Ditch the iPhone USB Cord with ChargeCard

Mobile devices are handy, but the need to pack a USB cable or wall charger takes away from the mobile experience. Cords do not fit well in pockets, and often require a carry-on bag, yet everybody carries a wallet. ChargeCard is a new product that has condensed an iPhone USB cable into a credit card shaped portable solution.

The ChargeCard is made of hard plastic and is only 0.1" thick, this is the same size and thickness as a credit card, which means it will fit snugly in the sleeve of your wallet. In the middle of the ChargeCard is a flexible rubber tongue that folds out and plugs into a standard USB port for charging and syncing. The opposite end of the ChargeCard is a 30 pin connector that fits the iPhone 4s and older, any iPod, and the iPad 3 and older.

The ChargeCard is an innovative new product that is faced with a setback due to Apple's redesign of the docking connector with the iPhone 5. The ChargeCard is not directly compatible with the iPhone 5, but it will work if you purchase an adapter from Apple. Although the adapter does not fit inside your wallet, and having to carry an adapter takes away from the appeal of the ChargeCard; because now you are back to square one, needing to use carry-on bag to transport your adapter.

If the ChargeCard is successful, then surely they will design a version to fit the iPhone 5. We say "if they are successful" because the ChargeCard has not yet hit the market, it is scheduled for release December 2012. You can preorder a ChargeCard from their website for $25 and it will ship before Christmas.

The development of the ChargeCard is a testimony to the rise of user friendly products funded directly from the users themselves on fundraising websites like Kickstarter.com. To make the ChargeCard a reality, ChargeCard team members Noah Dentzel and Adam Miller appealed to the public to raise $50,000 make their dream a reality. Forty days and 5,428 backers later, the ChargeCard Kickstarter campaign closed on August 27, 2012 after raising $161,897.

If you want to help with the development of cool new products like ChargeCard, then we recommend you include Kickstarter for your holiday shopping. Kickstarter works essentially like you are preordering a product, there is a small wait for the product to be funded and developed, but if everything works out, not only do you get a new product before everybody else, but you also get the satisfaction of knowing that you helped make it possible.