K-TOR has added a new portable charging device to its lineup. The new Power Box puts your legs to work toward converting kinetic energy to electricity. Use it enough and you might just get your weekly workout. It is quite simply a pedal-powered generator equipped with a dual-pronged outlet so that you can plug in an AC adapter and charge your device directly from your leg power. The box works for devices rated 20W and below, including low-power netbooks, tablets, smartphones, video devices and portable game systems.
The Power Box is designed to be portable, so you can use it at home, at work, on the road and anywhere else that you find yourself. When not in use, it folds up into a cube that you can easily slide into your car or even a backpack. It weighs around 4 lbs. (1.8 kg) and packs down to 4.5 x 4.5 x 8.75 inches (11.4 x 11.4 x 22.2 cm).
While the exercise benefits of a small pedal device may seem negligible, a study done by the British Journal of Sports Medicine. last year indicates that a small pedal machine could counter the negative effects of remaining sedentary in an office environment. Participants in the study pedaled as much as the equivalent of 13.5 miles (21.7 km) per day and burned up to 500 calories.
Like the machine used in that study, the K-TOR device could be used from your desk chair. K-TOR president and founder Kenneth Torino also mentioned that an actual bicycle-mountable version, which would allow cyclists to harness their energy for gadget charging, is in the works.
The K-TOR Power Box will retail for around US$150. K-TOR also offers the smaller, hand-powered Pocket Socket if you want to target your biceps.
