TRAVEL/ENERGY SPECIAL...BATTERY BOOSTERS

BATTERY BOOSTERS  Six Ways to Squeeze More Out of Your Gizmo  Stuck in a jungle or in a two-horse town without electricity?  Well, you can still keep your favourite gadget throbbing with these cool options. From backpack to jacket, from cell phone case to hand-powered dynamo. Six ways to stay charged. Anywhere, anytime.  1 SAMSONITE SOLAR BACKPACK Rs.10,000 This is Samsonite’s first solar backpack, part of the Torus range. It has a large bank of solar cells and inside, there is a lithium-ion battery to store the energy received from sun. The solar panel section (with battery inside) is completely detachable if you don’t want to carry the entire backpack. Just keep your gadgets inside the removable section and connect them to the battery to charge them up. The battery pack can be fully charged if the backpack is left in direct sunlight for about 3 to 4 hours. It’s ideal for someone who spends a lot of time on the road or for hikers/backpackers who don’t know when they’ll get access to a charging port (but still want to keep their gadgets alive). The backpack itself is available only in classic black, but it does have a rear padded compartment big enough to hold a 15-inch laptop plus separate compartments for other gadgets including a compact camera and iPad. Buy it if: You need an efficient solar charging solution that can also hold all your gadgets. 2 COOLER MASTER PORTABLE CHARGER Rs.1,399 onwards Portable battery packs like the Power Fort series from Cooler Master (www.coolermaster.in) can provide loads of extra power when you’re on a trip, need to charge multiple devices at a time or just as emergency backup power. Different sizes (different battery capacities) are available depending on what kind of devices you want to charge. Shown here is the 1500mAh version which can be used to recharge all kinds of phones, PDAs, GPS devices and MP3 players. It has a full size USB port so that you can use the USB cable that came with your device. It also charges via USB — and a mini USB cable is supplied for that purpose. All Power Fort chargers have LED battery life indicators, built-in overcharge and discharge protection and short-circuit protection. An added advantage is that it can be used to charge devices while it is itself being charged. Buy it if: You need an additional, lightweight battery pack that can be used to charge several different devices on the go. 3 BATTERY BOOSTER CASES Rs.4,000 onwards (plus shipping & customs) If the built-in battery of your smartphone just can’t last through the day with your kind of usage, getting a battery pack expansion case is a convenient option. It’s less fiddly than carrying around a spare battery (which you have to recharge separately) and uses up less space as compared to carrying a wall charger with you wherever you go. Each case is designed for a specific device and snaps into the charging port. A slim battery built into the case can literally double the usual battery life of your device. Because of the built-in lithium-ion battery, a battery booster case is a little thicker and heavier than the average case, but for power/heavy users, the trade-off is well worth it. PowerSkin (www.power-skin.com) makes battery cases for different popular devices, including the iPhone 4/4S, Galaxy S III, HTC One S, BlackBerry Bold and BlackBerry Curve. Buy it if: You need more battery life to last through the day or if you need to go longer between recharges. 4 AA-BASED MOBILE CHARGER Rs. 499 onwards This clever and portable charger uses a single AA battery to provide a little bit of extra juice to your phone. Since AA batteries are readily available, you can use it when you don’t have access to a wall socket. Plus, it doubles up as an LED torch. The casing is tough aluminium and available in different colours to suit your taste. Note that this isn’t really a charger — you can’t use it to fully charge a depleted battery — but it can provide some power to make a few calls and it doesn’t work with all kinds of phones. The box inlcudes three or four common types of pins/connectors for mobile phones — micro USB, mini USB, two types of Nokia pins and one for older Sony Ericsson phones. Check that your phone is compatible before picking it up. Buy it if: You need something inexpensive, light and small to provide a little bit of extra power. It can also be handy in emergencies — to keep one in the car for instance. 5 HAND CRANK MOBILE CHARGER Rs. 2,000 Would you like to charge your phone up with energy you create? Stay off the grid for charging your phone? Using the simple priciple of the dynamo, this hand crank mobile charger can provide a quick boost to battery life, especially in emergency situations, when all you need to do is make that one extra call. Admittedly, the rotating action only provides a trickle charge which is not enough to fully charge a depleted battery. But if your phone is about to switch off, you can connect it and keep winding the handle for as long as you need to talk. Some versions of this charger come with a set of pins to connect different types of phones — check that your phone type is supported before you buy. Some newer versions just have a simple USB port, so that you can connect your own USB data cable (none are supplied). Also note that this device does not provide enough power to charge a tablet. Buy it if: You want a conversation starter, if you need an eco-friendly way to extend phone battery.     6 ZEGNA ISOLARX JACKET Rs.40,000 onwards (plus shipping & customs) Italian high-end clothing manufacturer Ermenegildo Zegna released the iSolarX jacket in 2008. It uses high-effi ciency iSolarX cells — only a few of them are required to collect enough sunlight to power a device. The iSolarX cells, developed by Interactive Wear AG, are sown into the neoprene collar of the jacket. When you’re in the sunlight, the jacket can either collect and store energy for later use or directly charge a connected device. Built-in LEDs indicate the state of charge and the jacket allows you to switch between 5 or 6 volts, depending on the device you connect to it. Buy it if: You have a lot of cash to spare and if you spend a lot of time in outdoor activities. Hitesh Raj Bhagat ET121027