I want it now! Vodafone is going to rehearse this weekend at a popular UK music festival a multifunction umbrella: it protects from the rain (which is very likely in the case of the British Isles) and the sun. But in reality it is designed to function as a mobile charger and amplifier of the coverage of its antenna. Come on, a cool one.
The prototype, which has been created in association with the prestigious University College London, will be distributed by various music festivals in the UK this summer. The first stop will be the weekend of next week, June 22, at the Isle of Wight Festival.
The umbrella (or umbrella, depending on how you look at it) has been designed to function as an environmentally friendly mobile charger. Thanks to a series of solar panels placed in its glass, it generates enough electricity to charge the battery. But it is also that the same electricity feeds a micro antenna, which will increase the power of the 3g signal wirelessly. As if that were not enough, it incorporates an LED flashlight for the night and a hands-free to use the mobile without releasing it.
The Booster Brolly, as they have called it, works with a wide range of mobile devices and can charge its batteries in less than three hours. Although its mission as a charger is only for a simultaneous use, via USB, friends around you can also take advantage of its signal amplification capacity if they are within a radius of one meter away. Otherwise, the structure of the umbrella is made of carbon fiber and hides all the circuitry for this imaginative and practical gadget.
Now you just have to pressure Vodafone in its forums, Facebook and Twitter pages to bring the invention to Spain as well. Not surprisingly, here it is much more sunny and will have a greater use.
We have seen it in Engadget