Battery Charger

We've seen water bottle-lanterns. We've seen lantern-flashlights. We've seen modular lanterns. The all-new Playful Base from Japan's Root Co. fits all three categories, providing multiple functions in a sleek piece of hardware.

​Shopping for frequent flyers can be difficult: Due to sheer necessity, they likely already have everything they need to navigate the inherent challenges of air travel. Here’s a selection of innovative gifts and gadgets that should surprise and please even the most well-equipped of travelers.

Slovenian shop Noordung does a few interesting things with its new e-bike, including designing a curvy take on the traditional diamond frame and integrating a boombox into its removable battery pack. This bike provides pedelec motor power, blasts music and charges your gadgets.

Just a couple of weeks ago, we looked at the Lantern, a handheld flashlight/lantern designed to bring serious versatility to your lighting arsenal. The Touch 1K from Salt Lake startup SeTaTec is a very similar handheld, albeit with a bit more smarts.

Solar panels come in a variety of guises designed to appeal to consumers looking for ways to fuel electronics on the go. Prominent among these is Solartab, a portable solar charger and back-up-battery. So how does it perform?

For the cellphone user who goes through phones quickly and always needs a charge, Enlighten's Better Re lets you get some more use out of your old phone's battery, by allowing it to slot into an adjustable external battery charger for your new phone.

Smartphones are more powerful than ever, but they still have an annoying tendency to run out of juice just when you need them most. Plan V could get you out of such a fix, as it's a small and light keyring-based device that can be used to charge your smartphone from a 9-volt battery.

It was only a matter of time before the versatility of Lego was put to use in the era of the smartphone. The COI+ Lego Power Brick, a block of Lego which acts as an external battery pack for your phone or tablet, is designed to offer on-the-go charging while adding a little creativity to the mix.

The Powertraveller silverback-gorilla is a powerful, rugged portable charger designed to deliver serious power on serious journeys.

The handheld Electromagnetic Harvester allegedly charges a AA battery using just the electromagnetic fields given off by gadgets, power lines, vehicles, and even living things.

The Sunbox USB 3.0 solar charging system provides three types of lighting, recharges mobile devices, and includes rechargeable AA batteries.

GoPro has just released its Battery BacPac, which allows a second lithium-ion battery to be added to the back of the HERO HD actioncam.