Remember the FlexUSB? It was a little USB adapter from IDEATIVE that allowed you to position a USB connector in a variety of ways when faced with a cramped space. Now, these same folks have a new product. It’s the Flipit! USB Charger, which will let you charge a USB device when you don’t have an available wall socket or a free USB port on your computer. No, it’s not magic, but it is innovative and possibly useful. The Flipit is a small White plastic module that has a female USB connector on one end…
And a special power plug adapter on the back.
This plastic adapter looks like super thin wall port and can swivel 270°.
At first glance you might wonder how the heck the Flipit even works. I was scratching my head till I took a very close look at the top two slots in the rotating adapter.
If you click the image above, you’ll be able to see the very small metal contacts that line the top two plug slots. This is what carries power to the USB adapter.
All you have to do is slide a 2 or 3 prong cord into the Flipit adapter and then into an empty wall outlet.
Next plug in a USB cable (not included) for the device that you wish to charge. The Flipit provides 5V/750 mA of power. IDEATIVE plans to offer 1 Amp version very soon.
Like magic, the Flipit will charge the device just as if it were plugged directly into the wall using its own USB enabled AC adapter. I tested this adapter with a Kindle 3, iPad, iPod mini, iPhone 4, and a Droid X. All of the devices appeared to charge just fine except for the iPad, which displayed a “Not Charging” message in status bar. Unfortunately, the iPad requires more juice than this adapter can provide.
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