While we've definitely seen some
innovative ways to
charge portable devices with
solar and
human power, but apart from the
OLPC XO, not a
lot of
gadgets actually have the stuff built-in -- which is why it's such a shame these three PMPs from China's Sorbo aren't more appealing. The SB-5003 and 5006 models are just basic 128MB MP3 players (no other codecs are listed as supported), with the 5006 sporting a solar panel and the 5003 powered by a crank that Sorbo says "can power other digital things." The 5007 (pictured above) rocks both a solar panel and a crank -- and puts all that extra juice to good use, powering a 2-inch LCD, SD expansion, "MP4" support, ebook reader, "interesting game function," and voice recorder. No word on prices or availability for any of these bad boys, but wannabe resellers take note: once these things start flying off shelves, Sorbo says it can produce 100,000 of them per day. Check pics of the other two after the break.
[Via
PMP Today]
Read -- SB-5003 Crank-powered MP3 player
Read -- SB-5006 Solar-powered MP3 player
Read -- SB-5007 Crank + Solar PMP
posted Oct 20th 2007 at 10:52AM
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
strider_mt2k @ Oct 20th 2007 11:26AM
Wow.
He was Hercules, that conqueror guy, Capn' Hunt, NOW he's making alternate power PMPs??
Is there nothing Kevin Sorbo can't do?
nih @ Oct 20th 2007 11:27AM
Steorn + Orbo = Sorbo?
Paul @ Oct 20th 2007 11:47AM
They were going to name it Sterbo, but were afraid it would sound like you were saying Turbo, but with a lisp.
strider_mt2k @ Oct 20th 2007 12:01PM
Orbo cares not for your puny Earth references!
Markus @ Oct 20th 2007 1:08PM
Some actual REAL storage capacities might've made these things interesting, but as it is..
FAIL.
remrof @ Oct 20th 2007 3:07PM
what? the olpc actually doesn't have "the stuff" built in either. the human power charger is optional, inefficient and external; you're expected to use ac. same with solar.
get your facts straight.
Twitchy @ Oct 20th 2007 3:59PM
How many slaves do they have at their disposal?!? 100,000a day? That's just over 69 an hour, or 1.16 units PER SECOND. I guess you would need them though, what with that tiny storage capacity.
chillwill @ Oct 20th 2007 8:03PM
Sure could use some sort of solar power case for my iphone. when not in use, flip it over and let it charge by the sun.
Panq @ Oct 20th 2007 9:15PM
Actually, that's a brilliant idea. I wouldn't mind one for my laptop, to be honest, though I'm sure it would make much more sense with a more power-efficient laptop, like Panasonic's.