The Pico by Freeloader is a portable solar powered charger designed to charge mobile phones, iPods, GPS systems, and most other portable electronic devices. The Pico has advanced solar panel and battery technology to help provide a quick charging time for the devices internal battery and a quick time for it to deliver the power to the portable electronic device connected to it.

The Pico is quite compact measuring 10.5cm x 4.5cm x 1.2cm (4.1in x 1.8in x 0.5in) and has a light weight of 49g. The device has been designed to be portable to allow charging of other portable electronic devices whenever and where-ever needed, be it stranded on an island or at home.

The Pico comes with a connector for Sony Ericsson phones, a Mini USB connector for smart phones, PDAs, GPSs, Blackberrys etc, a small tip Nokia connector, and Samsung connector. More connectors for other portable electronic devices can be brought in addition to this.

The solar panel is comprised of 75mA crystalline solar cells which charge the 800mAh  Li-ion battery within the device. The battery takes around 10 hours to fully charge when empty and has been designed to charge in all daylight conditions. The Pico does come with a USB cable to allow you to charge it from a USB port if needed, meaning that you could then charge it from your laptop or computer if you need power quickly. It takes only 3 hours to fully charge the device from empty by USB.

With a full battery, the Pico Freeloader should be able to power portable electronic devices in about 30 minutes. This should then provide a mobile phone with around 35 hours of power, an iPod with around 14 hours of power and a GPS system with around 1 1/2 hours of power. The Pico has indication lights built in which show how much charge is left within the battery and also has a solar charge indicator to help find the best position to charge it in.

Pricing for the Freeloader Pico solar charger starts at £16.95.

Want to buy this gadget? Check out the Freeloader Pico – Solar Powered Charger article on EnviroGadget to see the lowest prices for this gadget.

© 2008 to 2010 EnviroGadget.com. You can follow EnviroGadget on Twitter here!

This Solar Powered Case is designed to charge many electrical devices from solar power. It can charge most small portable electronics, for example mobile phones, compact digital cameras, and MP3/4 players.

The Solar Powered Case is large enough to hold most mobile electronics within it, to help protect them and charge them at once, and allowing it to be easily taken anywhere. The small blue bag measures 13.6 cm x 9.3 cm x 3.5 cm (5.4 in x 3.7 in x 1.4 in) externally and has an internal holding space of  11 cm x 6.8 cm x 3.2 cm (4.3 in x 2.7 in x 1.3 in). 

The solar panel connects to a 2500mAh lithium battery within which it stores the electrical energy. The device though can be connected to mains power to charge the battery as well in times when the sunlight is not strong enough.

Full charge should provide about 100 minutes of talk time on a phone. The case comes with an USB cable, a connector to connect it to mains power, and 10 different adapters for mobile phones.  The case does provide a safe environment for different electronics due to its padding while also being a store of back up power. When out camping this protection can be needed, as is the extended battery time for devices such as cameras and mobile phones. By having a solar panel this charge can then be renewed easily whenever there is decent daylight.

The solar case is costs just $32.99 plus shipping fees.

Want to buy this gadget? Check out the Solar Powered Case For Mobile Electronics article on EnviroGadget to see the lowest prices for this gadget.

© 2008 to 2010 EnviroGadget.com. You can follow EnviroGadget on Twitter here!

The Roto Charger by Ideaforge  is a wind up mobile phone charger. Compatible with many types of mobile phone this device aims to provide charge for mobile phones to those that live in remote places.

The company Ideaforge, based in Mumbai, have created the Roto Charger to help provide mobile phone power to those in the rural areas of India and other such countries who do not have access to mains electric power. This device is being advertised as the world’s first truly sustainable cellphone charger, however there have been a few comparable devices around. One such device is the YoGen which can power many different mobile devices and there have been other human-powered wind up gadgets that can also provide mobile phone charging alongside their main function.

The Roto Charger despite this is a useful device. The charger works by either cranking the handle in a traditional wind up powered method or by rolling it along a surface in a manner they call ‘roll on mode’. The charger provides 30 minutes of mobile phone stand by time or 3 minutes of call time for every minute spent winding the device. The Roto Charger can also charge a mobile phone while it is in use, using its roll on mode. The charger comes with adapter tips so it can be used on many modern mobile phones.

