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ChargeAll, 120V wall outlet, at the beach charging a laptop

Have yous ever wanted to recharge your laptop or phone while you lot sit on the beach – or at the coffee shop, when all the power outlets are existence used by people who have been nursing the same cup of coffee for two hours? Accept you ever wanted to curl your hair or charge your smartphone while sitting on a bench in the park,  or while camping in the wilderness? Well, now you can with ChargeAll — the showtime portable bombardment pack that has both a USB charging socket and a 120-volt wall plug outlet. Yes, you can only plug just near any 120V device into the ChargeAll — and in many cases, thanks to the inclusion of a huge lithium-ion bombardment, power that device for hours.

ChargeAll, CAD drawing

ChargeAll, CAD drawing

ChargeAll, despite how revolutionary it sounds, is a very simple device. Information technology'southward basically a big white brick with a meaty four-cell 12,000 mAh lithium-ion bombardment, a DC-to-Air-conditioning inverter, and a v-volt USB socket and standard 120-volt Us wall plug on the front. There doesn't seem to exist whatever magical, industry-redefining magic at play here: It's just a bombardment-powered wall outlet. (The only limit, incidentally, is that devices tin can't apply more than 85 watts. You can't use ChargeAll to power a microwave — just it might simply ability your desktop PC, if y'all're lucky.)

We spoke to ChargeAll'southward founder, Jeffrey Maganis, and he said nigh of the applied science work for ChargeAll has revolved effectually squeezing the circuitry and outlet into a pocket-sized, portable chassis — but they haven't discovered anything new from what I tin tell. Maganis and co just seem to be the first to execute this obvious-in-hindsight idea. Maganis also tells us that the circuitry inside ChargeAll will prevent brusque-circuiting (particularly dangerous for a device that you'll have in your pocket or purse) and automatically cut the power if more than 85 watts is used.

And now the big caveat: ChargeAll is currently an Indiegogo project — but it has a very low target of $xxx,000, and an (perhaps a slightly optimistic) estimated delivery date of September. In that location are two models: ChargeAll Portable (12,000 mAh, ~$120), and the ChargeAll Powerful (18,000 mAh, ~$150). Weight might also be an issue: The Portable model weighs in at 15 ounces (425 grams); the Powerful is 22 ounces (623 grams – about the weight of an iPad). You might just exist able to put a ChargeAll in your pants pocket if you had an industrial, tightly cinched chugalug — but more realistically it's a purse or laptop bag type affair.

ChargeAll portable power outlet, tech specs

ChargeAll tech specs

In terms of what you can do with the ChargeAll, here's a taste: 12,000 mAh, afterwards conversion losses and such, volition get you effectually seven iPhone 5S charges, or iv Galaxy S5 charges, or ii laptop charges. Alternatively, you could power a small Television for a few hours, or a desktop fan for virtually of the day. You could even power a curling iron for an 60 minutes or two. For the Powerful 18,000 mAh model, add 50% to those figures. With a max wattage of 85W, you probably won't exist running your gaming PC (~300W) or a big plasma Goggle box (200+ watts). You could run a pocket-sized home theater PC or LCD monitor/TV for a few hours, though. [Read: How USB charging works, or how to avert blowing upward your smartphone.]

ChargeAll: Portable power outlet, perfect date for him and her

This probably ranks as one of the worst promotional photos for a product that I've ever seen. But hey, don't allow that detract from the fact that this is a cool device.

Ultimately, if ChargeAll can deliver on its hope of a single portable power pack that can go along all of your mobile devices charged — potentially for days on terminate — it's a pretty darn sugariness proposition. The but event I can really see is that ChargeAll is pretty heavy; if you lot already have a heavy shoulder purse, y'all probably won't cherish the idea of adding another pound.

While I don't really think that people are going to start curling their pilus at the cafe, I can foresee a lot of useful scenarios if you keep a ChargeAll in your laptop bag or backpack. Forget to plug your phone in last night? ChargeAll. Forget to accuse your laptop up before setting off on a big journeying? ChargeAll. Want to play some really loud music on the subway using an 85-watt amp? ChargeAll! Want to sentry the football outside but don't have a long enough power cable? Just lug that Telly outside and use your ChargeAll.

It warms my middle to see that one solution to our modern over-reliance on batteries is a battery-powered wall socket. That'south outside-the-box technological thinking, friends.