For those times when you are hanging out in your underground lair with no sunlight to speak of, this little device could power your iPhone should the battery die. The iYo Induction Power Charger, designed by Swedish industrial designer Peter Huvander, is a yo-yo that utilizes magnetic induction to generate and store energy as it spins. Give it a few whirls, and then simply plug in your iphone for a charge!
We loved playing with yoyo’s as kids and always wished we could do those sweet tricks with to impress our friends. We never practiced though, so luckily for us this device appears to require few skills to operate.
The design renders don’t give much away and leave a little to be desired, but you get the idea. The principle infuses a spinning yo-yo with a stationary magnet and a rotating conductor, which generate enough electricity to charge a lithium-ion battery. Then when your iPhone or other Apple product needs a charge, you plug it in. Pretty simple really – we actually made something like this as a kid, but on a much smaller scale, and not nearly as cool.
Huvander, who lives in Sweden, invented this little gadget to charge his iPhone in a sustainable manner during the winter, when there is no sun. Without sun, solar power just doesn’t work very well, as Huvander explains: “To celebrate my new Iphone and the fact that darkness is looming over me. I´ve done this: An induction powered yoyocharger for Apple. And since solarchargers don´t work at night or in Sweden half the year, this should be a smash hit.”
We agree. Charging your gadgets with a yo-yo is way better than shaking a device or winding a crank, and probably a lot more efficient.
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as a yo-yo enthusiast, I love this idea.
I yo-you as a stress reliever and am well accustomed to the jokes from my coworkers (I’m 40 years old).
now I can simply respond with “I’m charging my Iphone”.
as long as the the charger has good balance & can do tricks lick a regular yo-yo then I want one.
I haven’t seen anyone playing with a yoyo for more years than I can remember. I would say it’s been decades, but I don’t want to exaggerate, though I’m not sure I would be.
I don’t like things like this. They seem all gimmick and no substance. A lot of resources will have gone into researching, designing and manufacturing this and probably hundreds of thousands will be sold… and probably end up in drawers around the globe – unused and unwanted, like most of the gimmicky garbage people buy then hide away as if ashamed of the purchase.
Don’t believe me? How many Tamagotchis are rotting away in darkened cupboards?
Yes, they might be popular for a while, might even create a craze, but they’ll just go the way of the Tamagotchi and other gimmickery of that ilk. Plus, anyone could play with the Tamagotchi, but you need to develop a certain level of skill to play with a yoyo otherwise it’s just plain boring or you spend most of your time untangling the string instead of having ‘fun’.
Of course, people will argue that it serves a purpose as a charger, that it isn’t just a toy. That’s as may be, but will it save it from the dark drawer? I think not!
Sorry, but I don’t like this.
Steve N. Lee
author of eco-blog lionsledbysheep.com
and suspense thriller ‘What if…?’
as a yo-yo enthusiast, I love this idea.
I yo-you as a stress reliever and am well accustomed to the jokes from my coworkers (I’m 40 years old).
now I can simply respond with “I’m charging my Iphone”.
as long as the the charger has good balance & can do tricks lick a regular yo-yo then I want one.
I haven’t seen anyone playing with a yoyo for more years than I can remember. I would say it’s been decades, but I don’t want to exaggerate, though I’m not sure I would be.
I don’t like things like this. They seem all gimmick and no substance. A lot of resources will have gone into researching, designing and manufacturing this and probably hundreds of thousands will be sold… and probably end up in drawers around the globe – unused and unwanted, like most of the gimmicky garbage people buy then hide away as if ashamed of the purchase.
Don’t believe me? How many Tamagotchis are rotting away in darkened cupboards?
Yes, they might be popular for a while, might even create a craze, but they’ll just go the way of the Tamagotchi and other gimmickery of that ilk. Plus, anyone could play with the Tamagotchi, but you need to develop a certain level of skill to play with a yoyo otherwise it’s just plain boring or you spend most of your time untangling the string instead of having ‘fun’.
Of course, people will argue that it serves a purpose as a charger, that it isn’t just a toy. That’s as may be, but will it save it from the dark drawer? I think not!
Sorry, but I don’t like this.
Steve N. Lee
author of eco-blog lionsledbysheep.com
and suspense thriller ‘What if…?’
unfortunately Steve’s probably correect.
Although I love yo-yo’s, I’m pretty unique (nerd) & I don’t know anyone else that does..