bradleyd

I found this interesting, though a little bit pricier than the other chargers and packs (I have the Nyko myself). It can charge with the jackets on the Wii remote as well, and is the first Nintendo licensed charger.

From the Sanyo website:

Tokyo, July 24, 2008 ---- SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. (SANYO) announces an easy-to-use ‘Contactless Charger Set for the Wii Remote Control’, produced especially for Nintendo Co., Ltd. (Nintendo)’s Wii remote control.
The Wii remote uses two AA batteries and it is well known to take up many batteries. This new set offers users the convenience of simple charging by placing the Wii remote control into the specialized stand, the only battery and charger made under license*1 from Nintendo, and the capability to sequentially charge 4 controllers from a single AC adapter. The charger also offers a ‘charge failure detection function*2, ensuring safe recharging. Easy enough for even the youngest or oldest of Wii players, the Wii remote control can be recharged by simply placed in the stand without removing the batteries, the Wii remote jacket, or the back cover.
SANYO’s battery pack and charger, the ‘Contactless Charger Set for the Wii Remote Control’, will be on sale in Japan starting from August 25, 2008.

More information on the site:

http://www.sanyo.com/news/2008/07/24-1en.html


Edit: Here is where I first read about it, includes a little more info and pricing.

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscente...r_wiimote.html

sremick

Useless if it's going to be Japan-only as mentioned.

Also it would depend on the mAh capacity of the batteries and whether I could use it without taking off my silicone skins.

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sarspants

I think it would based off the picture 2/3 of the way down; it shows 4 Wii remotes, each with the jacket on them.

It looks pretty neat, but $50 for one and $30 for each additional is quite a bit.

bradleyd

For now it is only slated for Japan. They have not said whether they will ship it elsewhere yet. Being as it is licensed by Nintendo, I see no reason why it would not be sold elsewhere in the future. As I mentioned, and as stated on the Sanyo site, you do not have to remove the skins. It is designed around the Nintendo jackets, so I'm sure any 3rd party jackets would not be a problem. The battery life does not seem impressive however. 4 hours for a full charge from completely drained (unless of course if you simply keep it in the charger when not in use) and only about 6.5 hours use per charge. You can daisy chain the charge docks off one adapter, however only one pack will charge at a time, unless you use an adapter for each dock.

All this info is contained in the articles I linked.

sremick

The Sanyo page isn't loading.

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Luigi

That is freaking clever. I want one.

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hencam[uk]

Same as electric toothbrush chargers (where you don't want live electrics and water mixing!) - it's called inductive charging because there's no direct contacts between both items.

sremick

Yeah a lot of things have been using induction charging for years. It's nothing new. Unfortunately it wastes more electricity than using straight contacts.

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