Power to the people: Airports get new charging stations

Despite the addition of powered seats, power poles and outlet-endowed work stations, it can still be a challenge to find a spot to recharge power-hungry mobile devices at some of the country's busiest airports.

The 169 beefy new mobile charging stations installed over the past two weeks at four major airports – JFK, Newark Liberty, Miami and Los Angeles – should help.

Installed in busy gate-hold areas and in high-traffic retail and dining spaces inside the four airports, the charging stations replace the old-style power poles that had four outlets and (if you were lucky) one or two USB ports with units that have eight power outlets and six USB ports. These new stations also have a wireless charging area that allows multiple mobile devices compatible with Qi technology to get charged, without cords, via a table-top transmission pad.

You'll find 44 of these new power stations at John F. Kennedy International Airport, 24 at Newark Liberty International Airport, 64 at Miami International Airport and 37 at Los Angeles International Airport.

Provided by outdoor advertising giant JCDecaux, each new power station also sports two 32" digital, high-definition screens that will run, you guessed it, commercials. In this case, the commercials will be for Verizon, which has a contract to sponsor the power stations for the next two years.

"Providing an essential service to travelers and a unique brand experience make these new devices a very compelling media asset." Jean-Francois Decaux, co-chief executive officer of JCDecaux, said in a statement.