your phone. Great when you’re out on the drink in the middle of the night and your phone has died.
Kalem
Friday, October 29, 2010 at 3:42 PMThere is a Civic Video here in Darwin that “imports” poptarts from America. They sell a box of 4 packs for $15. I caved in though. Haven’t had a poptart since I was about 8.
Beau Dacious
Friday, October 29, 2010 at 9:06 PMi love how the conversation is about poptarts.
but i don’t see the point in paying for charging when JB hifi has ipod docks plugged in all over the place.
Gregory Opera
Friday, October 29, 2010 at 9:15 PMThere’s a place in Melbourne city that has one of these (well they did the last time I was down there at least)… A phone store either opposite T-Life or opposite Big W (can’t remember which).
And for all those asking about the Pop Tarts, USA Foods (http://www.usafoods.com.au) sells them, both online and in physical stores around the country… Until only a few months ago, Woolworths sold Pop Tarts, but as far as I know, USA Foods is the only major local store selling them these days.
Dennis
Friday, October 29, 2010 at 9:17 PMI’ve seen a similar charging station at the Seoul Incheon International Airport 8 years ago.
Nathan Holmes
Friday, October 29, 2010 at 9:36 PMFor those wanting pop-tarts (sorry, irrelevant to article) just visit a few supermarkets and request directly to the managers for them to stock pop-tarts.
Atleast one of them should follow through with it.
They are expensive yes, but certainly worth it.
Andrew
Saturday, October 30, 2010 at 9:29 AMRobina Town Center in Queensland also has one . . . haven’t tried it though
Daryl
Friday, August 19, 2011 at 9:39 AMI dimly recall that a charger charges at a higher rate until the device warms up and the current is reduced to a trickle.
That’s why my phone might charge to 80% in 30 mins and take over an hour to reach 100%
Basically you can recharge quicker but then the battery starts to heat up. so for many phone charger combinations theres a thermal balancing act.