GEEK TOY: THE RECHARGING BICYCLE
by Hazed
With all the gadgets we carry around with us nowadays - mobile phone, music player, and so on - it's all too likely that at some point we are going to find we've run out of battery power when we're nowhere near a recharger. There have been some rather nifty devices invented to solve this problem, such as a wind-up recharger and one powered by ordinary batteries for emergency use, but here's one that combines recharging with keeping fit too.
Motorola has come up with the "kinetic charger" which can be attached to almost any bicycle. Electricity is generated when the real wheel spins a dynamo, and a voltage regulator ensures a steady flow of power to the battery. This device was unveiled at last week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, and it's aimed at the developing world, but I would have thought there was a great deal of demand in the UK and US, too, for those who cycle to work and want to keep their gadgets powered up.
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