Motorola to roll out cellphone-charging bicycle in "emerging markets"
By Darren Murph 
posted Jan 9th 2007 4:56PM
posted Jan 9th 2007 4:56PM
Here's one we weren't exactly counting on seeing. Motorola's cheif executive Ed Zander rolled into a packed room here at CES on a bright yellow bicycle, topped off by having Queen's "Bicycle Race" cranked in the background. Yes, oddly enough, Motorola is coming out with a self-branded bike for "emerging markets," which translates into countries where energy sources are scarce. While the company has seen declines here in America due to a very saturated handset market, nearly 5 million folks per month are going mobile in China, thus the need to penetrate those potentially lucrative third world areas. The vehicle will sport a cellphone charging system to provide a way to energize those handsets so intently desired all around the globe. As expected, a cradle on the handlebars would house the mobile, while the motion of the pedals would generate electricity to recharge its battery pack. While this might not sound convenient or even worthwhile in a place like America, "more than 500 million Chinese people rely on bicycles as their primary mode of transportation," which could also mean that half a billion folks in China will soon be cruising the streets while doubling as an AC adapter.[Via Textually]
I ride a bike to work two or more days a week (weather permitting) and I would be interested in having my bike charge my smartphone.
I believe they intend to sell the dynomo with the charging dock, not the bike.
I concur that they are selling a charging system for a bike and not a bike with a charging system. See here.
Better still, they should offer a module that plugs into a typical bicycle dynamo (the majority of which are 6v, 3W) that would convert that current to something the charger could use. Then put a switch on it so the rider could bypass the charger and run a light at night. I'm not an electrical engineer, but I'm betting it would be possible...
The Vancouver Sun article link:
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=3a80d1f4-6d3d-4d1d-9ff0-93de3b395108&k=17091
The whole point of this is provide power for charging phone to people who don't have ready access to electric grid. This is a LOT of people and many of them want and need to communicate wirelessly. Also, cost is an important consideration, so you have to trade off efficiency of the dynamo and circuitry vs. price. This may not be the only approach and maybe not "high tech," but it is a smart answer to an important problem.
It certainly could be designed to power other devices (bike light, etc.). And could also be used in the home to power or recharge other devices or for if power grid is down - happens frequently in some parts of the world.