So I was just packing yesterday for my annual trip back home for Chirstmas, determined to try out a few select gadgets while I'm out of action, and I found myself becoming increasingly annoyed at all the charging cables that I was stuffing into my bag. So I'm totally with Belkin in this Pitstop charging-station concept, which envisions a future where all your gadgets get refilled with juice by simply plunking them down on an induction table (of course, you can't take a table with you, so the idea would have to become pretty universal for it to ease my travel woes).

Induction isn't the Pitstop's only trick: it also has a tiny methanol-based fuel-cell pump for any gadgets that happen to use actual fuel. That hasn't happened yet, but there's a good chance a laptop you buy 10 years from now will run on something like methanol, since that would translate into very long running times. And that table lamp isn't just to illuminate you — it'll also signal you when the charging's done. Pretty cool, though very conceptual (don't expect any actual product like this until well into the next decade), but since the idea was put forward by Belkin, a real company that makes real stuff, it has a little more credence than a designer with mad Photoshop skills. — Peter Pachal

Via Yanko Design