If you're a gadget hound, it's likely every outlet in your home is a messy snake's nest of power cords and unsightly adapters.
That's why there's the Idapt i3. This compact countertop power station juices up to four gadgets at once and ostensibly cuts down on the cord clutter.
With the Idapt, your iPod, Bluetooth headset and BlackBerry could be standing at attention atop device-specific power tips, six of which come with the i3 (microUSB, miniUSB, iPod/iPhone, Nokia, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson). Swapping one tip for another is literally a plug-and-play exercise. Idapt also sells about 20 different adapters, including ones for the iPod Shuffle, Nintendo DSi, and even Sansa devices.
You can dock three devices simultaneously on the i3's upper deck. That's great for a Flip camcorder or any other gadget with its own USB plug, but for anything else it means the return of cord clutter — exactly what the i3 was meant to combat.
The real problem is that some devices just weren't meant to dock. Kindles and iPads? Way too big. A Jabra Halo headset proved nearly impossible to connect properly without leaning in close and lowering it onto the microUSB tip just so. And we were all set to dock a Palm Centro, but the phone just toppled right off the tip. Idapt blamed this on a faulty tip, and sure enough, the Centro didn't click into place like other devices. But it was maddening all the same.
Until wireless induction charging technology becomes universal, we'll have to deal with power management solutions like the i3. Wireless charging tech: Please hurry up!