Ardica Portable Power – warmth and charging on the go

Apparel, Energy systems
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ardica-backpack.jpgThis is quite nifty – a company called Ardica have created a combo gadget that simultaneously charges your gadgets and warms your cockles. They’re calling it a “portable power and heating system”. Basically, it’s a wearable power pack.

You’ll need a “compatible” jacket to take advantage of the heating. That’s the first time I’ve ever worried about whether my jacket is “compatible” with anything before. You’ll get 3 hours of high heat out of it, and 8.6 hours of low heat. They reckon the device will provide heat up to 100 degrees, which i’m hoping is Fahrenheit, rather than Celsius. Or Kelvin, for that matter.

They also reckon you’ll get 11 full cell-phone charges, or 20 iPod or GPS charges, out of the thing – which strikes me as a lot. Impressive. It only weighs 300g too. Charging the device will take 3 hours, but you can get to 80% capacity in 1.5 hours.

Very nifty. Especially as the nights are drawing in. If I’d known, I’d have made this my choice for my top winter gadget. Ah well, there’s always next year. The power bits will cost you US$145, plus you’ll need to have Ardica-enabled outerwear, which will add US$50 or so to the price of the jacket. Think of it like a wearable, rechargable, electric blanket that charges your iPhone. Brilliant.

Ardica

Related posts: Top Winter Gadgets | iPod Jumpers

Duncan Geere
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