How’s this for cool? The company nPower is showing off a Personal Energy Generator (PEG) at CES that stores your own kinetic energy to use as back-up power for your mobile gadgets. At nine inches tall, and looking like a tiny telescope, the PEG has a 1000mAh lithium Polymer battery that powers up as you move around during the day. Fit it in your backpack, purse, whatever. Or if you want to build up power quickly, give it a good shake. The PEG has a micro USB port to output power, and connects with iGo cables and interchangeable adapter tips for further device compatibility.
The Personal Energy Generator isn’t going to power your laptop, but it is good for other gadgets on the go. According to nPower, one minute of walking provides approximately one minute of listening time on an iPod Nano. Eleven minutes of walking provides approximately one minute of talk time on an iPhone 2G, and 26 minutes does the same for an iPhone 3.
Perhaps the best thing about nPower’s technology is that it’s reportedly scalable for other applications. The rep I spoke to referenced the possibility of using larger generators attached to buoys in the ocean to create a great deal more power. The size of the generator directly correlates to the amount of power produced.
nPower is latching on to a green tech trend that we’ll inevitably see more of in the coming years. (I plan to check out Green Plug, Dexim, Joos, and Goal Zero on the green front while I’m here too.) We all want more gadgets, and more gadgets means more power. It’s a good thing companies like nPower are finding innovative ways to create it that are also environmentally sound.
The PEG is on backorder now, but should be available again in one to two months. It retails for $159.
This is pretty neat. Useful if you’re hiking or even simply walking across college campus.
already been done….shake weight!
The latest version of the nPower PEG is available now and it costs less too: $130 + free shipping if you enter IN5SCKZS