Hasta La Gadget!

The iPhone uses a lot of power. Whether the battery is too small or we just feel compelled to play with it more than with other devices doesn’t matter. What matters is that half way through the day, you can find yourself with a dead phone. Tjeerd Veenhoven decided to do something about it, and instead of just, you know, plugging the thing in, he made the iFan.

Fashioned from an old computer cooling fan and a bumper-style case to house the electronics, Veenhoven’s iFan charges the iPhone fully in six-hours. Sure, that’s a lot longer than using a power adapter, but it’s also a lot less than I would have expected. He plans to cut that time with a more efficient fan.

Best of all are Veenhoven’s usage scenarios, which involve catching the wind while “sun bathing at the beach, doing walking trips in the mountains or just holding it outside your car window while driving along…”

That last one gives me a great idea: Attach this to your dog’s collar and take a road trip. What could possibly go wrong?

iFan, charge your phone with wind [Tjeerd Veenhoven]

Photo: Tjeerd Veenhoven

See Also:

• Solar Charger For iPhone Swiftly Sucks Up The Sun
• Mystery Charger Glows Like iPhone Battery Icon
• Europeans Realize Dream of a Single Charger for All Cellphones …
• Fetish: High-IQ Toaster, Wind-Driven Gadget Charger, $9K Diving Watch

Japanese researchers have cooked up a minuscule kinetic battery capable of generating more energy than anything of its kind. Through only the slightest vibrations, the tiny device cranks out 22 milliwatts—20 times more than anything similar before it. More »

Bzzzzzz hummmmmm krrrrrzzt! Those are familiar sounds to the electric guitarist, and they’re caused (respectively) by a dirty/dusty jack socket, a mains hum and a simply plugging in the jack to the amp. Sanyo’s Eneloop Pedal Juice won’t help with your clumsiness or lack of hygiene, but it can cut out that hum, and it also does away with yet another trip-hazard cable.

The Pedal Juice is a 9-volt lithium-ion power-source for effects-pedals. It will power a single pedal for 50 hours, or three pedals for 20 hours, and because it’s off the mains loop, it eliminates AC ground-looping noise. It is also water and shock resistant, so you can spill beer on it and smash up your guitar, Pete Townshend-style, and still use it again for the next gig.

Power levels are indicated by green, orange and red LEDs so you can check battery life at a glance, and you can use it to power anything that needs a 9v hookup – not just pedals. The Pedal Juice is $200, available now.

Pedal Juice press release [Sanyo]
Pedal Juice product page [Sanyo]

See Also:

• Make It: iPhone Guitar Connection Kit
• Gibson Dark Tiger: 'The World's Most Advanced Guitar'
• Let There Be Rock: Digital Guitar Better Than The Real Thing …

Let’s skip right past the cringe-worthy “Declaration of Energy Independence” slogan and look at what the Eagles are actually doing with their pro sports venue. The franchise that dresses in midnight green is aiming to smarten up its eco-green credentials with a new partnership with SolarBlue that will provide all of the Eagles’ stadium energy needs for the next 20 years, after which point the team will be free to resell any surplus electricity back to the grid. 15 percent of the total output with be generated with spiral wind turbines erected around the top rim of Lincoln Financial Field, another 15 will come from 2,500 solar panels to be installed near the stadium, and the rest will be obtained from a biodiesel / natural gas plant. So it’s not all renewable, but a nice step in the right direction, nonetheless.

Philadelphia Eagles going self-sufficient on stadium energy from 2011, 30 percent of it renewable originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Nov 2010 08:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s taken quite awhile to go from christening to shipping, but Qi looks just about ready to make its mark on the public. And on Powermat’s bottom line. We’ve known all along that Energizer was a huge proponent of the protocol, and now we’re finding that review units are making their way out to the media. YouTube user akaTRENT seems to have gotten his earlier than most, and he’s been so kind as to offer up an unboxing of the inductive charging station as well as a sleeve for the iPhone 4. We’re planning on giving this same setup a whirl in due time, but if you’re interested to see how this guy looks in the flesh, there’s a play button with your name on it just beyond the break.

Continue reading Energizer Qi wireless charging base station spotted in the wild

Energizer Qi wireless charging base station spotted in the wild originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 Oct 2010 06:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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