Quick look: The casemate charging pad is an innovation of the original induction charger. For the uninitiated this charger does not use wires but does the job of charging as well as any other mobile phone charger. The price of $100 is justified by the producers, citing conformity to the universal charging standard as set out by the WP Consortium (WPC) as this provides  interoperability with other products, which use the same technology.

Full Review:

Innovations are costly as the research expenditure, which produced the innovation, has to be recovered. The problem with recovering it by charging $ 100 is that the purchaser might not remain with the iPhone forever. What would he do then with a product like this pad and case?

Case -mate makes it somewhat easier to break the fall by promising compatibility of the hug system to Palms “Touchstone” chargers and for the Pre and Pixi lines, which also use the eCoupled technology of WPC. Though we are not sure how this would be effective in practice it should enable you to charge your iPhone on any surface using the WPC standard. Case­-mate offers an impressive example in citing the Starbucks coffee table.

The $100 price seems further acceptable considering that in theory this would mean that the Charging Pad could be used for other devices, which are using the WPC technology. While you need different batteries and cases this charging pad might be the last charging device you need to buy.

The casemate is said to work for wii remotes as well. That’s sufficient said about compatibility and value. How is the charging device itself in its core function of charging the phone? It is the formula 1 of induction charging solutions. It is said to take the iPhone 3GS charge level from near zero to one hundred percent in two hours. These types of chargers started with an overnight requirement and advanced to giving a full charge in a mere couple of hours. That is impressive.

The total offer is a combination of the charging pad as well as protective slim iPhone case. The bigger part of the case measures 0.8 inches thick. Where as unprotected the thickness is at least half an inch lesser. It is relatively pocket friendly though lumpier with the case.

The protection offered by the case does not seem much as it is two plastics joint together. Either way you do not want to drop the phone or the case given that induction technology is now inbuilt into the case.

Conclusion:

The hug is a good example of what innovation is all about. If you are one of those early innovators who wants to be there before others get in and willing to take the risk, the $100 tag looks all right. What’s more you can get rid of at least some of you’re cables and spare emergency batteries.