Charge up

I recently came across an invention that addresses battery power in a fashion forward manner. A college student at Iowa State University designed a handbag that charges your gadgets and gizmos while out running around town. If you have ever run out of charge on your cell phone during an important conversation without hope of finding a charger to call the person back, then the Power Purse may be just what you need.


The Power Purse, invented by Joe Hynek, draws energy from the sun via mini solar panels and converts that energy into watts for all of your gadgets to feed on via a built in USB port. In addition, there is a glow pad inside the purse, so you can find your keys or lip gloss in the dark. With this environmentally friendly bag, you will never run out of cell phone or iPod power in those key must have moments.

The purse is available through Solarjo, a wearable technology distributor, and to the tune of $300 you too can be worry free of ever losing charge on your favorite electronic.

I'm interested to hear what everyone thinks about this purse. I think it is a genius concept, but is it fashion forward? Would you wear such a thing? If Hyek thought a bit longer about it, I think he could have enlisted a top name designer to collaborate with on the design and really banked on his unique concept. The design, in my opinion, is not exactly fashionable, or durable for that matter. What if you drop your purse? Will the solar panels break and stop working? Overall, I believe it is a great concept with potential for expanding into different designs, as well as potential for appealing to a male audience.