galapagos travel: Umiushi Smapho 2800 portable charger hands-on: one plug for iPhone, another one for micro-USB

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Umiushi Smapho 2800 portable charger hands-on: one plug for iPhone, another one for micro-USB

As an Engadget reader, you'll gain extra street cred if you're using an iPhone and, well, a non-iPhone at the same time; or maybe you've got all your media content on an iPod instead of having everything on your non-Apple smartphone. Either way, this means that you'd need to carry at least two types of cables for emergency charging on the go. To save the hassle, PANS Ltd. from Japan has come up with a neat solution: Umiushi Smapho 2800, which is apparently the industry's first external battery with a built-in iPod dock connector and a micro-USB plug, both of which can be used simultaneously to sip on the 2,800mAh reservoir with 5V 1A output. Sure, you could alternatively just get hold of Apple's micro-USB adapter and keep one micro-USB cable with you, but if you're also looking for an external battery anyway then the option's there, too. Expect to see the Smapho 2800 in various markets in two months' time.

Update: OK, so this is indeed not the first dual-plug type battery -- reader scoobydooby pointed out that Powermat's "Power! Dual 1850" does the same thing, albeit with a smaller capacity.

Gallery: Umiushi Smapho 2800 portable charger