Vodafone’s Power Pants promise to charge your mobile from your back pocket
By Rich Leigh on Wednesday, June 12, 2013
In a timely PR stunt, Vodafone has created Power Shorts, a prototype product that uses thermal energy to charge your mobile if you can’t get to a plug. According to the source (mentioned below) a day’s worth of walking ‘should give a smartphone an extra four hours of charge’, which as funny as the concept sounds, could be pretty useful.
(Update: It was just pointed out to me by @stina_eakins that Vodafone also worked with fashion designer Richard Nicoll in 2012 on a handbag that does the same thing)
The denim shorts’ Power Pocket uses ‘smart fabrics’, and is one of two products Vodafone is working on in time for festival season. The phone company will also be testing out the Recharge Sleeping Bag, promising that eight hour’s sleep in the bag can deliver as much as an extra 11 hours of power to a smartphone.
Unless you’re a nevernude, like Tobias Funke, however, it doesn’t look like there’s a Power Pocket version of the product for men just yet.
Stephen Beeby, Professor of Electronic Systems at the University of Southampton, working on the concepts, said,
“We are exploring two specific technologies to charge the Power Pocket: thermoelectrics and kinetic energy harvesting.”
Vodafone UK’s Director of Communications, Christian Cull said,
“Our ambition was to create a practical but exciting solution to the charging-related issues experienced by many at outdoor events. We hope that people harness the power in their pocket to keep them chatting, texting, browsing and photographing throughout their entire festival season!
Source: Diffusion’s Christopher Charley, who tweeted with this TechDigest link (which has a bit more about the technical side of things for those that way inclined)
