On-the-Go Charging Stations

How can you spot the true geeks at the airport? They're the ones hovering around the perimeters of the gate area eyeballing the walls for any available outlets. These days, with so many of us traveling with our entourage of gadgets, finding an available outlet in an airport makes the old needle in the haystack look easy.

Now, the same people who brought you the airport Smarte Cartes, those pricey rolling luggage buggies, are bringing you the Charge Carte. You can stop at an airport's self-service Charge Carte, deposit $3 on your credit card, and spend the next 30 minutes getting a rapid charge for your gadgets. The Carte has 12 tentacles of different plug choices and works with today's most popular devices including BlackBerry, iPod, Samsung, LG, and more. The company claims the Charge Carte will charge your device twice as fast as your normal charger.

I passed through Salt Lake City the other day and gave it the test. It worked as advertised. The only problem was that I had to stand guard over my iPod since there's no way to lock your device while it's charging. Thirty minutes don't exactly fly by (waiting for water to boil is a snap in comparison) as you're watching gadgets get juiced!

Still, it beats roaming the aisles looking for a three-pronged friend.

Plenty of other airports are testing new ways of how best to power up their flyers. At Kennedy and LaGuardia Airports, advertising-sponsored, free Power Poles are totem-like affairs where you can charge your devices at no cost.

USA Today supplies a list of which airports offer power up solutions. For a video of the Charge Carte in action.