Movement Powers Your Smartphone With Genneo Mobile Generator

What's This?

By Eva Recinos2013-11-01 00:25:57 UTC

As innovators look for ways to keep mobile devices charged when away from power outlets, Genneo offers a new alternative that generates power from an unexpected source — your movement.

Through a standard USB port, the product turns your movement into power for electronic devices like smartphones, cameras and tablets.

The initial idea to create the product sprang from an attempt to improve the usability of linear generators; a type of generator that creates power through linear movement, versus others that use spinning parts. Linear generators have been used in objects like shaker flashlights, which don't use battery — users shake the flashlight to power it.

Co-founder Blake Isaacs realized linear generators used in shaker flashlights hardly produced enough energy — definitely not enough to power a mobile device. After he figured out how to improve the functionality and increase the power of the generator, he called on Daniel Vega to create a sleek design for the entire product.

Genneo can reportedly charge a mobile device with any type of movement so a user could purposefully shake it or just leave it in a pant pocket while taking a hike.

"It [the movement] doesn’t have to be very significant — I don’t have to be jumping or running, just the walking movement will charge it and then, like any linear device, you can shake it too and that will make it charge it quicker," Vega told Mashable. "The charging depends on how much movement you put into it."

The G4000 model offers up to one hour in talk time for every five hours it charges. The G3000 gives your device the same amount of talk time but after seven hours of charging. The other difference in the two models is size — the G4000 measures 9.7 inches while the G3000 measures 8.2 inches. Both contain a battery with 3400 mAH (or milliampere hour) and 2900 mAH, respectively. Made of aluminum, they both also boast the added perk of being weather-proof.

"One of our goals was to make the product as simple and easy to use as possible — and as user friendly as possible — so it only has one button on the top that you press," said Vega.

The device also includes a micro USB port and comes with a pre-charging cable with a standard USB connection on the other side; that cable allows you to plug in one end into Genneo and the other end into your mobile device. An LED battery gauge shows how much battery power Genneo has left. That way, you'll know when to charge the device, especially before long trips.

"You can also pre-charge it so if you know, for example, you're going on a camping trip where there is no power, you can make sure your device is completely charged." said Vega.

At the time of writing, the product's Kickstarter campaign had 37 backers and the team had reached $7,237 of its $100,000 goal. The campaign will continue for another 24 days.

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Images: Genneo

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