Hasta La Gadget!

When you’re out in the woods, there’s no assurance when you’ll be able to juice up your gadgets, unless you go back to your car. That being said, it’s always good to have some power alternatives. This solar generator is reasonably portable, and could be ideal in case of emergencies, i.e. getting lost in the woods, camping, or surviving the zombie apocalypse.

The Goal Zero Yeti 150 Solar Generator Kit weighs about 12 pounds, and is small enough that you can lug it around in your car. It will provide you with a stable source of electricity to charge up your phone, laptop, tablet, and other electronic devices via its USB, 12V and AC connectors. The Yeti 150 has a 150 watt battery and it uses solar energy or AC power to recharge. It can be charged up in the sun in 15 hours thanks to its companion Boulder 15 Solar Panel.

Pricing and availability have yet to be announced, but this might be an essential piece of kit if you spend a lot of time in the great outdoors – or fending off zombies.

[via Ubergizmo]

This power amplification robot, called Power Loader, is currently under development by Activelink, a Panasonic subsidiary venture.
The aim is to achieve a robot that can freely utilize power beyond human strength, in emergencies or on construction sites. Power Loader’s role is to link people with construction machinery.
“Power Loader receives the force input by a person through its force sensors, and amplifies it using motors. In this way, it assists the person, by producing a large …

One day fuel cells may very well be a cheap source of power for all of our electronics. But that day isn’t here yet, and from the looks of things, isn’t arriving anytime soon. A company called Lilliputian Systems has hooked up with Brookstone to create another fuel cell charger called the Nectar that promises to fully top off a smartphone from 10 to 14 times with a single recyclable cartridge, but at a premium. More »

If you’ve kept a SpareOne cell phone in your car for emergencies since Xpal announced them at CES last year, congratulations! You still have 14 years of power left on that one AA Energizer battery. More »

If there’s one constant in this world, it’s that the cost of energy continues to climb, be it household electric or good ole petrol. We can’t help you with the latter today, but we have found a pretty slick tool for keeping tabs on electricity consumption. Now, before you head down to the comments section or send your angry emails letting us know, we’re fully aware that power monitoring solutions have been around for some time now. MeterPlug isn’t your run-of-the-mill device, though. This solution is relatively inexpensive (it’ll retail for about $60), very compact (it plays nicely with other plugs in your power strip), and with the included Android and iOS apps, it’s quite powerful as well. The device will be available with US, UK or European plugs, and slips between your existing cord and an ordinary socket. Then, you pair it with your smartphone and you’re good to go.

Once connected, MeterPlug uses your handset’s GPS to find electricity rates for your location, then displays your current usage in watts and cost — during our hands-on in NYC, a connected MacBook Pro pulled about 60 watts of power at a cost of $0.01 per hour. Connect a TV or household appliance though and you might just be surprised about how much you’re spending on each gadget. Naturally, there’s also a few tools to conserve energy. A simple (and responsive) power toggle lets you turn your device on and off using a smartphone, a proximity sensor cuts off power when you leave the room (and pops it back on when you arrive), and a feature called Vampire Power Shield keeps track of your gadget’s typical consumption, then pulls the plug when you flip your television or Xbox to standby mode, potentially saving you a fair amount of money each year. The plug module and app worked very well during our test, as you’ll see in the video after the break. Then, head over to the source link to submit your pre-order on Indiegogo.

Continue reading MeterPlug Bluetooth power monitor tracks usage, sends stats to your smartphone (hands-on video)

Filed under: Household, Peripherals, Mobile

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Source: MeterPlug (Indiegogo)