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Eton BoostTurbine 2000 charges your phone, builds arm muscles (updated)
Those of us around the TUAW newsroom are always looking for alternative power sources for our gadgets because we are so dependent on them. Whether it's because of a transformer failure down the street, a widespread outage due to a hurricane, or just because we're nowhere hear a power plug, the TUAW team loves to write about these little generators. There are solar iPhone cases and twig-fueled cookstoves that put out enough juice to keep you going, and now there's the Eton BoostTurbine 2000 (US$59.99). As much as I like the name of this unit, I think the folks at Photojojo have a better name for it -- The Crankerator. That's what powers this sturdy aluminum box; an external hand crank that pops out and lets you (or your kids) charge an internal 2000 mAh battery pack. You can build up some amazing arm muscles while charging the BoostTurbine; a minute of cranking will provide about 30 seconds of power for your phone. Unless you're really bored or extremely desperate, you probably won't use the crank to charge the BoostTurbine up to full capacity. The idea is that before you board Oceanic Flight 815, you'll plug the BoostTurbine into a computer or some other USB power source using the included USB to micro-USB cable and charge it up. Update: Eton has updated information, noting that a minute of cranking is actually good for about four minutes of call time on your favorite iPhone, not 30 seconds as described in the previous paragraph. Then, after you've exhausted all of the power and you really want to watch Fringe reruns on your iPad instead of the prattle of your fellow survivors, you can while away the hours turning the crank to charge the battery. There are four blue LEDs on one end to signify how much charge the battery pack has; pushing down on an inset button for about two seconds activates the LEDs, as does turning the crank. How much power will your favorite device get from the ol' Crankerator? That 2000 mAh is enough to charge up an iPhone 5 (1440 mAh battery). The current rating of the device is only 1 amp, so there's no way that you'll be able to fast-charge your iPad (although it should trickle-charge). The BoostTurbine weighs just 7 ounces so it's not going to weigh down your backpack, and as I mentioned earlier it is a solid piece of aluminum. My only concern is that the crank handle -- the most critical piece when you're in the field -- is made out of plastic. If it breaks, you can always use your Cast Away skills to fashion a new handle out of tree branches and seashells. That crank isn't really that hard to turn once you get it started, but you'll find that keeping the speed up for a few minutes is a challenge. It would be interesting to adapt one of these to a bicycle or water wheel to make power generation a breeze. In case you don't need that full 2000 mAh capacity, there's a 1000 mAh version of the BoostTurbine available directly from Eton for $49.99.
Hand crank charges iPhone, develops muscles
You never know when a major storm will knock out your power and leave you without juice for your phone. Battery packs like the ones from Mophie will let you charge for a short time, but if you are without electricity long enough, you will have to think outside the box to power your phone. Hammacher & Schlemmer has an interesting cell phone charger that uses a hand crank to deliver 30-second bursts of power that'll let you make an emergency call. It also has a 2,000 mAh lithium-ion battery that'll charge your phone temporarily. The US$60 device works with most phones; charging cable is not included.
