Licensed emergency gear maker Etón—which is cobranded with the American Red Cross—has come up with a simple but very useful hand-cranked cell-phone charger.
This timely new product—the ‘BoostTurbine’—is essentially a hand-powered USB jack that produces small doses of critical energy for cell-phones so that they can be used during natural disaster-induced power outages.
A minute spent cranking the turbine will produce enough energy for 30 seconds of talk time or a few short texts—which is enough time to call 911 or to receive crucial disaster information.
This would have proven very useful for the thousands of New Yorkers who were cut off from power in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy—in fact, they should still get the BoostTurbine, considering that another storm is headed for the region.
The BoostTurbine is available on Amazon and retails from US$50—a colored version will set you back another US$10.
[via Etón]