STRETCH GOAL No2: Assembling in Haiti
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Mashable; New York Times;
West Orlando News; Gizmag; Treehugger; Ubergizmo;
iMore;
EarthTechling; RedFerret;
IBTimes;
Inhabitat;
China: CNBeta WeiPhone; Spain: MacPedia ABC ; Russia: CITForum ; Turkey: LOG ; Italy: HDBlogMobile ; Netherlands: Telegraaf, LINDA, Get2Better ; Germany: Der Spiegel; Neuerdings; Wirtschaftswoche ; Vietnam: Khac Biet
; France: App4Phone
The WakaWaka You Asked For
WakaWaka Power charges virtually any smart phone or tablet
First, there was WakaWaka, the world’s most efficient solar LED lamp, successfully lauched through Kickstarter last year. After many requests we are proud to present to you the WakaWaka Power, capable of charging practically any type of (smart) phone: iPhone5, Blackberry, Samsung, you name it. And... tablets as well.
Mobility is what our lives are all about these days. We use flexible workspaces, travel for fun, pleasure and work and unfortunately we’re a lot on the run, so much to do. How inconvenient is it when your iPhone or iPad dies on you again, right in the middle of that conversation you wanted to finish today.
You need back-up power if you don’t want to be slowed down by your device. Solar chargers are becoming increasingly popular, but most are still bulky and really many of them, if you tried any, really don’t work that well, especially in the winter or on overcast days.
The WakaWaka Power is a pocket size mini power station with super efficient solar cells and a power management system which ensures efficiencies which are up to 200% better than any other product in the market. Apart from charging your smart phone, WakaWaka Power is also a light source which can provide you with more than 40 hours of excellent reading light (on a single day solar charge!).
Specifications
Don’t underestimate The Power
Place WakaWaka Power in direct sunlight for a whole day and you will notice that the battery will be completely full, even if you live in New York or Seattle (where the intensity of the sun is far less than in Texas). The capacity of the battery is large enough to fully power most mobile phone from completely depleted, to practically full. On top of this, you will have 10 or more hours of excellent reading light as well. If you don’t charge your phone or tablet, as said before, you can have more than 40 hours of light.
We calculated that a fully charged WakaWaka will give you at least 2 hours extra surf & work time on your iPad (on full brightness). Just enough to finish that movie, send some mails in the train or bus or plane.
Top engineers
WakaWaka Power is engineered by a top team at Intivation. They are the creators of the chip which made WakaWaka the most efficient solar lamp in the world today. Their technology is used in over 90% of the solar powered mobile phones in the world, including well known brands. So… we’re working with experts in the field! And because they simply love what we are doing with WakaWaka, they are supporting us all the way. Thanks Guys!
LED's LED's LED's explain what happens...
WakaWaka Power has:
- LED’s to show you that your WakaWaka is charging in the sun
- LED’s to show you how full your WakaWaka battery is
- LED’s to tell you that your mobile phone is charging
- LED’s to light up your life when the grid fails us again
A lot of our backers asked us for indicator LED’s, so we decided to add a few here and there. They’re not only functional, they also look cool.
WakaWaka Best in Class
We have claimed before that WakaWaka is the best solar lamp in the world. Recently we received an independent 3rd party test report where we compared a number of brands. First the lab depleted the batteries completely by keeping them switched on for as long as it took to deplete them. Than they were all placed together outside in the sun from sunrise until sunset (test was done in the UK same latitude as Calgary). So they all got the same amount of light. The report came with the figure below which ‘says it all’
Take a look and I will explain.
On the left is the amount of light produced. You see that actually 4 other lights start off with much higher light output than WakaWaka, more than you need for reading a book, or lighting up a room. You also notice that practically all lights drop to nearly zero output within roughly 4 hours. The only exceptions is the dotted light blue one (which is almost twice as expensive) and the 2 WakaWaka samples. The WakaWaka’s lasted 7, respectively 8 hours on a single days solar charge, before it switched to its 10% energy saving mode (the horizontal line at the bottom), indicating a low light output for several more hours, enough to keep you from bumping your head in complete darkness and it actually still allows you to read.
The graph shows that WakaWaka works in fact twice as long on a steady output than all of its direct competitors tested here (whom we all wish the best of course). If it shows we’re proud of this, you’re right. We are. I can’t wait to do a stress test comparison to compare life expectancy… WakaWaka is really one of kind.
Where are we now?
WakaWaka Power is now in prototype phase. Much further than we were with the first WakaWaka when we launched on Kickstarter last year. We learned a lot from the first version, but the 2.0 version requires more components and more complex programming. Programming? Oh yes… you have no idea what goes into the chip which controls the power management inside.
With your support we can connect WakaWaka to your smart phone, tablet and MP3 player. We have already selected the factory where we will manufacture the WakaWaka Power. As a matter of fact, I have already been there!
With your contribution you can help us fund the tooling, design costs and most of the programming costs. Also it will help us placing a first significant component order so we can get the anticipated price level.
Consumers vs Kickstarter Backers
We expect the suggested retail price for WakaWaka Power will be $79, starting from May 2013.
For all you backers, the price will be $ 69 and for early birds even $ 49 !
(nearly 40% discount...)
NEW REWARDS
THANKS for making a difference!
Risks and challenges
Product development, production in general, production in China and logistics... If you have never done it before, they're all challenging. I am happy to tell you that I have been working in this field from 1997 already. For 7 years I worked at a company called 'The Invention Group' where I was responsible for developing literally dozens of products per year, getting them produced in China and shipped on time to customers such as Heineken, Bacardi, Procter & Gamble, Unilever and many other well known A-brands. Faillure was not an option. Too late? you think I got away with a slap on the fingers? Oh no... just in time delivery was of the essence.
Currently WakaWaka is being produced in China and we have shipped to more than 50 countries already.
Last year when we did our Kickstarter campaign for the first WakaWaka, we initially mentioned that we expected delivery in May. Eventually we had to postpone delivery until July. Some backers even got their WakaWaka's as late as August.
This year we are further advanced with product development. WakaWaka Power is being developed in The Netherlands. Design for hard & software is done there. Engineering as well, in close cooperation with our manufacturing partner in China. I actually already visited the factory already. So there is a major difference with last year. Nevertheless delays are possible. May is already more than 1 month beyond the delivery deadline agreed with the factory, but you never know. Let's just say I hope we will be able to surprise you this year with an early delivery.
If you want us to address additional risks, then don't hesitate to ask for your reassurance.
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Funding period
- (30 days)