By Andrew Liszewski
Billed as the “World’s only Apple-certified solar charger carrying case” the new Solar Surge from Novothink for the iPhone 3G/3GS and the iPod Touch lets you harvest the sun’s energy to replenish your device’s less than epic battery. According to the Novothink website, “2 hours of direct solar exposure provides about 30 minutes of talk time on a 3G network or 60 minutes of talk time on a 2G network”, but if the sun hasn’t made an appearance you can always fall back to the included USB cable for charging its built-in lithium-ion polymer battery.
A series of 4 multi-colored LEDs on the back of the case lets you see the battery’s remaining charge, and they’ll also let you know if there’s enough light available to actually take advantage of the built-in solar cell. In fact Novothink has even gone above and beyond the call of duty by providing their free Solar Planner app for either device, which provides an estimate of how long you’ll have to leave the Surge in the sun to maintain your iPhone or Touch’s battery level, depending on the current weather conditions and your location.
Eventually available in 6 different colors, the Surge for the iPhone runs $79.95, while the single colored iPod Touch model is currently on sale for $52.95.
Ugh, not another of the same…..
Can someone make a charger that just uses a power injection port pass-through?
So there will be 30-pin port on the outside of case?
My car-kit uses the 30-pin port to control the phone and play the music.
If I have to remove my phone from it's case every time I want to use it in my car, these are useless to me.
A good idea, but with some major downfalls, I think. First of all, can't plug anything into it with the case on. Bummer. Second of all, it's a little on the bulky side. Ultra bummer.
What are with the ugly cases of newer phones? I think solar power aids are great and all, but these are ugly.
What are with the ugly cases of newer phones? I think solar power aids are great and all, but these are ugly.