Nokia rides you hard for power Nokia will shortly launch a bicycle-powered recharging kit for its phones, providing free power as long as you can pedal at eight miles per hour. Not entirely free of course, you'll pay for it in food energy and tired leg muscles. The kit will be available around the world later this year, and consists of the familiar "bottle …
The Son dynamo hub can hook up to a E-WERK by Busch & Müller to charge your devices. There isn't any power left over for lights, but what the hey.
I have both a Son dynamo hub on one bike, and a Busch & Müller tire dynamo on another. The B&M really doesn't produce a lot of drag, once you are going.
The rub on the tyre is probably adjustable. This should let you either use SportsTracker while going for a long ride, let you take occasional photos and perhaps upload them on-the-fly while not completely killing your battery. If you're the ultra-sporty type you can use it to track longer training sessions around Richmond Park.
There's also the Maps navigation use-case, although I don't like the idea of having to wear earphones while cycling around London, and sunny conditions might make the screen difficult to see.
Good on Nokia, I say! It's quite an environmentally conscious company, although it rarely makes the press, and shareholders don't seem to care either.
Nokia may have, comparatively speaking (for a major globocorp whose devices all use batteries) a decent environmental conscience, but considering that: A) phones already come with a charger; and B) it probably costs more in energy and resources to manufacture the dynamo/charging kit than the phone would actually use in charge over its entire lifetime, I don't believe this is in any way "green". Excellent on a practical level for people in developing countries, yes, but green - no.
The whole "buy this shiny thing, it helps save the planet" marketing angle is a crock.
Dynamos are alive and well. Just because you stopped cycling when you were ten doesn't mean everyone else did.
Alot of dynamos now are built into wheel hubs, and the drag is equivalent to cycling up ~5 feet per mile. That's not enough to be called a slope, even if you live in Norfolk.
Bottle dynamos are less efficient, about 10-15 feet per mile (boo hoo)
Reelights and similar use non contact dynamos - a loop of wire on the frame and a magnet on the wheel - pure induction, no mechanical drag. Yes they also take energy, but at less than 5 feet/mile you'll not notice.
this thingy is not meant for you to save the ~1W the phone charger consumes - It is about giving you longer autonomy, clearly targetted at GPS-savvy people. For one, I surely want to get one - I don't ride long rides that often, but when I do, it's always a turn-down that the battery dies after tracking ~50-60Km.
Actually what I want would be to combine this into an exercise bike that links to Google Street View for virtual travel combined with real exercise. I doubt any practical generator could provide enough power for the entire system including the computer, display(s), and network hardware, but the system can tap the extra power from mains and the generator would be a minor selling point: "In emergency situations, you can cut out the extras and at least still be able to charge your cell phone."
Actually, when I think about it that way, this sounds like a tail wagging the dog. I guess I'd skip the generator part...
In America you would get a patent granted for this... Despite you being able to make one from nothing more than a standard dynamo (6volt), a 5 volt regulator (pennies) and the USB lead you get with most phones.
It certainly sounds like a good idea, I just hope they have improved the GPS reception on newer phones, as the N97 lags so far behind at anything beyond walking pace, it'll be shouting directions to you just as you pass the junction you wants. That's certainly my experience of it in my car, so I went back to my tom tom.
I've actually been looking for something like this, as I occasionally do long bike rides following a GPX route on the ViewRanger app on my 5800XM with handlebar mount. After 3 hours or so the battery starts dying with the screen on and the GPS connected. This would be a great solution for that.
How about making the phones themselves do what they're supposed to first?
As a long time (not sure how much longer) Nokia fan, disgruntled N900 owner and spouse of disgruntled N97 owner I think they have more important things to work on than a f@#%ing cycle-mounted phone charger.
Nokia have really lost their way.
You need to get away from the "almost an iPhone" products and look at what is happening in the E series. Nobody told these guys you had to touch the screen and they just keep packing in stuff and making the phones smaller and batteries bigger. I've got an E55 that does everything but cook breakfast and I can run all of it with my left hand (handy since my right hand is in a splint).
Note of caution - the E series phones will not change your life, will not make you popular at parties and will not encourage you to join the local ashram. It is a bloody good phone however and has enough goodies (hardware and apps) to keep you occupied for months.
I agree the E Series tend to be very good. I have gone back to my E90 from the N900.
I only got the N900 as my E90 is starting to look a bit battered and was tired of waiting (probably in vain) for a replacement for the E90.
Battery life on my E90 seems twice as good as on the N900. :-(
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