A new experimental t-shirt from mobile phone provider Orange can charge a cell phone. (Orange)
GLASTONBURY, England – A T-shirt designed to charge mobile phones will be released for testing at the Glastonbury Music Festival over the weekend, Sky News reported Monday.
The prototype T-shirt has been designed to power phones using noise-responsive technology, so concert-goers at the renowned festival - which runs June 22 to 26 in southwest England -- can plug their phone into the shirt for a quick top-up charge whenever they need it.
Mobile phone giant Orange will be conducting live testing of the device at the fest's Spirit of 71 stage to see which acts and beats are the "best to charge to."
Tony Andrews, co-producer of the Spirit of 71, said it could provide "a real solution to mobile phone charging" while on the go.
"Sound vibrations, particularly bass frequencies, will create enough shaking to produce electricity from a material as simple as piezoelectric film," he said.
The T-shirt was released at the same time a Japanese company announced it had come up with another way to charge your mobile after a natural disaster or in the great outdoors - by heating a pot of water over a campfire.
TES NewEnergy, based in the western city of Osaka, said the new gadget turns heat from boiling water into electricity that feeds via a USB port into digital devices such as smartphones, music players and global positioning systems.
The Hatsuden-Nabe thermo-electric cookpot invention went on sale in Japan this month for £186 ($301).
The company said it takes three to five hours to charge an iPhone - and can heat up your lunch at the same time.
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