The mobile charging space isn’t exactly lacking in choices, but they all primarily work the same way: Charge up your mobile charger, plug in your smartphone when the battery gets low, rinse and repeat. Ampy brings a new twist to the formula and throws in the ability to charge the charger with motion.
Ampy captures the kinetic energy that is produced by movement, enabling it to charge your devices as fast as a wall outlet would. According to the folks behind Ampy, the charger’s internal battery stores about a week’s worth of physical activity, which is ready for use for several months after the fact. However, if you want to go down the more traditional route, Ampy does have a Micro USB port to allow for charging from a wall outlet. Ampy will charge iPhones, Android phones, and any other USB-powered device.
Walking 10,000 steps, bicycling for one hour, or jogging for 30 minutes should produce three hours of battery life for your smartphone. Alternatively, the same activities will give you 24 and 72 hours of extra battery life for your smartwatch and fitness band, respectively. Team Ampy is backing the mobile charger with so much energy that for every Kickstarter backer, the group will collectively burn 100 calories during and after the Kickstarter campaign.
Team Ampy will also put out an Ampy appplication for iOS and Android that tracks how much energy you’ve amassed, the number of calories you’ve burned, and how much smaller your carbon footprint is, now that you’re using the charger. The Kickstarter page for Ampy reminds us that the app is not necessary for the charger to work.
If you want to grab an Ampy for yourself, your best bet is to pledge $85, since the early-backer special is gone. Pledge $95 and you’ll get the Ampy, as well as a protective sleeve, clip, and armband. Backers should receive their Ampy chargers in June of next year, after which the Ampy and the Ampy Accessory Pack will go for $95 and $125, respectively. Ampy has already amassed $61,612 out of the requested $100,000, and with 30 days to go until the campaign is over, the charger looks like it’s well on its way to success.
