Idea for smart mobile phone charger hopes to help with lost or stolen devices.
Two Irish men hope their idea will beat 10 other finalists in the Innovation in Communication Award in New York. If successful, their smart mobile phone charger could win them the top prize worth $100,000.
When Derek McGovern's phone was stolen during a lunchtime visit to a pub, he lost all his personal and business contact numbers. This experience prompted a colleague Paul Stokes to come up with a solution. He developed an intelligent telephone charger which as its charging downloads all the data from the mobile phone including the address book and voice messages.
There's a microchip inserted into the charging unit and every time the phone is plugged into the charger the software in the battery charger interrogates the phone, asks has it any new numbers, and then pulls down any new numbers into the battery charger.
If your phone is lost or stolen, you can then simply buy a new handset, enter your four digit pin and all the data is retrieved back into the phone.
Derek McGovern and Paul Stokes have patented the idea and hope that it will be adopted by major phone companies. They are also hoping for success in New York at the Saatchi & Saatchi Innovation in Communication Awards. The smart charger faces stiff competition from a solar phone charger and a hands free remote control.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 26 May 2003. The reporter is Mary Calpin.
