iPhone Chargers

Charging bricks disappear. Often. Kids lose them, suitcases and hotel rooms eat them, your co-workers steal them. The cheap replacements you buy at the gas station on the way home break after a few weeks and charge at a glacial pace.

And Lightning cables? Mostly the same story. Unless they wear out before they have time to disappear. Third-party replacements never seem to last long. They break, the jackets slip off the port adapters, or they just stop working. Even the authentic Apple brand cables have a bad habit of failing right where the cable meets the Lightning adapter.

The iPhone 8, 8 Plus and X will all be capable of fast charging, a feature that Apple claims will allow you to charge your handset to 50% or more within 30 minutes. Unfortunately, you will need some hardware that doesn't come in the box to achieve this.

You can now stop fighting over charger real estate thanks to Griffin's new PowerDock 5. The new charging station helps you keep your countertops or desk clutter free by providing up to five charging ports for any iOS devices . Each charging bay is roomy enough to accommodate the bulkiest of iPad cases, but the PowerDock 5 only consumes as much room as a single iPad. The PowerDock will also help you keep all your devices and cables neatly organized and in one place.

The PowerDock 5 is great for tablet crowded offices, or for moms who are tired of siblings stealing each other's chargers. The iOS charging station will available from Griffin Technology's official online store in the spring for $100.

Wireless charging is not a new concept, the Palm Pre introduced the Touchstone Charger in 2009, and Samsung announced a wireless charging kit along with its Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone earlier this year. Even though the Samsung wireless kit has been delayed, a similar Verizon-branded charging station has been spotted at Verizon stores.

According to the DigiTimes, chip maker Intel may be adopting "its self-developed wireless charging technology into Intel-based ultrabooks and smartphones in the second half of 2013". Since Apple uses Intel’s chips in its MacBooks, the company could potentially adopt this upcoming technology... But I wouldn't get my hopes up.

Now all it takes to charge an iPhone is a few pieces of wood and the BioLite CampStove. This stove can boil a liter of water in under five minutes, and while the fire is burning electricity is generated to power the built-in USB port. Toss twigs, pine cones or any other biomass into the BioLite and flames will do the rest.

The stove works by converting heat from the fire into electricity, 2W continuously @5V with a peak of 4W @5V. This will charge any device at about the same clip as a notebook computer USB port. Using the BioLite makes it unnecessary to bring fuel canisters, phone chargers, solar panels and the like.