I went to an informal presentation-and-workshop by this company and design outfit called Powerkiss around Helsinki today. You can see its Web site here. The animation is revealing of how the Finns find romance without alcohol... i.e. it takes a long time and in the meanwhile both parties are silent about what they want. But that aside...

It is basically a device to help people charge their portable electronic devices on-the-go, wirelessly. Wireless is good. I find plugging my devices in for charging an effort. Maybe you think that's pretty lame, and actually I do, too. But you know, when you are back from a hard day or you get back pissed drunk at 4 in the morning, remembering to get your gear charged just seems like such a damn chore.

So instead, if you have one of these Powerkisses hanging off your phone, you could plug it in and just dump it on your bedside, or something like that.

It isn't the first wireless charging device, however. There are plenty of others, too, but this one works when the furniture is designed to have the necessary partner equiptment to conduct this business. The innovation is to have an entire tabletop or bedside board converted into a wireless charging plate.

I found it interesting that it's such a simple technology and not new actually. But if it is adopted en mass, it would really change the lives of many people. Laptops have gotten smaller, but a lot of the weight is still contained in the battery and even more in the charger, which is a pain to carry around. Charging your electronic devices is one of those things people generally don't think much about, but it is a chore, and chores are to be minimized or eliminated.