Want to buy this gadget? Check out the Roto Phone Charger By Ideaforge article on EnviroGadget to see the lowest prices for this gadget.

© 2008 to 2010 EnviroGadget.com. You can follow EnviroGadget on Twitter here!

This conceptual mobile phone designed by Daizi Zheng aims to replace conventional mobile batteries with an eco friendly version. It was designed for Nokia as a phone battery that is cheaper to produce, uses less resources in its production and its life time of use, while also being able to be disposed of in an environmental manner.

The proposition is that it is possible to power a phone from a carbohydrate, in this case sugar which can be found in high levels in many drinks. The interaction of enzymes with the carbohydrate generates power through an electrochemical reaction. The Eco Friendly Mobile Phone should only produce oxygen and water, as a byproduct of the reaction, which can then be poured out of the battery and down a drain once the phone battery has finally run out of charge. It is hoped that charging a phone this way would give a longer lasting charge time, predicted to be 3 to 4 times the length of charging a normal mobile battery. The designer hopes that this type of battery would be fully biodegradable.

Mobile phones normally run from a lithium battery. It is well documented that producing these batteries, charging them and then disposing of them produces quite a high quantity of pollution into the environment. Unfortunately the manufacturing of many drinks have their own negative environmental impact, from the production of the drink to the issues that arise from the drinks bottles and cans especially when these are not recycled.

By using left over bits of drink the impact is minimized to some extent. This design may well run from sugar dissolved in water which would also lessen the impact somewhat. The problem of disposing lithium batteries is rather serious, coupled with charging the battery from mains power for its life then the negative impact of a conventional lithium phone battery is quite high. Though there are a few unconsidered issues with this ‘eco friendly’ battery it is certainly a step in the right direction.

Source: Dezeen

Want to buy this gadget? Check out the Eco Friendly Mobile Phone By Daizi Zheng For Nokia article on EnviroGadget to see the lowest prices for this gadget.

© 2008 to 2010 EnviroGadget.com. You can follow EnviroGadget on Twitter here!

LG are in the process of launching the LG GD510, nicknamed “Pop”, which is a touchscreen cellphone with a 3” WQVGA screen, large solar panel on the back, and a 3MP camera with autofocus technology. The LG GD510 has been designed to offer a rich, but limited, set of features in a compact and easy to use mobile phone, which is targeted at consumers who want a touchscreen phone without all the bells and whistles or the eye-watering price tag.

The phone comes with 8GB of file storage, which can be used for photos, videos or music. The internal camera is capable of recording video as well as taking photos. Video and photos can then be shared via the usual methods. The user interface has been designed with simplicity in mind, meaning you probably won’t need to read the user manual to get started.

The solar panel has been designed to top up the battery whilst the phone is not in use. However, full technical specifications on the solar panel are not currently available. LG GD510 will be available beginning in mid-October in Europe, followed by other markets. Pricing information is not available at the time of writing.

Source: Akihabara News

Want to buy this gadget? Check out the LG GD510 Pop phone with Solar Panel article on EnviroGadget to see the lowest prices for this gadget.

© 2008 to 2010 EnviroGadget.com. You can follow EnviroGadget on Twitter here!

The SolarVoice 908 created by i.Tech Dynamic is a completely wireless Bluetooth handsfree kit that is charged via solar power. In bright sunlight, the manufacturers claim it will fully charge in 15 hours. Alternatively (and for first use) it can be charged via the mains or USB in just 3 hours. Talk time is set at around 5 hours when the headset is fully charged. If the headset always has access to sunlight, then standby time is effectively infinite.

The SolarVoice 908 comes with a cradle unit which allows the headset to be positioned in the best sunlight for charging. The headset flashes a green light whilst it is charging up too. The SolarVoice 908 will be available in Singapore from September 10th 2009 for around $73 USD.

Source: Crave

Want to buy this gadget? Check out the SolarVoice 908 – Solar-Charged Bluetooth Handsfree Headset article on EnviroGadget to see the lowest prices for this gadget.

© 2008 to 2010 EnviroGadget.com. You can follow EnviroGadget on Twitter here!

Sprint and Samsung have launched a new eco-friendly mobile phone that’s made from eco-friendly bio-plastic materials, of which 80% are recyclable. The Reclaim is a full-featured mobile phone costing less than $50 with a two year contract. The bio-plastic material makes up 40% of the Reclaim’s casing, and is made from corn.

