Wi.U: A Smart Charger for a Smart Generation

Although smartphones are practically a staple in American culture, there is one fairly huge downside–smartphones are notorious for running out of battery life within hours. This means that consumers of iPhone and Android devices are constantly required to plug in just stay “online” during the day. And during a busy work day its easy to either leave your charger in the office or forget to pack an extra battery.

Fortunately, Georgetown University alum Cameron Burley has created a special battery pack for the iPhone that will combat these problems. Burley is the creator of the Wi.U, a revolutionary battery pack for the iPhone that allows users to program specific times for their phone to charge. The charger works with an iPhone app that only activates the charger when the phone’s battery has reached a preset charge. The Wi.U also features a clip that can easily be fastened to a belt and a small front light that illuminates when the charger is activated.

On his Kickstarter page, Burley describes the impetus for the Wi.U’s creation:

The choice to use an iPhone application to enable smart charging seemed like an obvious one. But, I wanted to take it a step further and create a charger that had artificial intelligence–one that recognized when your battery was low and could automatically begin recharging it. One that gave you the option to set a time or date or even battery percentage–and it could begin charging from any of those variables.

The Wi.U has quickly risen through the ranks of Kickstarter and was featured last week in Gizmodo. Although the Wi.U has been completed, he is using Kickstarter to raise money for large scale manufacturing of the product. By pledging more than $100 on Kickstarter, donators are essentially “pre-ordering” their own Wi.U. Donators will receive one Wi.U charger, one Wi.U charging pad and a download link for the app.

There are still 26 days to go for Burley to meet his Kickstarter funding goal of $20,000. To invest, learn more about Wi.U and to watch the video click here.

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See all posts by Andy Monroe.