Power assisted Live Luggage ready to "world premier"

Well, well... three years and change have passed since we first told you about power-assisted Live Luggage. Now it's finally coming to market -- at least that's what we think they mean by a June 26th 2008 "world premier." The PA series of checked baggage features a 12V NiMH rechargeable battery pack supplying power to the wheels when the handle is gripped and the bag is tilted. The bags weighs 10.6kg (23-pounds) which is about 3kg (6.6-pounds) more than standard hard luggage, according to the manufacture. The cases are good for about 1.5 miles of assisted travel under a 32kg load. Of interest, the bags are now 2.6kg heavier than the original case which also featured a more powerful (and possibly exploding?) Lithium Ion battery pack capable of 2.5 miles on a single charge. We guess that was the concession made to get, "all the required accreditations and approvals from the global airport authority." No price was announced so we'll have to stick with the £397 (about $782) until we hear more on Thursday.

Update: Oh boy, after poking around the site a bit we find a price of $1,365 -- twice as much as originally planned.
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Read -- press release [Warning: PDF]
Read -- Live Luggage