Oh! Gizmo

By Evan Ackerman

I don’t know what it is with car chargers and their tendency to look bulgy and phallic. Why would anyone want something like that sticking out of their dashboard? Belkin’s new Micro Auto Charger, on the other hand, fits snugly into your cigarette adapter, and makes it look like you have a factory installed USB charging port in your car. It doesn’t get much more seamless than this.

The Micro Auto Charger outputs 1 amp, which is twice as much as a standard USB port, meaning your gadgetry will charge omgextraüberfast. It costs just $15, or you can get it with an iPod/iPhone charging cable for $5 more. Look for it starting next month.

[ Belkin ] VIA [ iLounge ]

By David Ponce

Primitive though it may be, walking is an endeavor still enjoyed by a few. And these sprightly urbanites will soon be able to get something in return for their efforts (you know, aside from good health): gadget-recharging electricity. The nPower PEG (Personal Energy Generator) is a device that harvests the kinetic energy of your walking and turns it into electricity, charging most devices up to 80% with just one hour’s worth of walking. Toss it into a bag along with any USB 2.0 powered device, and it’ll charge as you walk. The rep did not mention whether jumping around spastically would make things go faster.

The nPower PEG in being pre-sold on their website, and will be available in six months for $149. The company hopes that as it gets manufactured in increasingly larger quantities, the price will drop accordingly.

Full press release after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »