an iPad Wall Charger with Matter over Thread? It’s Now a Thing!
Just as Matter is starting to gain some traction, we’re reminded again that whilst some companies tend to retread the same path as previous products, some try to think outside the box. Case in point is a new Matter over Thread product from Chinese manufacturer Jink, and their wall mount for iPad that also keeps said iPad fully powered.
How this is achieved is actually quite simple; The charging plate, which comes in two sections, replaces a standard power outlet, thus making a standard wireless charging plate permanently powered. Add to this Matter over Thread, and you have a smart outlet/switch that can control power to your iPad via your smart home platform of choice.
To connect your iPad to the charging plate, the other part of the device sticks to the case for the iPad, with a cable connecting to tablet’s charging port, whilst gripping the wall plate with magnets and connecting power with a set of four pins. As it’s a Matter over Thread device, it can be added to any suitable Matter platform, as long as you have a Matter Controller and Thread Border Router. It also means that this isn’t actually specially for iPad, assuming the cable part is USB-C along with the tablet you plan to use.
The company are selling this product in six colours – green, orange, grey, red, blue, and white. As this is from – and for – China in principle, the device is designed for 86 style switch boxes, and so these won’t work for US homes, or for that matter (no pun intended) EU homes, at least not without some adjustments. That said, the website does list options for the EU, US and UK, but without any images, or whether they’re certified for safety in the relevant areas. You can check more details on this product via Alibaba.com.
