Chad's Crap! Or it could be something good. (Maybe.)

OMG! OMGChad shows something I've waited a long time to see! A real, working Tethercell.

First, here's my original report from CES 2013: Left: Normal AA Right: TethercellI met the creators of the Tethercell at CES 2013, and I think they have a great idea! One of the most popular batteries ever made to power devices is the AA. It powers many things, but we have almost no power over our AA batteries. That’s where Tethercell comes in. It will let you turn AA-battery-powered devices on and off remotely, put the toys and games “off” for periods of time that you set, turn on battery operated devices in other rooms from afar, and even make it so that only you can control the remote control! Here’s info from the company website on how easy it is (or will be) to setup a Tethercell. First, remove a single AA-battery from whichever device you choose. Next, make sure that Tethercell already has a AAA battery installed within it, then replace the removed AA battery with Tethercell. No matter how many AA batteries are required to run the device, you only need one Tethercell. After the Tethercell is snug in the battery compartment, turn on the device, fire up the Tetherboard app after downloading it free from the App store and you're ready to connect from any iOS or Android device that is Bluetooth Smart compatible. Now you can be alerted when battery power is low and know when it's time to replace your Tethercell's battery. Currently supported iOS devices: iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPad 3, the newest iPod Touch, and the iPad mini. Android Devices to be supported in the near future: Samsung Galaxy S3, the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, the HTC One X+ and the Droid DNA. These should out about mid-summer. Price estimated to be about $20 at 1^st, dropping to about half that once production is in full swing.

Then I added this update December, 2013: UPDATE: It’s going to be 2014 in a few hours as I write this, and there is no sign of the Tethercell shipping yet. You can pre-order them at the company website, but the price is steep: $35.00 plus $12.00 shipping! There is no shipping date indicated, except to say your card won’t be charged until the Tethercell is shipped.

But then on this week's show Chad's crap turns out to be something great -- a working Tethercell! Chad showed us how the AAA battery fits inside the AA-sized Tethercell. He also showed us the app which he said works rather poorly. It kept losing its Bluetooth connection with the battery, and when finding it again, treating it as a new Tethercell. But for the few times it did work properly, it was great. Chad put the Tethercell in a flashlight with the other required regular AA batteries. He left the flashlight in the on position. Then via the app Chad could turn the flashlight on and off. I'd like one to use with my battery operated mirrored ball. I have to use a ladder to get there and turn it on and off. With a Tethercell, my Android phone could be the remote control for my disco ball! A Tethercall is expensive though for right now. $35, plus $12 shipping.

http://www.tethercell.com/

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