Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/172917
Kelley's cool running All Charged Up New Technology May Eliminate Charging Cables | By Tom Kelley CHANGING LANES Each year we attend the International CES (formerly the Consumer Electronics Show) to check out the latest "Gadgets & Gear" designed for truckers and other road warriors. Most years, there are nearly as many new ideas as there are exhibitors. Among the more ambitious developments that debut at the show are prospective "standards" for physical, electrical or media formats. Often these standards may be competitive, like the battle between the HD DVD and Blu-Ray Disc formats, bu others stand alone to seek acceptance in the industry. The now-common USB connection format is one example, as is the more-recent adoption of Bluetooth wireless data connectivity. For every success like USB or Bluetooth, there are dozens of others that faded into 8 kelleys cool runnings 0813 cl.indd 1 obscurity before gaining any traction. Every road warrior who ever fought with a tangle of charging cables, or realized 100 miles into a trip that the most important cable is back at home, has likely directed a curse-word or three at the lack of standardization in charging cables, and wished he or she could do away with the cables altogether. Over the years at CES, several companies showed working prototypes of "wireless" charging technology, and some have even brought products to market. The problem was, each system was proprietary, meaning that one company's gear typically wouldn't work with another's. august 2013 // WWW.CHANGINGLANESDIGITAL.COM 7/8/13 9:35 AM