How many times have you run out of battery on your phone? Well, there is just one answer to that; numerous. So, here’s a phone that will take care of that, almost permanently. The SpareOne phone from XPal runs on a single AA battery and is claimed to keep its charge for up to 15 years.
The handset, shown off at this year’s CES, though is designed to be an emergency phone and not a primary one “SpareOne’s breakthrough technology provides an unprecedented lifeline during dire situations that require an emergency response, SpareOne’s breakthrough technology provides an unprecedented lifeline during dire situations that require an emergency response” says Alan Cymbeknoh, the SpareOne Project director at XPal power.And we quite agree. Looking at the form factor, we wouldn’t use t for anything else. For a start, it lacks an LCD of any sort! In fact, it just displays it’s AA battery. The handset itself seems like a cordless phone from 15 years back. There is also an LED light at the top to use in case of emergencies. Also, the ’15 years charge’ comes with a loophole. It depends on the AA battery placed inside. That calculation is based on placing the Energizer Ultimate Lithium battery, which you would have to retract before placing a call as it is built only to prevent drain when the phone isn’t in use.
Besides the battery, the other important thing is the SIM. No, you don’t need to sign up for a 15-year plan with your operator. In fact, just have an expired or inactive SIM at your disposal and use it, since you would only need to make emergency calls, right?
The SpareOne is currently available only for U.S./ South America markets at a price of $49.99 (Rs.2500 app.), while models for other markets will be made available later. Altogether, it seems a good concept, but hardly workable for an everyday phone. Umm, Samsung, Apple and Nokia – are you listening?