Gadgets and gizmos

There’s a surprising number of solar chargers on the market that can be used to charge your mp3 players and mobile phones. However, many are either essentially useless or prohibitively expensive. The Power Charger, available for £24.99 from iwantoneofthose.com, is compatible with every model of iPod as well as many different mobile phone models.

By leaving the Power Charger in the sun for 10 hours, it will completely charge the battery. A fully charged battery then offers six hours of life to an mp3 player, ten hours of standby to your mobile, or two hours of talk time. What’s more it can be re-used as many as 500 times.

Let’s face it, we’re not always blessed with ten hours of sun are we? On dull days with little or no sun, you can fill the battery charge with USB power giving you a convenient and sleek emergency charger.

The Power Charger is an excellent and ecological solution to your emergency power needs. While it won’t give you a full charge it should be able to provide ample power to tide you over, and it is essentially free power that you’re getting.