SAN FRANCISCO – Skiva Technologies showed off its upcoming OctoFire Turbo USB charger at Macworld this past week. It's an eight-port (hence the the name) “intelligent” charger for your iPhone, iPad, Kindle, Android device and other gear, and it is billed as an elegantly designed solution.
The stop sign shaped charger is about the size of a small saucer, with an oversized top that obscures the view of the eight USB ports that line its circumfrence. It's made of black polycarbonate and is easily the most elegant charger we've seen.
Skiva says the device automatically identifies each device as it's plugged in and delivers an optimimal charge, automatically shutting off when the device reaches full charge. The charger delivers a total of 16.8 Amps/84 Watts. The OctoFire is UL, CE, FCC and RoHS certified, with overcharge, over-voltage, overheat & short circuit protection.
We'll have a full review after the device ships, but the OctoFire looks to be a great solution for families with multiple devices competing for the same electrical outlets. Its intelligent charging features look like they'll deliver an optimized charge to a variety of devices and the auto-off feature should avoid “trickle charge” syndrome, which can damage the long term performance of the Lithium Ion batteries that power most of our digital devices.
The OctoFire began life as a Kickstarter project, earning US$76,000, more than its $20,000 goal. It will be available in white or black and is expected to ship in mid-April, but Skiva is taking pre-orders at a Macworld Show Special price of $55 for an unspecified time. The booth representative told us the retail price would be $80, but the company's website lists it as $100.
More information is available at www.octofire.com.
TMO's travel and coverage sponsors for Macworld/iWorld 2014 are The Omni Group, Kromtech and Other World Computing.