Nokia's bike-powered phone charger
By Rain Noe - June 3, 2010
While the iPhone has famously captured a large chunk of the largely urban smartphone market, it is still industry giant Nokia that equips most of the rest of the world with cell phones. A product they've just announced that ought to be a big hit in your average dusty rural village is their bicycle-powered phone charger:
Power comes from a small dynamo contacting the front wheel and attached to a small circuitry box, juice flows north through a cable, and the phone is attached to the handlebars via a large rubber band. Simple, useful, and a huge boon to the millions of cell phone users worldwide without easy access to a steady supply of electricity.
via gadgetlab and nokia conversations
Mike Nelson Pedde
I remember using a generator like that to run a headlight, a 'few' years ago!
But then, William Kamkwamba of Malawi used one to light his parent's house: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/william_kamkwamba_on_building_a_windmill.html
Rain Noe is a writer and industrial designer based in New York City.