Itsme

Taking Charge at 35,000 Feet

IN THE WHAT-WILL-THEY-THINK-OF-NEXT DEPARTMENT, someone has figured out a way to pull power from the standard 1/8-inch headphone jack found in most commercial aircraft today and use it to charge pretty much anything from a Blackberry handheld to an iPod. The InFlight Power USB works by trickle charging an adapter and then passing the built-up charge to the attached device before repeating the three- to five-minute cycle. The standard USB version costs about $35 and can charge any USB-chargeable device. Have a cell phone that needs charging, too? Plug in one of the numerous adapters. The InFlight USB charger comes bundled for iPods or Blackberries for about $45, or with an adapter of your choosing for $55. Additional adapters will run you about $7 each. There are solutions for more than 700 devices. Visit www.inflightpower.com, for more information.

gear02

I don't mean to thread crap on your thread...

This is a really creative product. I'm impressed, but I have to wonder how long it takes to trickle charge an ipod. I figure it's a zero sum game so it prevents an ipod from losing any battery power during the flight.

Maarchk

But isn't that worth it? If you have a 10 hour flight to japan, wouldn't you want your ipod to last the whole way? Or if you get on a plane across the us and your phone is dead, and you "need" to be making calls as soon as the plane is taxiing into your hangar, you could have a fully charged phone?
Its not very helpful if you are at home and your charger will plug in and have the job done in minutes, but i think if you travel a lot or just forget to charge your stuff, then you might as well make use of the time and "free energy" floating aroudn your plane.

just a thought. I"m sure someone will want it.

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cheapie

absolutely! there's no way a video ipod would even make it across the country and this would be awesome to have.

guiseppewv

I wonder if this would damage your battery by charging it in little "spurts". I know a nicad battery would not like this.

InfiniteNothing

Based on this chart: http://www.apple.com/batteries/ It looks like a full charge needs about 11.2 Wh (0.75 A * 3.5V * 4.25 h). Assuming a draw of 0.1 W from the airplane headphone jack, you're looking at 112 hour full charge time, or a 90 hr quick charge.

Maarchk

Holy crap thats a long time...
"umm stewardess, can we run a few laps around the runway, i'm still charging my stuff. "

gwilks98

The main reason I don't use my car cigarette lighter for power on equipment is because the system has spikes all the time that can damage your equipment. (Or so I've read.)

I would be REALLY timid about plugging into a jack meant for headphones. I would think a headset is generally simpler and can handle more of a shock than an ipod. Since it's not the power company, your going to be victim to whatever the plane can provide.

To me, a 90 hr trickle charge just isn't worth it.

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InfiniteNothing

Grid power is actually pretty noisy too. You're best off with a high quality transformer then the source doesn't matter much.

gwilks98

Moreso than a car running several functions off a battery/alternator setup? I couldn't imagine a plane could be much different.

Devhux

I can vouch for the power spikes from an inverter setup -- I had an iRiver CD/MP3 player that kept shutting off due to power fluctuations when plugged into an inverter for a car (it would power down if you remove the plug normally -- but when plugged into the inverter, it would shut off randomly as well.

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