Digital Home Thoughts: Look Ma! No Wires! Charging Without the Cable with PowerMat

"For those not in the know, inductive charging has been around for years. The science is quite complex, but the simplest way to describe it is a form of short distance wireless energy transfer. An induction coil in the charging base station creates an electromagnetic field which transmits power to a second induction coil in the device and this is converted into electric current to charge the battery."

I really have been wondering why it has taken inductive charging so long to become popular on the market. I have seen it used in quite a few consumer electronics, from watches to shavers, so why do we only now see it for phones and iPods? I like the idea, though the charging receivers look a bit bulky to me; I was hoping for something much smaller, about the same size as the micro-transcievers that mice and keyboards use. Then it would be as simple as just dumping your devices on the mat and have them all charged in the morning. The orientation requirement also kind of throws me for a loop, but I guess there has to be some room for improvement. Has anyone tried the Powermat? What are your impressions of it? A must have and a wonderful stocking stuffer? Or is it something that leaves you with a dead device?