Space: The Next (Home Office) Frontier With ChargePod

By Jeff Zbar 
www.chiefhomeofficer.com

For years, this home officer has griped about the sad realities of mobility. Sure, our technology is getting smaller and smaller. Wireless phones, cameras, PDAs and MP3 players all fit in our pockets. Heck, most can even fit in one pocket all at once. But the bricks and cables that power them require cargo pants or cavernous laptop bags – which in short order are converted into rats’ nests of tangled cables. And no one has created a laptop insert into which we can organize all our devices, cords, cables, bricks and the like. But what if… What if one device could solve the power and empowering woes of the modern road warrior? A solution could just be the CallPod by ChargePod. This funky little gizmo can charge up to six devices – at once.

Say you’re on the road, and you have your iPod, digital camera, the kid’s Sony PSP, your Bluetooth headset and BlackBerry Pearl in tow – and their battery meters are all glowing a deep, unnerving red. Just whip out the Pod, plug each into the respective USB adapter, and you’re powering up in short order. (The list of other adapter cables includes Palm, Samsung, Nokia, LG, Motorola and either iPod traditional or USB, among numerous others). A really cool attribute of the Pod is the fact that the cables and plugs are less than three inches long. I’ve long suffered with three-foot cables where mere inches would suffice. Too short, you say? The Pod itself is little more than one ounce and around three inches in diameter. Meaning each device spans out like a spoke from a hub. Micro small and with its own carry bag included, the Pod is especially good for space-starved laptop bags.

OK, so you have to buy the adapters separate from the Pod itself, which can drive the price up to $100-plus, depending on the number of $10 adapters you need. But still, the Pod is ideal for the small or home office setting. Truth be told, I probably have a few rats nesting behind my flat panel where my battery back-up resides.

Price: From around $50, plus adapters (about $10 each). Car charger adapter also available. Where: www.callpod.com. The handy shopping cart asks the product (phone, MP3, gaming console, etc.) you’ll be charging, as well as brand and model via drop down menus, and then computes the order.

Since the '80s, Jeff Zbar has been a writer, speaker and spokesman on all facets of working from home and entrepreneurship. His columns and blogs have appeared via Entrepreneur, Success Magazine, Home Office Computing and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, and he has been a small business expert on national television and radio. Learn more at www.chiefhomeofficer.com.