Pull-String Powered Phone Charger

These days nearly everyone's got a mobile phone and keeping it charged isn't half as hard as it used to be. Long life Lithium Ion batteries in combination with cigarette lighter adapters, traditional 120V wall chargers and even solar chargers make taking and placing calls easier, and greener, than ever! Still, nobody wants to be stuck with a dead phone, especially if you're camping or traveling.

To address those emergency-charge moments a company called Fame LLC is offering an innovative, and clean, way to charge your mobile devices using Kinetic energy. That is, you pull on a string and the device converts your physical energy into electric power which is sent directly into your phone.

This device is called a YoGen and is compatible with most smart phones and mobile devices. I've tested it out with a Blackberry and iPhone and it works great! While you could also potentially use the YoGen to charge your PSP or digital camera, it works best with phones because you usually don't have to pull for very long in order to place a call. By comparison, you might have to spend 30 minutes of pull-charging time to get in a short game or photo session.

The YoGen is about the size of Blackberry Curve or iPhone and comes in clear or black. It's designed to be fairly durable and really only has two points of interaction. A mini USB plugin where electricity flows out to your phone and a string with a plastic lever attached. When you pull quickly on the string an internal spring loaded gear extends to catch and pull a metal weight. The weight spins and produces electricity which is converted to properly charge through the mini USB or iPhone attachment.

While I haven't used my YoGen too often, it has come in handy a couple times when I was out surfing. It charges devices faster than most solar chargers and doesn't rely on the time of day or weather to function properly. I imagine this device is also cleaner to manufacture than most current generation photovoltaic chargers and won't create the same kind of pollution upon disposal or accidental combustion. The device feels pretty indestructible and priced at $50 it's similar to what you might pay for an equivalent wall powered adapter. You'll also be glad to know that it's not extremely loud to use, you can hear the gears spinning but overall the device is discrete.

The YoGen doesn't have any internal batteries so unlike kinetic powered shaker flashlights or crank powered laptops it will last as long as the string and gears are functional. I give the device two thumbs up and am excited about the future launch of other Fame LLC products. I've seen speculation on a foot powered laptop charger but the details are still up in the air and nothing has been confirmed. Check back for updates and news as it becomes available.