That’s a bit of a grandiose way of describing it, to be honest. It only charges a set of AA batteries, which you’re then supposed to charge your own gadgets with. But it is powered by the current in a stream of water, so the ‘hydroelectric’ part is correct. And hey, it makes for a better headline, so we’re not apologizing. What’s more, we kind of like what HydroBee is trying to do here. It’s supposed to be a replacement for other take-you-off-the-grid gadgets, which use a variety of methods for generating power in the wild. They usually have their drawbacks however, like solar powered chargers requiring, well, sunlight. And even hydrogen fuel cells will eventually run out, because you can’t very well carry thousands of hydrogen packs with you. The HydroBee’s achilles heel is of course that it requires the presence of a stream, but if you do have that, you can count on almost unlimited power, day or night. Just place it in the water with a tether, and come back two hours later to a charged set of batteries. And that’s 12,500mAh, which should be enough juice to charge your phone up a couple times.
Currently doing the Kickstarter dance, a $78 pledge will get you the whole system.
[ Project Page ] VIA [ Gizmag ]
