Posted by Allison Boyer

fuel cell phone charger

Thanks to a successfully funded Kickstarter campaign, emergency cell phone charging is about to get a whole lot…smaller! Instead of having to drag around a cord and find a power source or pack a bulky self-contained charger, we’ll soon be able to travel with a keyring charger that’s the size of a quarter to make sure you have some extra juice in case of an emergency.

The Devotec Fuel Micro Charger, or Fuel for short, is the brainchild of the team at Devotec Industries. This tiny device has a 220 milliAmp hour battery, which is designed to give you enough power for 20-30 minutes of talking or a few hours of standby. This won’t charge your cell phone completely, and the amount of extra power it gives you depends on your phone and how you’re using it. But there are tons of applications for this when you’re on the road. It can give you enough power to:

  • Use your GPS to make your way to safety when you’re lost
  • Call a tow truck and taxi if you break down
  • Call 911 and other necessary people if you’re in an accident
  • Send that work email you forgot about
  • Connect with the person you’re supposed to be meeting

Fuel holds its charge for at least a month, and at that point, you’ll simply need to recharge to be sure it’s ready to go for any emergency that comes your way. Just switch on the charger and connect to your phone, and you’ll immediately start to recharge.

This battery has a Micro-USB tip, which means it can charge just about any Android, Samsung, LG, Sony, Motorola, Nokia or Blackberry phone. Sorry iPhone users: you’ll need to get an adapter.

When Fuel hits the market this summer (if all goes well), it will retail for $24.99 which is a small price to pay for peace of mind while on the road. Over 3700 people backed this project on Kickstarter, and it raised over $60,000 above it’s $20,000 goal, including many supporters who asked to have their name put on a waiting list for the iPhone version, so I suspect Fuel will be a huge hit. I know I’ll be picking one up. Will you?

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Allison Boyer is the Online Education Coordinator for NMX University, where you can learn more about blogging, podcasting, web TV, and social business. She also runs the food blog The PinterTest Kitchen with her mom and sister.