If you’re sick of plugging your iPhone in at the end of the working day (or during it, if you use abuse Bluetooth tethering like I do), you might be interested in the idea of induction charging. Or you might not. But if you are, Wisepower have launch the raunchily named “Willy Willy” iPhone charger, which uses induction charging through a special case to keep your iPhone juiced up.
Using a rather simple white case that slips comfortably around the body of an iPhone 4 and plugs into the phone’s connector dock at the bottom, the Willy Willy has a USB-powered base plate, that will charge the encased phone when you put on there. Charging is slightly slower than charging via a regular cable method, but it only takes half a second to get started.
The case features a Micro USB on the bottom to let you sync your phone without having to remove the case every time.
Ultimately though, the fact the package only comes with a single base plate makes using the Willy Willy a bit of a disadvantage – I can easily charge my iPhone at home and at work using any number of iPod cables or speaker docks, but with this peripheral I’m restricted to the single charge pad that can only be connected via USB. When the technology advance to the point of desks acting as base plates, then induction charging will surely take off, but until then it seems like overkill to a fairly minor problem.
The device itself hasn’t officially launched in Australia yet, nor has an RRP been set. While that will probably effect whether or not we’d recommend it, if you’re keen on a wireless charging solution for iPhone you probably won’t care too much about price.