O2 Redefines ‘Push To Talk’ With Pedal Charger
Not to be beaten by Orange’s innovative mobile phone festival solutions for Glastonbury with their Dance Charger and mobile charge tent, o2 have unveiled their gimmick for the upcoming Wireless Festival this weekend. Eschewing solar power with the fickle nature of the British summer, they will offer specially equipped bikes which turn pedal power into phone juice.
In Hyde Park from the 3rd to the 6th of July, o2 will be turning revellers into Chopper lovers and BMX bandits in order to charge their handsets. However, they won’t be getting very far.
Not least that it is a difficult environment to stand upright let alone pedal about, the bike will be secured to the ground much like an exercise machine. Probably to dissuade light-fingered music fans from riding clean out of the park with a bunch of expensive tech.
Not the most fun alternative to watching your favourite band, sweating in a field to charge your phone. But at least the real-world implications for this technology is far more practical than Orange’s efforts, with that deadly commute to work being less pointless if boosting your mobile was a byproduct of push power.
Could even turn those exercise bikes in homes across the country into something other than a coat rack.
Obviously, o2 have no plans at present to release it commercially. That would make too much sense. As easy as it is to power the headlamp on a Raleigh with these things, charging a drained Nokia N95 might require a trip to the Cairngorms…
