The power used by devices that we think are turned off goes by several names. Some call it parasitic power, some call it vampire power, and others call it phantom power. In the end, they are all the same and describe electricity consumed by devices when they are not in use.

AT&T has a new green charger coming in May called the Zero Charger that will stop phantom power use at a place most of us don’t even think about it — your cell phone charger. AT&T says that most chargers draw power from the outlet even when a phone isn’t attached.

RichardSolo has introduced the RichardSolo 1800 for iPhone, an 1800mAh capacity lithium-ion battery charger with a super bright LED flashlight and laser pointer. The emergency battery charger attaches to your iPhone or iPod either via the wire or using a direction latch on the RS001 model which eliminates the need to carry the wire.

Both models feature a retractable USB charger, dual-port USB car charger & AC wall charger and will give a full charge in about 5 hours. Three LED lights show you the charge status. You even charge both your iPod and the backup battery at the same time.

The Airnergy Charger wants to fulfill your wildest gadget charging dreams, by harvesting electricity from Wi-Fi networks, and converting it into electricity with a high enough efficiency to actually make it practical. It was being demoed at CES, where it charged a BlackBerry from a 30% charge to full in roughly 90 minutes, using Wi-Fi as the power source.

All you need is a Wi-Fi network and you are good to go. RCA expects the USB charger to be available this summer for only $40. We can’t complain about that price. And who doesn’t want to get electricity from Wi-Fi?

On the go types know that it can be a challenge to keep, a notebook charged up when you are in the car or in the air for most of a day. To keep working you need the battery on your notebook to last and to be able to recharge the notebook while on the go.

Innergie has announced a cool new notebook charger that is universal and claims to be the smallest charger for car and air use in the world. The device is smaller than the palm of your hand and works with machines from Dell, HP, and many more companies.

The last time Nokia issued a recall on something it was for batteries that posed a fire hazard. Today Nokia has issued a recall on about 14 million mobile phone chargers. The chargers pose a shock hazard to users.

Nokia points out that it did not build the chargers, they were built by a third-party Chinese maker. That maker is paying all the costs associated with the recall. The recall covers chargers model number AC-3E and AC-3U models, manufactured between June 15, 2009 and August 9, 2009; and the AC-4U model, manufactured between April 13, 2009 and October 25, 2009.

Emerge Technologies just dropped its latest retractable universal notebook charger dubbed the ReTrak. If you carry a lot of devices with you, this will come in very handy. It’s designed specifically for those on the go and aims to make your life easier.

The small and lightweight 90W charger features fully retractable cords that can extend nearly three meters, two USB ports for charging multiple devices (iPods, Blackberrys, MP3 etc) and it works with over 7000 different notebook models. The ReTrak Universal Charger will cost you $99.99.

The war against wires continues, with the next salvo being fired on October 15th. That’s when the Powermat arrives in the UK. It can juice up up to three low-power devices simultaneously. And without wires. It’s available in a few different versions.

One is made for your home/office, while the other is geared toward those on-the-go, being foldable for easy transportation. You will also need to pick up some receiver cases for the Powermat to recognize the type of device being charged.

Solar power has come a long way. They used to be something you only saw on hippie communes and Sci-fi movies. Solar panels are on everything now, especially our charging gadgets. The latest to sport a solar panel is the Surge iPod Touch charger, which allows you to recharge your iPod Touch anywhere, as long as you have sunlight.

The case features a 3.7 V lithium-ion battery that can be charged via the sun or by USB should it be cloudy. It comes in a bunch of colors. We aren’t sure if they have chargers for the other iPods, but at least your Touch is covered.

Solar Technology’s CamCaddy universal camera charger is already available in a bundle with the company’s Freeloader Pro solar charger, but now it’s available by itself. The charger isn’t 100% “universal”, but the company says it should be compatible with over 85% of the proprietary batteries used in digital cameras, camcorders and DSLRs, and if you are unsure, just check their website before you buy.

The charger is also of course still fully compatible with the Freeloader and Freeloader Pro, and it comes with a car adapter, a USB charging cable, and US and Euro plug adapters so you should be covered.

Nyko continues to push the envelope when it comes to Wii accessories. Their latest Charge Station IC takes things to the next level. It holds two Wiimotes using magnets and charges the controllers via induction.

And it doesn’t matter if they are wearing silicon sleeves or have the Wii Motion Plus add-ons. There’s also an extra USB port in back, just in case you want to charge something else. Nothing on price or availability just yet. It will likely fall into the $30-40 range.

The Bluelounge Refresh comes with a bunch of connections that allow you to charge several gadgets at once. Four at a time. It will make your life much easier. The connections include 2 x iPod/iPhone which lets you charge up to two iPhones or iPods at once, 2 x USB, and 1 x micro USB and 1 x mini USB.

You can also buy extra connectors to charge most mobile phones and portable games consoles. You can get the Bluelounge Refresh in Jet Black, Polar White, and Fresh Pink for $89.95 from Bluelounge. Not a bad price for convenience.

We can’t decide is this is neat or completely stupid. The Wii Ultimate Power Station is a Wii and Wiimote dock that aims to keep everything organized and protect your console. It cools your Wii and has some extra outputs, will charge two Wiimotes and even hold the nunchuks. There’s even a clock.

But it seems like overkill and takes your thin console and makes it all beefed up and fat. We aren’t sure if there’s really a need for this. Or if it will even fit in the spots that our Wiis occupy. This one leaves us feeling kinda weird. What do you guys think?

You have your choice of iPhone/iPod battery packs, but Kensington has thrown one in with its new $70 charging dock. The Kensington Charging Dock with Mini Battery Pack comes with its own mini battery that will charge next to your iPhone or iPod, so you will never be short on precious juice.

According to Kensington, it will give you an extra 30 hours of music or 6 hours of video on an 3rd generation iPod Nano, and an extra 3 hours of talk time on your iPhone.

The ideal phone would never have to be plugged in or at least would need to be plugged in only rarely. The reality today is that high-end devices like the iPhone burn lots of battery power and require almost daily charging to remain usable.

A company called MotionTouch has announced a new charger for the iPhone that is eco-friendly and charges by light. The device has a solar cell on the back of the sleeve that can gather power from some ambient lighting and from the sun.

This DIY gadget is dubbed the “smart charger” and it’s from two Kenyan students who reside in rural areas without electricity. They also use bikes to get around. Jeremiah Murimi and Pascal Katana use a dynamo attached to the bicycle in order to charge cellphone batteries. The whole process costs practically nothing.

They used parts from old discarded radio and television sets to assemble the small charger. The user is able to plug the dynamo lead right into the device. An hour of pedaling can fully recharge the battery in about the same time it would take if it was plugged into an electrical outlet. The idea is that the user would avoid paying $2 each time for battery recharges by making a one-time smart charger purchase worth about $4.50.