The company that brought the world the wind-up radio, Freeplay Energy, is to launch the first portable mobile-phone charger in collaboration with Motorola.

The unit, which will retail for between £39 and £49, goes on sale at the end of November 2001 and allow users to recharge their mobiles without needing an electrical socket. 

The battery, which weighs 7 ounces and is the size of a cell phone, needs just 45 seconds of cranking to generate enough power for 5 to 6 extra minutes of cell phone life.


The charger is about the same size as a mobile phone. It has been designed to match Motorola's product range but the company intends to make it possible to use the same device on other brands, like Nokia or Ericsson, and should have something for sale by the second quarter of 2002. 

Freeplay said it worked with Motorola because it was the most interested in moving into other product areas. 

The charger will be launched first in America and Europe and then later in Asia and Africa. 

Motorola is making the device through a partnership with Freeplay Energy Group, which creates other wind-up power sources.