Some powerful solutions for a dead cellphone
SpareOne is a backup mobile phone that can hold a 15-year charge on one AA battery. The phone is intended to be there for when people need to make an emergency call but discover they’ve exhausted their regular cellphone via game playing, texting and taking pictures. Users take the SIM card out of their dead-battery phone and insert it into the SpareOne slot so they can make calls again. Slim and lightweight, the phone can access 911 services whether or not there’s a SIM card inserted — handy because some new phones’ microSIMs are not supported by SpareOne. A 2013 Consumer Electronics Show Innovations Award winner, the device is a sad commentary in that we need backup safety devices for existing safety devices we have co-opted in the name of fun. $100; visit spareone.com.
Car charger for iPhone 5
Belkin International will be correctly identified as the first accessory manufacturer to release a car charger for the iPhone 5’s new lightning charging port. But While not first to market, Griffin Technology’s PowerJolt SE has the distinction of being the first lightning charger offering a cigarette lighter adapter whose attached cord plugs into the iPhone 5. It also features a 10-watt charging circuit and built-in self-resetting fuse that ensures there will be no power fluctuations during charging. Aside from the fact this is among the first batch of car adapters for the iPhone 5, there isn’t much else to report except that Belkin’s Car Charger for Lighting ($30, belkin. com) is remarkably similar and did hit the street earlier. $25; visit griffintechnology.com.