Rescue Charger Ressurects Dead Phones

Iogear's latest GearJuice model, the Rescue Charger, fits in a pocket and uses a single AA battery to give phones and other devices one last gasp in an emergency.

 The Boy Scout motto – “Be Prepared” – may call to mind images of knives, flints and rope, but these days, a cell phone can be as helpful in averting a disaster as any of those items. That is, if the battery isn’t dead. Unlike creating fire or finding shelter, there aren’t novel ways of recharging a phone in the middle of nowhere, but Iogear aims to change that with its new GearJuice Rescue Charger, a last resort when a few minutes of talk time is all you need.

The GearJuice uses a single AA battery to get your mobile phone back to its feet for just 15 minutes, which should be more than enough time to summon help or let someone know where you are, assuming you have cell coverage to begin with. The Rescue Charger’s common mini USB plug allows it to charge many common devices, meaning it will also work for PDAs, Bluetooth headsets, and even MP3 players, in case 15 minutes of Led Zeppelin are all you need to survive.

Fortunately, at $11.99, the Rescue Charger is also cheap enough to buy and have around “just in case,” assuming you can resist the temptation to bust it out to finish conversations, order pizza, or play Tetris whenever your phone dies by accident.