Filed under: Wearables

The SolarAid really isn’t much different than your average hearing aid in function — it enables hearing-impaired individuals to get a better listen at the world around them. The difference, however, comes from its source of energy. Through a series of tragic and fortunate events, Howard Weinstein wound up in Africa with a goal in mind: to concoct a hearing aid that even the poorest of citizens could afford. Through a series of grants and help from hordes of deaf individuals that had no qualms holding a soldering iron, some 20,000 folks in 30 countries are currently using the solar-powered devices. Best of all, the mastermind isn’t slowing down, as he’s looking to expand the nonprofit into the Middle East, China and India in the not-too-distant future.

[Via CrunchGear]

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Remember that yeast-and-sugar-powered generator from Dr. Cedrick Ngalande of Malawi we spotted a while back? Ol’ Ced’s back with a video of the system in action — and an explanation of how it works, to boot. Just as most of you guessed, the system is powered by the yeast / sugar mix giving off CO2, leading to a pressure imbalance which tips the center of gravity and causes motion. What most of you didn’t guess, however, is how freaking slowly that would happen — check out the video after the break, and then wake up and wipe the drool off your face, slick.

[Via BoingBoing]

Continue reading Video of the yeast-and-sugar powered generator in action: experience the power of boring

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Filed under: Cellphones

Rest assured, we’ve seen some brainless criminals in our day, but this one ranks pretty high on the list. Reportedly, a (potentially inebriated) individual waltzed into a police station and frantically announced that his phone had been stolen at gunpoint. When the detective called the number of the phone reportedly stolen, however, a ring was heard from the “victim’s” pocket. After pondering what the criminal hoped to gain from the situation, we here at Engadget HQ came up empty, and apparently, the police involved in the situation were equally stumped — so stumped, in fact, that they issued a statement entitled “Dumbest criminal?” with details of the event in a local newspaper. We’d say that sums it up fairly accurately.

[Image courtesy of FOTW]

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Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

In a landmark launch that will supposedly “contribute to bridging the digital divide within Africa and between Africa and the rest of the world,” the continent’s first satellite successfully made it into orbit aboard a French-made rocket last night. The so-called RASCOM-QAF1 — named after the Regional African Satellite Communication Organization which is funding the venture — lifted off from the European space base in Kourou, French Guiana stowed inside an Ariane 5, the sixth such launch this year and 36th overall of that particular model, manufactured by Paris-based Arianespace. The new 3.2-tonne (7,055-pound) satellite is set to serve the large African rural market neglected by traditional cellphone carriers, and will allegedly save hundred of millions of dollars a year currently being paid to foreign operators.

[Via PhysOrg]

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

First it was radios, now lights. The Freeplay Foundation has undertaken a new project — dubbed LifeLight — which aims to provide just a few hours of lighting each night to the 500 million or so sub-Saharan Africans without appropriate access to electricity. The idea is to place a wind-up (or foot-pump driven we presume) base station into the home which charges a collection of detachable lights. Similar to the technology behind the 150,000 wind-up Lifeline radios (pictured) they’ve already distributed. Freeplay hopes to replace expensive and unhealthy kerosene or battery powered lamps currently in use with their low-cost, environmentally safe alternative — local women will be trained to sell and repair the devices. Prototypes are being readied with tests to begin in Kenya in the “next few months.”

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Transportation

African street tech is always an interesting mashup of old and new, and these solar powered Human and Animal Powered Vehicles, or HAPPYs, as they’re known, are no different. Using a traditional donkey cart as a platform, the HAPPY is based around a solar panel and a 12-volt battery, a power supply robust enough to power a cell antenna, water filtration system, emergency lights, and a small neon tube — enabling the HAPPY to support several families in a rural setting or serve as an income-generating kiosk in a more urban environment. The developer, Wheel and Water, is looking for donations to complete Phase One of the Happy’s development, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see several other variations of this concept pop in other area where carts of this kind are prevalent.

[Via AfriGadget]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!