Officially called the Eco Media Player, the brainchild of Trevor Baylis, the inventor of the clockwork radio, “greenPod”, is the world’s first wind-up music and video player. It is the latest must-have gadget for the environmentally aware – and will come in rather handy for the more forgetful among us as well. It is the latest must-have gadget for the environmentally aware – and will come in rather handy for the more forgetful among us as well. The Eco Media Player epod can play music for an astonishing 20 hours before needing to be charged and can store up to 500 songs. The Eco Media Player comes complete with an FM radio, torch, voice recorder and video player also. Turning it for only a minute produces enough power to play 40 minutes of songs – a boon for music lovers who don’t remember to charge their iPod before they leave the house. The player can also be charged by being plugged into a computer and has a 1.8in LCD screen to play video clips and show photographs.
The original wind-up radio, launched in 1992, used a large spring to release power over a few hours and was particularly popular with campers and holiday-makers. The latest wind-up gadgets use a dynamo to charge up small, but powerful, lithium batteries. It costs around $275 and even doubles as an emergency mobile phone charger.