Well, this is another mobile invention that - while undoubtedly useful - is unlikely to be hitting the shops without some serious redesigning.
The Solar Powered Necktie has been designed by Iowa State University as a way of charging mobile devices while on the move. It is made from a special photovoltaic fabric which is apparently a bit too thick to properly tie in a knot - don’t worry, I’m sure they will iron that out (arf, arf).
As demonstrated by the glamorous model in the photo, the tie has a little pocket for holding your mobile while it is being charged. I have to say that if I were on the Dragon’s Den panel at this point I would be worried about heavier phones clunking fellow tube passengers in the face if I turned around a bit too quickly.
Still, nice to see scientists are still hard at work on the mobile juice problem. I can’t help thinking it would just be easier to stick the photocells on the actual phone, though.
Being caught short without any power in your phone is both a royal pain and guaranteed to happen the one time you REALLY need to make a call.
There are plenty of portable chargers on the market, but they are all just another thing to cart around with you alongside your phone, headphones, bluetooth headset, etc. etc.
British company Juicebar Energy has come up with the Juicebar - a flat, portable energy source that looks like a beermat with a charging cable sticking out. It should slip easily into a wallet or coat pocket without too much fuss, ready to be whipped out when duty calls.
Inside the Juicebar is a Zinc and Manganese Dioxide battery that can power the average mobile for around an hour of talk time. Charging the phone is just a matter of unfurling the charger cable and plugging in - there are Juicebar variants for most popular charger standards, including USB.
Juicebar Energy promise that this is all low impact, environment-wise, with no Cadmium or Mercury to worry about. Each Juicebar comes with guarantee that it will hold its charge for at least 5 years.
The Juicebar is only available in the UK at the moment (which make a pleasant change) at a cost of £2.99. You can order via paypal here.
With many environmentalists concerned with the amount of energy that is wasted by devices that remain plugged in on standby it is worth bearing in mind that most phone chargers spend more time plugged in and not charging anything at all. Even if you unplug it when not in use, if you charge your phone overnight, the phone will be fully charged after a few hours and you are wasting energy.
Nokia has come up with one solution in the form of the ‘Zero Waste’ charger. This clever little device works a little bit like one of those power-surge protectors you might use with a lawnmower or a drill. A big green button on the back of the charger turns on the power. When your phone is charged, the button pops out and the power is cut off.
Nokia news blog NokNok.tv got their hands on a prototype model and put together this video for your viewing pleasure:
“Funny, I could have sworn that was fully charged this morning..”
We’ve all been there - you pull out your phone to make a call, only to find that all your lovely ‘leccy has drained away. Not only are you unable to tell the world that you are on the train, you will have to charge your phone when you get in and the environment will take another beating.
One common cause is running an app that takes more than its fair share of battery power, either by being poorly written, or by over-using certain components like the vibrator.
It’s not ideal - so Nokia has released Energy Profiler to try and sort things out. Although it is intended for developers to streamline their new apps, there is nothing to stop us mere mortals from loading it up and using it to find out which shareware Tetris clone is killing the planet. One Nokia developer is asking users to email Nokia and ask them to release a more consumer-focused version of the app via Nokia Beta Labs.
Nokia Energy Profiler runs on S60 3rd Edition phones with Feature Pack 1.
