I’ve already done away with (nearly) all of the gizmos that won’t take rechargeable batteries, but I’m still left with power bricks and USB cables, and when I’ve looked a charging stations before they’ve tended to be expensive — or perhaps I just assumed they’d be expensive.

Enter the IDAPT i2 and i3 charging stations: two/three port charging stations complete with six popular charging tips.

Twenty-two tips are available, claiming to cover a whopping 3,500 devices, so chances are high that your gadget is covered. If not, and it takes rechargeable batteries, you can charge those as well.

Gadgets can sit neatly on the device even when not being charged, so you don’t really have an excuse for losing your mobile phone or iPod.

For those who get really peeved that many modern devices don’t have an “off” switch (my hand is up) — the IDAPTs do.

The price? Just £20 or £30 (that’s about $30/$45). The six charging tips supplied are iPod/iPhone, microUSB, miniUSB, Nokia 2, Samsung 4 and Sony Ericsson 2.

Oh yeah, you can get them in bright pink, too. Natch.

IDAPT

How annoying is it when you don’t want to charge up your electronic items from your laptop’s USB ports, but you also don’t want a load of bricks sticking out of regular power sockets?

Enter Fastmac’s U-Socket wall outlet. Pictured is a US version, though I’m sure it wouldn’t be hard to install it on international power sockets either.

Yes, it has two USB ports: one on each side of the power sockets. It costs $19.95 and is available to pre-order, though it sounds as if it still needs to pass various regulations, which is just as it should be for power-related products.

Now, two is not nearly enough for my liking, and I think some manufacturer should take things a stage further and provide a nice little ledge on which you could place the gadgets you’re charging. I don’t particularly want to have my iPhone and camera dangling from a wall socket.

Hey, how about integrating it with the home’s Ethernet network and allowing remote syncing of your iPod without having to be near your computer?

Via

A Japanese company is giving us hope though. Eamex says that it has developed new technology that will extend the life of Lithium Ion batteries. Just how much longer will they last? If reports are to be believed, these new batteries can be charged and discharged for more than 10,000 times. Even better, they will last for 20 years. That’s far longer than most gadgets will last the average person!

Just to give us an idea of how the technology works, Eamex says that they have solved the main problem of short battery life: the weakening of the bond between the particles of an essential part of batteries: the tin-coated resin. If this bond is made to be stronger for longer, then batteries will last more than they do today. Again, Eamex claims that it has solved this problem. The forecast is that by the end of this year, they will be able to launch the new battery. Now I wonder how much this will cost?

Take a look at this beast. Pretty beautiful isn’t it? (I have to assume that you enjoy gear pr0n, of course)

Not only that, but it has a heck of a lot of power under the hood, utilising Intel’s new Core i7 processors and either an Intel Kingsberg P55 Extreme or EVGA X58 SLI Classified motherboard.

Cram it full of storage (up to six hard drives or 12 SSDs), your choice of graphics and sound cards, and up to 12GB of RAM and you’re set for a powerful computing experience.

Cooling is vital, and the SHIFT features bottom to top airflow, liquid cooling and 90-degree rotation of the motherboard.

There’s even personal support from the person who built each machine, should something go wrong.

Forget tacky plastic: SHIFT features an aluminium skin and steel skeleton, and goes for the classy, minimalist look.

Prices start at $2,199 for the SHIFT Intel P55 and $2,599 for the SHIFT Intel X58.

MAINGEAR