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dafman

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#166246 7-Mar-2015 12:22
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Just back from a few days in Brisbane. Frustratingly, the newly refurbished hotel had no accessible powerpoints in the main bedroom, forcing me to charge my phone and tablet in the kitchen ... grrr!

When are we going to see hotels with USB ports built into bedside cabinets? Two on each side would be nice!

Come to think of it ...

When are cafes going to start offering built in USB ports at tables? Or even built in Apple and micro USB charging cords? Especially now newer phones have quick charge capability (the upcoming S6 comes to mind). Surely there is competitive advantage to do so - 20 min phone charge with your coffee?

When are airport lounges going to start offering easy access USB ports for waiting travelling. In the airport lounge this week, nearly every single traveller was on a phone or tablet. Not a USB port in sight (and limited power points).

We now live in a world where everyone is tethered to their phone or tablet, yet this is something most service providers have yet to wake up to?

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knoydart
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  #1252649 7-Mar-2015 12:26
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Melbourne airport already has USB sockets available for charging your devices (and to download all those viruses too). So remember to use a USB data stopper to prevent virus / malware attacks when using publicly available sockets



roobarb
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  #1252655 7-Mar-2015 12:43
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>> When are cafes going to start offering built in USB ports at tables?

Hopefully never. A table is a simple arrangement of a board and some legs. It can be relocated anywhere with minimal training and with little prior planning.

It is also very resilient, you can pour liquids all over it, knock it over, and with little or no equipment restore it to its prior functioning state.

Once you start adding power requirements you change all those dynamics.

So lets get back to basics, it's a cafe, it's a table. It's not their problem.


Sideface
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  #1252659 7-Mar-2015 12:52
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You need one of these ...





Sideface




dafman

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  #1252660 7-Mar-2015 12:52
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roobarb: >> When are cafes going to start offering built in USB ports at tables?

Hopefully never. A table is a simple arrangement of a board and some legs. It can be relocated anywhere with minimal training and with little prior planning.

It is also very resilient, you can pour liquids all over it, knock it over, and with little or no equipment restore it to its prior functioning state.

Once to start adding power requirements you change all those dynamics.

So lets get back to basics, it's a cafe, it's a table. It's not their problem.



If the competition start providing them, it might become their problem? I'd certainly give preference for my dollar to a cafe with a charging option over one without.

Maybe not easy for moveable tables in the middle of the floor, but many cafes have fixed tables against walls. It's just a matter of thinking laterally?

MikeB4
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  #1252673 7-Mar-2015 13:05
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Christchurch has USB charge banks in the pop mall

  #1252674 7-Mar-2015 13:09
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i think you need to invest in something like this: http://www.pbtech.co.nz/index.php?z=p&p=BAPAPA1120

if you are having issues with your device being low on power all the time, or make sure its charged every night, or buy a new device whos battery isnt shot.

i understand the whole hotel thing though, ive been to a few older hotels and some of them are a PITA to plug your device into the power point

scottjpalmer
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  #1252708 7-Mar-2015 14:08
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Mojo in the Spark building in Wellington have power points in their tables. USB would be nice but have to carry wall plug just in case anyway so might as well have 3 pin which can do laptops etc as well.

 
 
 

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Rikkitic
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  #1252785 7-Mar-2015 15:33
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Very soon wireless charging will be standard and this will be redundant.

 





Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

 


 


Wade
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  #1252791 7-Mar-2015 15:52
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Rikkitic: Very soon wireless charging will be standard and this will be redundant.


Wireless charging has been around for at least a couple of years now and has not managed any form of saturation, its little more than a novelty to most. I remember reading something speculating that it will never take off until such time as Apple jump on board, and even then knowing Apple's penchant for proprietary equipment it wont necessarily provide a solution to the rest of us

I solved any potential charging issues by buying a 11,000mA battery pack, is big and ugly but damn effective and everywhere i want it to be



Niel
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  #1252792 7-Mar-2015 15:54
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Apple does not comply with the USB charging standard, actually the latest iPad needs so much power that it will discharge when plugged into a high power non-MFi USB charger.  So this means 2 sockets are required for different devices.

There are very few quality USB sockets that will last.  The only ones I know of is IP67 rated and requires mounting to a metal plate.  It does restrict options a lot.

Add to that that USB A sockets are rated for only about 1000 to 1500 insertions.

Ikea has now chosen Qi as the wireless charging standard for their furniture.  AFAIK that means iPhones will not work with it.  This will change the game for hotels etc.




You can never have enough Volvos!


sbiddle
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  #1252887 7-Mar-2015 19:01
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USB ports are a waste of time - because there aren't any major suppliers making these that are "smart" ports capable of charging devices at full speed.

Airlines etc with these on their Panasonic IFE (such as Air NZ) are worthless as they only charge devices at 450mA, even if you have a fast charge adapter to join the data pins.

If at some point in the future manufactures start producing USB wall plates that have smart charging built in the idea will be a good one, but right now there is no point in anybody deploying them because they're all junk.


richms
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  #1252934 7-Mar-2015 20:14
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Most "smart charging" chips seem to just target the ipad as their only device for fast charge.

I would rather have the qualcom quickcharge. I think the s6 is compatible with it, its certainly got some form of fast charge support because they were going on and on about it. Much needed.





Richard rich.ms

LennonNZ
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  #1253008 7-Mar-2015 21:12
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Airlines etc with these on their Panasonic IFE (such as Air NZ) are worthless as they only charge devices at 450mA, even if you have a fast charge adapter to join the data pins.


I found this when going over to LAX a couple of years ago.. iPAD would not charge at all on the business class USB Power (It no different than anyone else's USB Power)
. I had to plug 240V Adapter into Full Power Socket on Plane and thenUSB into that (and then it worked). Not very efficient power wise.. but why cannot they just supply better USB ports :-(



Niel
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  #1253036 7-Mar-2015 21:40
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LennonNZ:
 
Airlines etc with these on their Panasonic IFE (such as Air NZ) are worthless as they only charge devices at 450mA, even if you have a fast charge adapter to join the data pins.


I found this when going over to LAX a couple of years ago.. iPAD would not charge at all on the business class USB Power (It no different than anyone else's USB Power)
. I had to plug 240V Adapter into Full Power Socket on Plane and thenUSB into that (and then it worked). Not very efficient power wise.. but why cannot they just supply better USB ports :-(



But even if they do provide a high power USB charging port, then the iPad will still discharge as it does not follow the charging standard.  The USB charging standard is for the data lines to be shorted together, where as the Apple standard is for a resistor divider on the data lines.

Remember it takes a long time to get electronics approved for aviation use, the 450mA ports were high spec when they started designing it for the airlines.  Also, the 5V ports they provide already come from a power supply similar to your phone power adapter so you can just as well charge off your power adapter and then the airline does not have to be concerned over ever changing standards.




You can never have enough Volvos!


MadEngineer
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  #1253061 7-Mar-2015 22:11
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When charging my iPhone at home it has one of those portable chargers in between the wall and the phone.  They're so damn handy I even use it for charging at home anywhere in the house so I'm not always having to tether it to a power point.  Great for travel where you can have your phone charging in your backpack.  Many will charge even the latest phones more than twice over.

Lack of power outlets is a PITA in hotels.  Be sure to submit such an experience to your favourite review site.




You're not on Atlantis anymore, Duncan Idaho.

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