Crank it up!
31-20-2002
By: Shane McCormack
Ending a conversation with the words "My battery's going" is a scenario that's all too familiar to mobile phone users and to compound matters it also usually happens when you're miles away from your battery charger.
Now a revolutionary new idea, borrowed from a relatively old idea is going to provide a solution to this problem. In a throwback to the days of the windup gramophone and the hand-cranked telephone, Motorola is introducing a new wind up charger, which will help you get to say that all important "See you later".
Developed with London-based Freeplay Energy Group, who make windup radios and flashlights, the FreeCharge is designed to keep dying phones going when a power outlet is out of reach. Winding its handle for about 45 seconds provides four to five more minutes of talk time and about 45 minutes of standby time.
Freecharge is available on the U.K. market in June 2002 and is already available in the U.S. at a cost of about $65. Aimed at boaters, campers, fishermen and those who want the device for
emergencies and peace of mind as your average mobile phone user may not fancy lugging this item around in their clothes or briefcase. The device weighs roughly about twice the weight of your average mobile phone today and consists of a small generator unit, which can be connected to a phone.
Motorola product manager Gary Brandt said "demand could be stronger in Europe, where people are more accustomed to carrying wireless devices around and less willing to risk missing calls". For now, FreeCharge is compatible only with phones made by Motorola, the world's second-biggest mobile phone manufacturer. But by August it should adapt to phones made by Nokia and Ericsson too. For more information on FreeCharge visit http://www.freeplay.net.
| 
