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Westinghouse Commits to Green Plug's Universal A.C. Adapter

Posted by timothy on from the to-rule-them-all dept.

Ian Lamont writes "Westinghouse is the first major electronics manufacturer that has publicly committed to using a 'smart power technology' that will let people use a single universal adapter to power their laptops, cell phones and other electronics. The universal adapters, which use a technology developed by a startup called Green Plug, will act like a hub that several devices can plug into, and will also shut off the power supply when the device is turned off or has finished charging. The first are expected to go on sale in early 2009 for under $100, according to Westinghouse's CTO. Eventually, Westinghouse and other manufacturers that use the technology could stop shipping adapters with their products, because customers may already have universal adapters at home. However, some manufacturers may not be inclined to use universal power adapters: the article notes Apple gets supplementary revenue from the sale of proprietary connectors for the iPod and other devices."

6 of 224 comments (clear)

  1. Radioshack called... by markov_chain · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... and they want their idea back!

    --
    Tsunami -- You can't bring a good wave down!
    1. Re:Radioshack called... by maxume · · Score: 5, Funny

      If they give me my address back, I'll give them their idea back.

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
  2. Moan of despair by andreyvul · · Score: 5, Funny

    I was *this* close to finish building my collection of proprietary, non-interchangeable DC adapters!

    --
    proud caffeine whore
  3. Re:This is going nowhere. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    yes, I'll just plug my laptop into a USB port to charge it, and...

  4. Re:This is going nowhere. by gEvil+(beta) · · Score: 3, Funny

    yes, I'll just plug my laptop into a USB port to charge it, and...

    Think about it this way--with a USB cable plugged into a free USB port and the other end plugged into the USB-styled powerport, you can carry your laptop around forever and never run out of power! I think the Chinese are onto something there...

    --
    This guy's the limit!
  5. Re:This is going nowhere. by hkmarks · · Score: 2, Funny

    My mom has one of those. I plugged it into my MP3 player once and it stopped working, until I reset it. So they're apparently not universal, and I don't recommend trying that.