Sanyo's Eneloop lamp heals your ecological soul

We've been fans of Sanyo's rechargeable Eneloop batteries since they first entered the market in the lazy NiMH and NiCd days of 2005. We remember this because we, like Eneloops, don't suffer from the memory effect of our predecessors. Ok, ok, that date's in the press release but that doesn't change the fact that Eneloops will maintain their charge over time even when stored, ununsed in a drawer now does it? Anywho, Sanyo just announced its rechargeable Eneloop Lamp that serves to light your home when upright or your path when held like a flashlight -- automatically, just as soon as it passes the 90-degree mark. It also features a healing function that waxes a cool blue light into the tragic abyss of your misery and despair. The internal AAs recharge in about 12-hours when set atop the included induction charger. Fully charged, you can expect between 3- and 45-hours of white light, 12- to 16-hours of the blue stuff, and about 6 hours in flashlight mode. No price was given but it'll be on sale in Japan starting September 11th.

[Via Akihabara News]

[dreamscape86 @ Jun 30th 2009 5:05AM]

The beginning of this post reads like a Woot.com product description.

[darkmax @ Jun 30th 2009 5:08AM]

i would liek to have a few of those. hmm... may be possible when i go Japan in the next few months.

[darkmax @ Jun 30th 2009 5:23AM]

"Fully charged, you can expect between 3- and 45-hours of white light, 12- to 16-hours of the blue stuff, and about 6 hours in flashlight mode."

err.... why the big difference in duration for white light?.... or is it supposed to say 30+ to 45+?

[Tonicboy @ Jun 30th 2009 6:26AM]

It has a "Clear Mode" (I assume this is a full-power mode) and a "Fade Mode" (sounds like an ambient/mood lighting thing). The Clear Mode offers about 3 hrs while the Fade Mode offers 45. And of course the marketing guys just couldn't resist throwing in that big number to confuse us.

[ShadowMaker @ Jun 30th 2009 7:09AM]

"Automatically, just as soon as it passes the 90 degree mark"
That sounds wonderful for use in haunted house movies.
Hey, what's that up there? (points up to the ceiling)
- Where? (points flashlight up. It goes out)
Dude. It's dark.
- No it isn't. (points flashlight down again. It turns on again)
I want to see what's up there.
- You can't. My flashlight doesn't work when held upright.
Dude. You know that will kill--------AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRHGGHHRR!!

[Vic De Zen @ Jun 30th 2009 9:24AM]

I wonder if the engineers ever actually though people that use lamps would need them for...say...changing a light bulb on a ceiling? I mean soft lighting is great for aesthetic purposes but this thing sounds pretty impractical.

[CubeGuy @ Jun 30th 2009 4:09PM]

It looks like the flashlight part is on the bottom, so it'll work pointing at the ceiling.

[Das Boot @ Jun 30th 2009 8:17AM]

Does anyone else notice how phallic this is? or am i just "happy"?

[Magallanes @ Jun 30th 2009 9:34AM]

Sigmund Freud was right.

[OneLove @ Jun 30th 2009 9:52AM]

No

[Andrew @ Jun 30th 2009 11:35AM]

i really want this thing.

[Matt @ Jun 30th 2009 8:28PM]

Eneloop batteries didn't get rid of the memory effect, they got rid of the self-discharge effect.
NiCd batteries supposedly suffer from the memory effect, but it's really "dumb" chargers that over charge them.
NiMH batteries require a smarter charger, but they self-discharge over time. The worst ones would go from fully charged to almost fully empty in about two weeks.
Eneloops are NiMH that can hold a charge for more like a year.
Li-Ion and Li-poly have no memory, low self-discharge, and high power to weight ratio and power density. They cost more and can't replace AAs, though.

[tekdroid @ Jun 30th 2009 10:57PM]

seems like omething of some novelty but limited practicality, IMO.

[XIYL @ Jul 1st 2009 1:30AM]

"It also features a healing function that waxes a cool blue light into the tragic abyss of your misery and despair."

Really? I've been looking for something that does precisely that.

[lens42 @ Jul 1st 2009 2:50AM]

This is cute, but what I'd like to see is the inductive charging part built into a 2- or 4-AA powered camera so that I can stop having to swap the batteries out of my camera.