Goal Zero’s Lighthouse250 Lantern, solar panel tent charge your gadgets alfresco

Goal Zero's Lighthouse250 Lantern, solarpowered tent charge your gadgets alfresco

Keeping your USB-powered gear powered up while camping in the woods or hiking the Appalachian Trail can prove quite a challenge. Solar chargers and backup batteries can help, sure, but when you're already hauling dozens of pounds of gear, an integrated solution is where it's at. Goal Zero has a pair of new products to help streamline things a bit. First up, the Lighthouse250 Lantern can provide 48 hours of 250-lumen LED output with a full charge, and it can charge up a gadget via a built-in USB port. If you don't have a solar panel handy, you can use the hand crank to juice up the lantern in the field. The company's also teaming up with Eddie Bauer on a solar panel-equipped tent, the 36-square-foot Katabatic 2 -- you'll need to add your own battery pack to store the energy collected from the 18-watt roof-mounted panel. Eddie Bauer has yet to announce pricing for the tent, which should ship next spring, but you can expect the lantern to retail for about 80 bucks in Q4.

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AT&T and Goal Zero deploy solar-powered Street Charge stations in NYC, we go hands-on (video)

AT&T and Goal Zero deploy solarpowered Street Charge stations in NYC, we go handson video

If you're lucky, your smartphone's battery can just make it through a full day, with the percentage meter dropping to the single digits as you finally get a chance to plug in. With 10 hours out and about, some handsets can't even last through dinner, though, and out of reach power outlets make juicing up at the restaurant a tad inconvenient. Beginning this summer, public power will be much more accessible in New York City. AT&T is partnering with Goal Zero to deploy Street Charge stations in a handful of parks and other locations around NYC. They'll be coming to Fort Green Park on June 18th, and will roll out to Brooklyn Bridge Park, Coney Island, Riverside Park, Rockaways, Summerstage in Central Park, Randall's Island, Governor's Island, Union Square, and Hudson River Park over the next few weeks. Each solar-powered pole, designed locally by Pensa, sports six USB connectors: for iPhones and iPads, there's 30-pin and Lightning plugs, Android and Windows Phone users can hook up to micro-USB, and everyone else can use their own cable with one of three female USB connectors.

There's three 15-watt solar panels and a 168 watt-hour battery, enabling each Street Charge to power up to six devices for several days without exposure to the sun. Sure, it's probably impractical to fill your gadget's cell completely, but if you have a few minutes to spare, you'll be able to juice up and go. You can plug in phones, tablets, cameras, or even a Pebble watch -- each cable can pump out up to two amps of 5V power, providing support for just about any USB-powered device. Each weatherproof unit will have AT&T branding, which seems reasonable, considering the carrier is footing the bill here. You should start seeing these pop up at several TBA locations in New York throughout the summer, with more stations to come if the trial's a success. Take a closer look in the hands-on video after the break.

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Source: Pensa

IRL: Goal Zero Sherpa 50 and the HTC One on Rogers

Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment.

For every Engadget editor who's gotten to test an HTC One (that'd be five of us so far), there are two more waiting to take it for a spin. Well, you can cross Mr. Fingas off the list, at least: he's been playing with the One on Canada's Rogers network, snapping photos in the lowest-lit places Ottawa has to offer. James Trew, meanwhile, is excited to finally use Goal Zero's Sherpa 50 solar charger, mostly because it means England is finally getting some decent weather.

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Sherpa 50 Solar Charger Keeps Your Gadgets Powered up, away from the Outlet

If you’re on the go a lot, away from a power outlet you may have tried all sorts of things to help get more run time from your gadgets. A new solar power kit has turned up and features a small portable battery that can be recharged from the sun or a wall outlet. The charging kit is called theĀ Sherpa 50.

sherpa50

The first time the Sherpa 50 turned up was during CES 2012 and it was delayed over a year and a half coming to the market. The good news is that it is here now and for $399.95(USD) you can get the complete kit including an AC inverter and a portable battery. The device can also be purchased a la carte – without the AC outlet or the solar panel, for as little as $199.95.

In addition to the standard AC outlet, the device also has a USB port for charging devices and a special port for your laptop. The battery weighs less than a bottle of water according to the manufacturer and can give you one full recharge for most laptops, andĀ multiple recharges for other gadgets.

sherpa 50 recharges

The battery can be charged completely in about five hours using only the included solar panel. You can also recharge the battery from the wall outlet in about three hours.

The Sherpa 50 is available now from GoalZero.

Goal Zero brings the Yeti 150 solar generator back from the wilderness

Goal Zero brings the Yeti 150 solar generator back from the wilderness

It's not the first gadget to be named after the abominable snowman, but at least this one might save your neck in a tight spot. Goal Zero's Yeti 150 solar charger is designed for use in the great outdoors, packing a 15W photovoltaic panel hooked up to a 150 watt hour battery. It'll be available to buy this Spring, just in time for camping season, and will cost you a not-too-abominable $400.

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Goal Zero’s Switch 8 solar charger bundle now available for $100

Goal Zero's Switch 8 Charging Kit appears

If you were put off by the price of Goal Zero's Sherpa, then here's something that might be more deserving of that slot in your backpack. The Switch 8 Solar Charging Kit costs $100 and bundles together a 2,200mAh battery and Nomad 3.5 solar panel. The manufacturer says that the 8-watt dynamite-shaped battery can be tanked up via sunlight in six hours, although this time can be reduced to four if you use a USB power source before you head into the wilderness. Interchangeable tips, which will be sold separately in the coming months, will allow compatibility with a variety of devices and also let you use the battery pack as a fan or flashlight -- no cranking or pedaling required.

Continue reading Goal Zero's Switch 8 solar charger bundle now available for $100

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Goal Zero's Switch 8 solar charger bundle now available for $100 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Nov 2012 11:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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