Eton FRX3: Emergency power for your iPhone when you need it the most
If there's anything that nature teaches us, it's that our highly technological society is just an extended power outage away from complete chaos. Last fall's Hurricane Sandy left many on the East Coast of the US without power for weeks. No power at the home or office means no power for your iPhone, which means you have no way to talk to relatives, friends or first responders if the mobile network is still up (which it usually is). The Eton FRX3 (US$59.99) is primarily an emergency radio, but it also has power-generating features to keep your iPhone going when the power's down. Design The Eton FRX3 is probably one of the strangest accessories I've ever reviewed, since it's not specifically made for the purpose of working with Apple devices. Design-wise it's a hardy looking little device that does not look like a radio at all. It's a black plastic box about 5.5" wide, 6.5" tall, and about 1.6" thick, with a rather industrial-looking "X" design and a silver and yellow crank on the front. There's also a version in red if you prefer. That crank powers a dynamo ("hand turbine") that is used in concert with a small solar panel on the top of the device to charge an internal NiMH battery pack. You can also power the radio off of three standard AA batteries, or by plugging in an external power source through an included USB to micro-USB cable. That solar panel on top has a glow-in-the-dark bezel around it, helpful for those situations where the power has just gone out and you're trying to find the FRX3. %Gallery-176877% There's a backlit LCD panel that shows the time (this can also be used as an alarm clock), battery status, band (AM/FM/WB) and station frequency. Under the solar cell enhanced handle is a group of buttons used to set the clock and alarm. On the front of the FRX3 are buttons to switch between the dynamo-powered rechargeable batteries and AA batteries, a master power switch, and a slider switch to go between bands. There are two large and easy-to-turn silver knobs that control volume and tuning. Eton includes a wrist strap for carrying the radio, although I think it would be easier just to use the built-in handle. On the right side of the case looking from the front are three LED bulbs -- two provide a bright white emergency flashlight, while the third is a flashing red LED to attract attention. The back of the FRX3 has a niche for an extendable antenna, a door covering an AUX port, a headphone jack, a DC-in micro-USB port, and a USB port for charging your iPhone. There's also a separate door for accessing the rechargeable battery pack and AA batteries (if used). Functionality For iPhone users, the biggest question is going to be how much of a charge you can give your phone using the FRX3. To charge your phone, you'll use your standard iPhone USB to Lightning or USB to 30-pin Dock connector cable, and plug the USB end into the "Cell" port on the back of the FRX3. You then press the CELL button located under the handle to start dumping the charge from the NiMH battery to your iPhone. That battery pack contains 600 mAh of charge, while fully charging an iPhone 5 takes about 1434 mAh. You'll be able to recharge your iPhone less than halfway with the FRX3, but that may be enough to make a call to a worried relative, check on a close friend, or contact first responders. Once the FRX3 battery pack is dead, it's time to recharge it. Unless you want to build up arm muscle mass by turning the crank for a while, you'll most likely want to let the sun do the charging -- if it's sunny outside. Unfortunately, that little solar panel takes about 10 hours to fully charge the FRX3 battery, so if you really need juice quickly, your arms are going to get a workout. On the plus side, that crank turns pretty easily, so it's not going wear you out too badly and it may give bored kids something to do while you're waiting for the power to come back on. You do not want to turn the dynamo crank while your iPhone is attached; instead, you disconnect the phone, charge the FRX3 battery up with the crank and solar panel, and then connect to the iPhone for charging. The radio in the FRX3 works well, if you realize that it's not meant for entertainment purposes. It's designed for listening to news and NWS weather reports. Of the seven weather band channels, you'll need to flick between them until you find the one with the strongest signal. Where I live in the southern suburbs of Denver, only one weather band channel was accessible. You can switch to your local AM and FM stations as well. Listening to music on the FRX3 is almost painful; the sound quality reminds me of the radio that was in my mid-1970s Chevy Vega wagon, and that's not a good memory. But as I said, this is an emergency radio and you're most likely not going to listen to music on it. The radio operates for three to four hours with a full charge and at low volume. In emergency situations, you may want to just turn it on every hour or so to get an update, then turn it back off. The dynamo crank provides about 5 to 7 minutes of radio capability or 20 minutes of flashlight use for every 90 seconds of hand cranking. Calculating, it would take approximately an hour of cranking to get the battery fully charged back up. Conclusion Everyone should have a way to listen to emergency radio reports when the power is out, and in that respect the Eton FRX3 excels by providing multiple ways of recharging the device's NiMH battery pack. However, I would use the FRX3 as an iPhone charger of last resort due to its low capacity. If you're truly concerned about keeping your iPhone up and running in an emergency, you might want to invest in a Mophie Juice Pack Powerstation Pro ($99.95) with a 6000 mAh rechargeable battery that can fully recharge your iPhone about four times. What you really want to buy the FRX3 for is the other emergency preparedness features -- the LED flashlight and the multiband radio. In a severe emergency, those features are probably going to be much more important to you than being able to play Temple Run 2 on your iPhone.
