multi-charger and the future
Staying in yet another hotel I came up with the idea to write the number of power outlets in the hotel review. It is important for Galja and me because both of us own a smartphone and a tablet, and these four devices like to be recharged nightly. Finding four power outlets in a typical hotel room is a challenging enterprise. So maybe it's us doing something wrong? Maybe we should not ask for four outlets? There should be a way to charge our gadgets from one outlet, and triple power adapter doesn't seem a good idea, because you would also lug around the adapter for every device. Let's try to find an adapter that has several USB ports.
Unfortunately Samsung, the maker of our gadgets, only produces a splitter of one USB cable into three, the current splits accordingly, and the chargind time increases threefold. But other manufacturers do make what I need. Though there is another thing one should care about. The USB 2.0 standard limits the maximal current to 0.5A, and this is not enough for modern gadgets. So phone manufacturers come up with their own ideas on circumventing this limitation. And since no standard exists, Apple's charger can't quickly charge Samsung devices, and vice versa.
So a good multi-charger should detect types of all device connected to it, and provide maximal supported current to each independently. I found Anker PowerPort 4 that promises this feature, and will test it when it's delivered.
Also I hope that in around five years this mess will end because most new devices will support USB Power Delivery that serves up to 5A / 100W. Maybe this standard will also be the end of power adapters, the majority of wall outlets will be USBs, and small household electrical devices will connect to them directly.