Umbrellas are often needed to keep yourself from getting drenched out in the pouring rain, and as spring grows closer, it’s inevitable you’ll get hit by a downpour at some point whilst you’re out and about. The problem is, there’s no way of telling when or where you’re going to get attacked by the wet, and that’s why having a small, permanent go-to umbrella whilst you’re outside is much more favorable than the old fashioned big and bulky umbrellas we would have had to carry round many years ago.

Personally I’m not too much of a fan of the cheap, disposable mini umbrellas as I find their thin metal frames to be too flimsy, and out in the cold wind it makes it almost impossible to get the things open without breaking them, let alone keep them over your head. A new umbrella by Hammacher seems to want to bring the best of both worlds all whilst keeping it to a size capable of fitting in your pocket.

The umbrella is just 8 inches when folded up, and can be retracted and opened automatically at the push of a button. Although the automatic design has been seen many times before, I’ve yet to see another automatic umbrella smaller than this 8 inch model.

When drawn out, the umbrella covers a total of 40 inches wide, giving you plenty of space to stay dry, and whilst you’re safe under the canopy, you can walk freely without worry as although the price is a total of $29.95, the build quality of the umbrella sounds pretty strong.

If you’re interested in the umbrella, Hammacher has more information on the design over at their website.

[Source]

The post Behold, the World’s Smallest Automatic Umbrella appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Can you hear me now? We’ve all had the experience of dropped calls and loss of signal, but it looks like one way to get better cell phone reception is to open a special umbrella. Originally conceived as the Voda-brella, the since renamed Vodafone Booster Brolly is an umbrella filled with gadgetry that boosts your signal strength. And it can charge your phone too.

Somehow, this seems like a quintessentially Londoner thing to do, but inventor Kenneth Tong actually grew up in Hong Kong. In any case, the umbrella has a built-in high-gain umbrella that is able to catch the radio waves from a Vodafone transmitter. There’s also a low power signal repeater, so what you get in effect is a small “signal shower” above your head.

Yes, there may be some health concerns here, but you can’t deny how useful this could be. Of course, it’s really only useful on a rainy day (which never happens in the UK), though I suppose the Booster Brolly can turn into a Booster Parasol on a sunny day. What’s more, the Booster Brolly is also lined with a dozen 2V solar panels, giving you a source of power to juice up your handset. It can be used to power a flashlight too, in case you get lost in the dark.

Of course, this is just a mad scientist’s concept at the moment, so there’s no saying when and if it’ll ever reach a commercial release.

[Source]

The post Vodafone Booster Brolly for More Bars in More Places appeared first on Mobile Magazine.