The phone features GPS-enabled directions, a 2 mega pixel camera with 3x digital zoom, expandable storage up to 32GB using an SD card, integrated web browser and a slide out QWERTY keyboard. The phones are available in two colours, namely Earth Green and Ocean Blue.

The packaging is made from recyclable materials with soy-based inks for the printing to save on harsh chemicals. The manual is available online to save paper and CDs and the charger is an Energy Star approved energy efficient design. Sprint is also offering eco-friendly accessories, including the SOLIO Mono solar-powered charger and two new cell phone carrying cases made from 100 percent recycled plastic water bottles.

Source: Eco-Friend

Want to buy this gadget? Check out the Sprint launches Samsung Reclaim – Bio-plastic Phone article on EnviroGadget to see the lowest prices for this gadget.

© 2008 to 2010 EnviroGadget.com. You can follow EnviroGadget on Twitter here!

There’s no doubt that the iPhone platform has led to a huge torrent of great applications, and the Seasons iPhone application is a perfect example of that. The Seasons application will tell you what fruits, vegetables, lettuces, herbs, fungi and nuts are in season in your local area. By eating local and seasonal foods, you massively reduce the air miles on food produce, since the foods you eat are sourced from your local area rather than imported from another country.

The Seasons application for the iPhone makes it really easy to find the foods that are in season in any given month. Currently the application supports over 170 foods, but more will be added over time. The application will automatically detect where you are by using GPS and Wireless LAN information. Seasons currently supports Germany, France, the US, Ireland and the UK.

In addition to saving air miles, food that is in season usually tastes much better compared to artificially ripened foods. So in addition to doing the environment some good, you’ll also be treating yourself to the very best locally sourced food. Seasons is priced at $1.99 in the US, £1.19 in the UK, and 1.59 Euros in the rest of the Europe.

Want to buy this gadget? Check out the Seasons – iPhone Application for Local and Seasonal Products article on EnviroGadget to see the lowest prices for this gadget.

© 2008 to 2010 EnviroGadget.com. You can follow EnviroGadget on Twitter here!

The Dyson Energy Bracelet is a pretty novel gadget that uses the thermoelectric effect to generate electricity to charge up your cell phone. Due to a difference in temperature between the surface of the skin and the ambient environment, a Peltier element converts that temperature difference into an electrical current, which is stored in a battery on the wrist strap.

When a mobile device needs charging, the wrist strap is just plugged into the micro-USB port of the gadget to charge it up. Although you won’t get hours of use, the charge should be enough for a few minutes talk time. A cool feature on the strap allows you to check the capacity of the battery with tiny LEDs too. As far as green gadgets go, its a very creative use of the thermoelectric effect, and I imagine we’ll be seeing more of this technology in the future.

No pricing or availability information was available at the time of writing.

Source: YankoDesign

Want to buy this gadget? Check out the Dyson Energy Bracelet – Wrist Phone Charger article on EnviroGadget to see the lowest prices for this gadget.

© 2008 to 2010 EnviroGadget.com. You can follow EnviroGadget on Twitter here!

Samsung’s first solar-powered mobile phone has just started hitting the market, which is a dual band phone with a solar panel on the back. The phone features a 800mAh battery, which gives 5 to 10 minutes talk time for each 1 hour of sunlight reaching the solar panel. The Samsung Crest E1107 Solar-Powered Cellphone has been designed with affordability in mind, with reports that it’s already available in India for just $59 according to Unwired View.

The phone has the usual features, such as FM radio, MP3 ring tones, embedded games and making phone calls (!). However, there are some interesting additional features, such as a powerful torch light, mobile tracker (sends out an SOS in an emergency, and notifies you when the SIM card is changed), and a fake call feature so you can quickly get away from people you don’t like.

The phone is due to be released in India, Europe, Southeast Asia, Southwest Asia, and Latin America markets June 2009. Therefore we’d hope that it’d be in the shops very shortly. Interestingly, the phone is not targeted at the US markets.

Source: Mobile Burn

Want to buy this gadget? Check out the Affordable Samsung Crest E1107 Solar-Powered Cellphone article on EnviroGadget to see the lowest prices for this gadget.

© 2008 to 2010 EnviroGadget.com. You can follow EnviroGadget on Twitter here!