Little Device Steals From Battery-Rich to Give to Power-Poor

chargebite

You learn who your true friends are when you need to move, borrow money, or leech some power from their phone batteries to top off your own. For that last situation, ChargeBite is a brilliant device that lets you “borrow” some battery power from two friends to add a little juice to your iPhone when it starts running low.

vampire iphone charger

The ChargeBite doesn’t contain a battery itself; rather, it has three 30-pin connectors. Plug an iPhone into each connector and the device will take 5% of each “donor” phone’s battery power, revving up the third phone’s battery by 5%. Sure, the ChargeBite won’t give you a fully-charged battery – but it will give you enough to make an important phone call or wait for that urgent text.

ChargeBite, described as a “social charger,” causes you to rely on the goodness and generosity of those around you. And maybe more importantly, it works instantly, with no preparation or pre-charging required. The device is robust and solid with no loose parts to break off, and it can fit on your key ring so that you (and your friends, if you’re feeling generous) will always have a lifeline – as long as you can find two other iPhones with charitable owners.

submit to reddit
See more in Phones & Mobile or under Gadgets. April, 2013.