Otaku Gadgets

I have recently been noticing a lot of new Eco-gadgets (or green gadgets if you will) in the market. A year or two back, these genuine eco-friendly products were barely practical let alone cool. But all that has changed. They are now looking pretty sleek and you can actually use them if you can get them. They aren’t always available and they are not available everywhere. If you do get them rest assured that that they are pretty cool and very practical.

Take the water-powered clock for instance (no catch) or the solar-powered Bluetooth speaker that works great for the outdoors. All of these gadgets are simply great for your all your hikers, campers or simply pool party people. Free yourself from wires, batteries and go green. Sounds like something you want in on? Read on my dear reader.

Here are 8 gadgets that I have chosen for this post. Some of them I have come to know about only today during my research and some of them I have been noticing for quite some time now. They are all pretty practical and that’s why I have chosen them.

1. The Citizen Eco-Drive Watch – This one is in no way a new development. I remember seeing ads for this all around quite a few years back. The idea here is simple. Usually the light-powered watches look cheap and often look hideous. Citizen however has brought out watches that no only run on energy derived from light but also look stunning. You do not have worry about not being able to wear your precious eco gear to parties because with steel casings, bands and fantastic design integration of the photocells, you won’t know the difference. Till you go years without a battery change that is! No battery change, ever!
2. The USB Cell – This has been around for quite some time as well but not as long as the Eco Drive watches. The concept is simple. Why waste the energy on your USB ports and why use wall sockets to recharge batteries. You can recharge the USB Cells directly from your USB ports! These are standard AA sized batteries till you flip open the top to reveal a USB head. Plug ‘em in while you are plugged in and use ‘em when you are out and about. Use them over and over an over again and stop buying batteries.
3. Verilux ReadyLight Solar Powered Emergency Light – The name pretty much says it all. Here’s a flashlight that provides bright lighting during emergency situations via 6 high intensity LEDs. It charges via the built in solar panel and never needs to see a wall socket in its life. You can take this out with you on camping trips and always have an emergency light on hand.
4. Mintpass Shakenergy – All those solar powered things are fine and dandy. But what happens when you discover yourself in an emergency situation without a charged device at hand? This ingenious company (mintpass) takes that questions and develops something that can produce electricity in all conditions. All you have to do is shake it! Yes, shake it. By shaking it you make a copper coil bobbin move around a permanent magnet. Science takes over at this point. This is how all energy is generated in today’s word (almost). Faraday’s law, go read about it or ask an 8^th grade student or something.
5. Voltaic Backpack – A company called Voltaic makes these solar powered backpacks. Wait a minute – since when did backpacks need ‘power’? Well, ever since they started charging your laptop on the go for free! They come with solar panels attached (they look pretty good as you can see) and generate enough electricity to fully charge your laptop in a few hours. The company also makes messenger bags with solar panels on them if you are interested.
6. Bedol Water-powered clock – It is exactly what the name says. It is a clock powered by water. It is a brilliant invention really. Made out of recyclable material, this clock uses nothing but water to run itself. It can run for a month and more on a single refill. Even when you are changing the water, you will not lose any settings because it has a chip inside that remembers the time and settings as you change the water. It can run on any kind of tap water and all you have to do is to add a dash of natural limejuice at every refill to get the chemical process going. Now this is one of those brilliant ideas that make for really simple and elegant solutions.
7. MotionTouch Powcell Light Powered iPhone charger – Sounds almost too good to be true but it is true. This is a simple sleeve that slides on to the back of your iPhone and keeps it charged at all times no matter where you are. Imagine taking the latest iPhone 3GS and going around in remote places with GPS support all the way. You will never run out of charge and if you have coverage, it will be the best trip ever!
8. Devotec Solar Sound Bluetooth Speakers –Imagine you are at a pool party and you want some music. Or may be you are on a camping trip or hiking. You can carry this Bluetooth portable speaker set and play music through it no matter where you are because this device is powered by the sun. Solar power is such a wonderful thing. You will never need to worry about having a charged device ever again. The website has an animated header to give you a better idea on all the situations where you can use this. I personally love the idea and the sophistication.

So there you have it. These devices are all green and they are as practical as they are cool. They are very useful in remote areas and can save you a lot of money on electricity and batteries. If you get one of them or have something similar, to give us a holler in the comments section below.