Cyclists are already doing their bit to help the environment by eschewing a fossil-fuel guzzling transport option. Now they can do a little bit more using Nokia’s newly unveiled Bicycle Charger Kit which lets cyclists charge their mobile phone using pedal power. The kit employs a bottle dynamo that is driven when in contact with the front wheel like those found on ye olde time bicycle lights.
Charging times will obviously vary depending on the phone and cycling speeds, but Nokia says cycling for 20 minutes at 20 kmh (12.4 mph) will power up a Nokia 1202 for around one hour of talk time, or 74 hours of standby time. Charging starts when the cyclist hits walking speed, or around 6 km/h (3.7 mph), and at 12 km/h (7.4 mph) it will charge your phone as efficiently as a mains charger. And there’s no need to worry about going to fast and sending a power spike to your phone as the charger will cut out if you somehow exceed 50 km/h (31 mph).
The kit consists of three components: a bottle dynamo, charger and a phone holder. The bottle dynamo fits to the front of the bike with a mounting bracket, while the charger and phone holder attach to the handlebars so you can see the charging progress and carry out a hands-free conversation or listen to music on your phone’s speakers.
The phone holder is rubberized to protect your phone from vibrations and comes with a transparent bag to protect your phone from dirt and weather. The charger also boasts an ultrasonically welded case and clear coating on the electronics. Both the charger and holder can be easily removed whenever you park your bike to prevent theft of the unit.
Nokia’s Bicycle Charger Kit is compatible with any Nokia phone with a 2 mm charging interface and is easy to install. I only hope that the bottle dynamos have improved in the couple of decades since I used one to power a light on my early morning paper route.
The idea of using pedal power to charge mobile devices isn’t new. There are other chargers such as the PedalPower+ we looked at last year that charge not only mobile phones, but also GPS units and MP3 players. But with Nokia still retaining top spot in terms of mobile phone sales there’s sure to be a market for a Nokia specific charging option such as this.
There’s no word from Nokia on pricing or a release date for the Bicycle Charger Kit as yet.
Genius would be if the generator was used to power an electric motor driving the bicycle. Now that would be clever..... Still, an \"over-unity\" bike can\'t be that far off...... ;)
The worst part of the situation is that these generators were the WORST designed things to generate electricity ever invented - 100W of effort to generate 5W of light.
And all the idiots kept on manufacturing them \"just like that\".
If they had nice free running ball bearings, instead of the one long HUGE shitty and poorly lubricated plain bearing, if they had a decent permanent magnet and fine little field windings on soft iron poles, like a proper AC generator......
But nooooooo the stupids kept on doing the really crappy me too brain dead design and they all did cheap versions of it....
That is why SOME companies made little dynamos\'s from proper components and these things spun like one winged blow flies, and made heaps of power.
I really hate STUPID designs, I hate CHEAP designs and I hate BADLY made cheap and stupid designs..... and I hate the people that make them.
I had a few of these abortions on my bikes when I was a kid and I still resent the pox bottle generator and the people all along the supply chain who make and distribute them.
Allowing for losses etc., it should only take about 12W of power to make 10W of light - but these bottle generators make 5W of light for 100W of power.
Crap.
Dr.A.Jagadeesh Nellore(AP),India
What has improved hugely is the performance of dynamo powered lights. A modern LED light is much much better than anything available decades ago - they\'ve been getting better and better even over the last few years.