Tremont Electric has developed the nPower® PEG (Personal Energy Generator), a small, lightweight device that recharges your hand-held electronics from the kinetic energy you generate while walking, running, or biking. Slip it in your backpack, briefcase, or purse and go about your daily activities. As you move, your PEG will continuously top-off its internal battery providing you with extra power when you need it, while you’re on the go. And in an emergency, shaking your PEG will give you the ability to call for help. Durable polycarbonate frame and titanium casing, adaptive control system that automatically adjusts to your activity to capture maximum power, recyclable lithium polymer battery stores energy for up to a year, and USB 2.0 interface and universal iGo tip system let you use the PEG with over 3,000 hand-held devices. $149.99.
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They are not shipping yet. I pre-ordered mionths ago when they first started marketing them. They had indicated they would start shipping in June but I got an e-mail last week indicating that they had additional delays with no ETA on a new ship date.
@Bruce – Thanks for the big heads-up on availability. I hope this doesn’t become one of those products that looks like a great idea, but the company producing it can’t get it off the ground. Please let us know if/when you receive it.
Not sure I’d be comfortable pre-ordering a device without some more solid technical information (watts, volts, etc).
@Mystech – There is a spec page that may give you the info you are looking for:
http://www.npowerpeg.com/personalenergy/specs
A pity there is no european release planned for the moment
^M^
Fantastic idea, but way too expensive, too heavy(12oz), and too low capacity (1000mAh). How is this really superior to an ordinary charger that uses AA-batteries, and carrying a few AA batteries ? Alkaline batts have shelf life of several years, so a spare set will last a long long time.
chriszzz .. you got a very good point.
this might be useful for people at the age of “book for eli” for his iPod
Based upon their sales figures (probably inflated), it’ll take about 30 hours of walking to recharge a smartphone battery fully.
If you’re thru-hiking, where you’re hiking 10+ hrs/day and leaving your phone off a lot, this seems like a good buy–I tried using solar panels for my thru, and that was a complete waste… I would not take their marketing figures at face-value and presume that these guys will perform about half as well as they say.
That said, to maximize their effectiveness, you’d want to put them on your trekking poles (a well-packed backpack shouldn’t jump around too much anyway). For that, you’d want one on each pole to equalize the weight distribution anyway. That way you’re making your arms more buff while not hurting your back and knees so much.
Still.. that’s now $300 to recharge your phone, if you’re on a long trip without many stops to town, I’d say this thing could be worth it… Having email + GPS + camera in the woods is a huge quality add, IMO.
As for the AA alternative: that’s what I eneded up doing, and it works.. but it’s pretty labor and trash intensive to hitch into town every week and it sucks psychologically and physically carrying around a bunch of dead batteries.
This gadget is actually for sale, finally!
I’ve got a promo code that gives free shipping on the npowerpeg.com web site: IN5SCKZS
@Morgan – Thanks for the heads up and the code! The actual product is a bit more sleek than the military surplus-looking prototype above. A bit pricey, but I’d like to know how well it actually works. Perhaps a review may be in order…