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Phone or yo-yo? ModeLabs unveils new concepts
Never mind those fancy fuel cells -- just knock that phone around a bit to keep it juiced. At least that's the idea with three new concept handsets introduced by France-based ModeLabs, the same company hooking up with Levi's (to produce phones with decidedly less fancy recharging technology and more denim, we imagine). First up is the aptly named "YoYo," a puck-shaped device (pictured) designed to be worn around the neck that draws power from a combination of solar cells and the user's movement. Next up, the "U-Turn" somehow managed to eke out some electrons from the opening and closing of its keyboard, while the fitness-themed "Runaway" gets regenerated while strapped to the wrist. Of course, none of these are anywhere near production, but the folks at ModeLabs are apparently gunning to market the technology to manufacturers before too long.[Via textually.org]
NTT DoCoMo shows off solar charger
No, this isn't the next Mars lander, nor is it some sort of biology experiment. This impossibly unruly contraption is a concept for how NTT DoCoMo would like y'all to juice up your phones in the future. The system apparently involves a solar array employing spherical silicon cells, yielding efficiency far beyond that old-skool array your granpappy used to use. No word on production plans for this thing, but given everything we know of DoCoMo, it will hit the streets eventually -- and when it does, we can only hope it gets a little smaller.[Via Slashphone]
