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How many times have you run out of charge on your mobile phone, handheld or iPod? Many people find the iPod essential for taking the edge off of their daily commute. It is not nice when it dies. With the Solio you can charge and begin using your device almost instantly. Mobile phones and PDA's are even more of a daily necessity. Can you afford to be unavailable during a particularly busy day just because you spent too much time on the phone and ran out of juice? Solio takes that worry away.

Background
Guys will love Solio. Ariadne's tester, a guy with an engineering background and an “unhealthy childhood fixation for Lego”, might be expected to be gadget mad, but this is far from the case. He was wholly unimpressed with the ‘CD player in your computer' innovation when it came along… didn't see the point. Why put a CD player in a computer when there's a perfectly good stereo next to the desk?

This perspective tends to get in the way of being au-fait with the ‘new thing', and perhaps this why Solio is so exciting; our tester could finally put consider himself an early adopter again.

So What Is It?
The Solio is a Portable Solar Charger, but quite different from any gadget you've seen. Opened up it looks like a propeller, closed like an oddly shaped mouse. It is compact enough to fit comfortably into a shirt pocket and can be charged by ‘plugging into the sun' or by plugging it into the wall. At 165g it is about the same weight as our tester's special edition U2 iPod, and it is one of the most elegantly simple devices out there. Think of it as an ECO friendly backup battery for your handheld devices – in addition to providing a source of clean energy, the Solio is a carbon neutral product. According to the packaging, “the CO2 produced during the manufacture of the Solio has been made CarbonNeutral by the planting of sustainable biodiverse forestry”. Cool huh? Solio is also made from recycled and recyclable products.

Solio is offered in two guises; the mobile phone package and the iPod package. Essentially the same device with different connector packs, the mobile phone device is matt silver and comes with an assortment of connectors (‘tips') for four popular brands of mobile phone (Motorola, Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Samsung). The iPod Solio is glossy white, perfectly matching the white iPod and comes with a cable for iPod charging. Connectors are interchangeable so you can buy a mobile phone connector/tip pack for your iPod Solio and vice-versa. This is a review of the iPod Solio.

How does it work?
Solio is very simple to use. To ‘plug into the sun', simply open up the device and point it at direct sunlight. The multifunction button glows red whilst charging and turns green when charged. It takes about 8 to 10hrs to fully charge with strong sunlight. To charge from the mains, simply connect the device to the wall socket and press the button to start charging. Considering the weather in the UK , this is the more likely charging method and takes about 5hrs. That being said, our tester did get full solar charge over 3 intermediately sunny days last week. He used the handy window sucker to stick the Solio on the inside of the window at home and just left it there. When fully charged, Solio will charge your mobile device in about the same time it charges from the mains. You can check the battery level by pressing the same button when not charging. The button will flash green from one to four times indicating 25%, 50%, 75% or 100% charge. The cool thing about it is that you can use your device whilst charging it with Solio. You can also charge your handheld device whilst charging the Solio from the mains.

The iPod was charged after charging Solio from the sun and after charging from the mains. Both times it worked great, doing exactly what it says on the box. Solio is not just hype either. The device is robust; in 2005 it was taken to the North Pole in the Polar Challenge expedition and received rave reviews. It was also awarded ‘Best of Show' by MacWorld Magazine.

Conclusion
Solio is a great combination of form and function. Innovative, environmentally friendly and stylish, it makes a great gift. I gave the iPod Solio to a friend as a birthday present and it caused a real stir around the dinner table. Everyone wants one now. It's a clever product with a planet conscious heart. Check out Solio at www.solio.com . It is the first product from the guys at Better Energy Systems ( www.betterenergysystems.co.uk ). They are doing interesting things.

Models
iPod Solio (white) and Mobile Phone Solio (silver)

Accessories Include
Tip Packs/Connectors for:

1. 3 rd and 4 th Generation iPod
2. PDA's (iPAQ, Palm, Sony Clie)
3. Mobile phones (Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Siemens, Sagem)
4. Nintendo Gameboy
5. 12V female adaptor cable and head; adapt your Solio to replicate being a car cigarette lighter (female), so anything that has a car charger can use the solio as if it were charging from a car
6. USB Female Connector Cable for USB powered devices including USB phone connectors.
7. Tread Cases for Solio made using recycled inner tubes from car tires

Cost
Prices $99.99 US, £49.99 UK , €79.99 EU