Eton announces Boost line, lets you crank your way to a charged phone
Is your cell phone dead and there's nary an outlet in sight? It's not an issue if you're feeling zesty and also toting a BoostTurbine hand charger, which Eton just announced as part of its new portable charger lineup. The BoostTurbine2000 and 1000 model numbers denote the mAh of the batteries in each device, which can borrow volts from a conventional outlet, then transfer up to a full or half charge (respectively) to most smartphones. In a pinch, though, you can pop out the hand-crank and grab about 30 seconds of call time for each minute of sweat equity, according to the company (depending on your motivation, natch). The BoostTurbine2000 will set you back $59 while the 1000 model will run $49, and both are now available at Eton's store. The company also outed a new line of regular plug-in portable chargers -- it's all in the PR after the break.
Hand-cranked vending machine offers products sans power, refreshments during emergencies (video)
Ever needed to grab a bottle of water only to find the vending machine you've spotted is without power? The folks in Japan have, especially in the period immediately following natural disasters. The solution? Easy. A hand-cranked vending machine that still affords you the option of your desired food or beverage even during an emergency when the power is down. Sanden, a Japanese vending outfit, has developed the system that would allow the country's 5.5 million machines to run sans electricity or solar power and rely on good ol' fashioned muscle. You'll just need to dish out 70 cranks, in addition to the cost of your selection, and in about 20 seconds the kit powers on. The machine shown here will dispense around seven bottles before needing a full re-crank and there's no word on what the additional cost per vending unit will be. For look at the tech in action, hit the video above and prepare for a bicep workout.
Marvell-powered OLPC XO 1.75 only draws two watts of power, finally charges via hand crank
Here's something you may not know -- OLPC's XO hand crank has never really worked to recharge the kiddie laptop. Why? Well, the previous versions were powered by x86 AMD and VIA processors that pulled too much power. However, things are different now with the XO 1.75 since OLPC has baked in Marvell's 1GHz Armada chip. As a result, the entire system now only pulls two watts of power, and thus the battery can be given some more juice with a few turns of that neon green crank. It's not meant to recharge the laptop completely -- actually, according to OLPC's CTO Edward McNierney, it would take about two hours of cranking to top off the system. Other than the fresh ARM CPU, the new model is identical to the previous versions -- it has an outdoor readable PixelQi display, Flash storage, a rubber keyboard, and runs Sugar OS. On a different note, OLPC is hard at work on the tablet version of the XO and, according to McNierney, the only hold up is finding a more durable, plastic display -- converting the current system into a tablet should be fairly easy since all the guts are in the display part already. The tablet is still on track for 2012, while the XO 1.75 should be with the hand-cranking children by the end of the summer. %Gallery-113451%
The Cranko MP3 player twists our panties into a knot
You know what kids in developing nations need besides water, vaccines, and schools? MP3 players... and laptops, lots of laptops. Meet the Cranko, at least that's what we're calling it since Thanko's "Cranking MP3 Player" bores us to the point of Wal-marting razor blades. The 1GB capacity player from Thanko features a flashlight and 10 minute charge per minute of cranking. You know, just in case your spelunking adventures take you too far away from a USB port. Yours now for ¥6,000 or about $60.
Sony's ICF-B01 emergency radio with hand crank
Thanks to Walt Mossberg, we know how important it is to keep a crank-powered radio around the house, and now Sony has joined the likes of Eton and Freeplay in offering one of these necessities to its Japanese customers. The ICF-B01 isn't as full-featured as some of the models we've seen -- for instance, it doesn't seem to charge your cellphone -- but it does manage to pack in an LED flashlight to help you change stations while you're trapped in the dark. We're not sure how much loot Sony wants for this radio, but if it's more than $30, you're probably better off stocking up on batteries for your old Walkman.
