Why are not actually any USB power supply with all iPhone and iPod versions, even if they have the right plug? Eine amerikanische Hardware-Hackerin ist dem nervigen Netzteil-Wahnsinn nachgegangen, hat den Grund und auch gleich eine Lösung gefunden – die sie als Bausatz verkauft. An American hardware hacker is annoying power-madness which followed, has the same reason, and also found one solution – which they sold as a kit.
Limor Fried has a penchant for quirky technology – and they like fiddles
I just got my MintyBoost V3.0, and love it! I can confirm that it works on the HTC DROID ERIS, LG Ally, and the Motorola DROID. Thanks for the great project!!! Will be trying out my Verizon MiFi 2200 soon…. – JW
Make your own iPod/iPhone/GPS/etc… battery-pack and recharger! This project includes all the electronic parts necessary to build your own MintyBoost: a small & simple (but very powerful) USB charger for your iPod (or other mp3 player), camera, cell phone, and any other gadget you can plug into a USB port to charge. If you have a Nintendo DS/GBA or a PSP you can buy charger cables from us, too.
The charger circuitry and 2 AA batteries fit into an Altoids gum tin, and will run your iPod for hours, 2.5x more than you’d get from a 9V USB charger! You can use rechargeable batteries too.
New In Version 3: Provides 500mA @ 5V, tested and designed to work with all the latest iGadgets including the latest iPhones and iPods!, improved efficiency for high-drain devices, works much better with LiPoly battery mods.
Kit comes unassembled and is suitable for beginners. Some soldering tools are necessary but even if you’ve never soldered before it should be pretty easy.
Read more about the project on the Minty Boost webpage.
Tested works with: iPods, iTouches and iPhones (including the latest 4G), PSP, DS..Please see a full listing at Minty Boost compatibility webpage to see if your device is tested to work before purchasing. Batteries and tin not included. If you live in an area that doesn’t have Altoids gum, you can buy a tin from us. You can also of course make your own case!
In this 7 minute video we explore “The mysteries of Apple device charging“. Usually device makers need to sign a confidentially agreement with Apple who want to say “works with iPhone / iPod” and never talk about how the insides work. If you don’t put these secret resistors on the data lines to you get the dreaded “CHARGING IS NOT SUPPORTED WITH THIS ACCESSORY”. We demonstrate how anyone can do this and make their own chargers that work with iPhone 4, 3Gs, etc. Video above, HD and (m4v).
I have read a of a few people having trouble finding the altoids gum container that fits the project so well. I did too. Looked in a bunch of shops all over Ventura and San Diego California as well as a bunch in the Philadelphia area with no luck.
I started looking around for alternatives but only found one possibly suitable and that was after I had finished making a container. The Wii gum container looks like it is the appropriate width though it has a significant amount of length that may need filling.
What I decided to go with was leather. I had a bunch laying about and decided to see what I could do. It turned out pretty good for a first rough run. I think I will make another with a good stain and better stitching but this has worked like a charm thus far.
RobotGrrl had an old robot kit lying around and she decided to give it an upgrade. She writes:
The missing parts to the TECHNOROBOT kit that I got at the explOratorium during the Stanford EPGY AI Program in 2008 have been found! This robot has been transformed many times, the first as an idea/prototype for an emotional line following robot, then a snowplow, and now it will be an XBee messenger robot!
The robot now uses an Arduino, and is powered off of USB. The motor is driven with the Adafruit Motor Shield (I plan to add more motors to the robot someday). The motor is powered from an Adafruit mintyboost.
We are wrapping up our last round of testing for the next version(s) of the MintyBoost, we’re pleased to report it works with the iPhone 4g (we waited for the release to make sure) and it also works with the iPhone 3Gs and it appears all the “i” devices. We’ve also tested on PSPs, Kindles, Androids, Nintendo DS – and today as a final test we tested at the Apple store just to make sure it worked with the Nano since we do not have one in our testing collection (it works). On our 6/26/10 “Ask an Engineer” show we demonstrated reverse engineering the way charging needs to work on the latest Apple devices.
As we get closer to the MintyBoost release date we will make announcements and also contact any resellers who have stock left of the current version.
Previously there was a very popular Instructable on making your own “Solar MintyBoost” – before you needed to get parts from various places, now you can get them all in one spot – at the Adafruit shop!
So – if you want to make solar MintyBoost, here’s how –
Choose from either a 1W or 2W solar panel. Either will work, if you are using the smaller panel, we suggest removing R4 and replacing it with a 6.8K (or so) resistor which will keep the lipoly charger from trying to draw too much current from the panel.
Next up, you’ll need a mini-B USB cable to sacrifice. Use the one in the shop or find one in your room.
Note: While it may most devices, this will mostly likely not work consistently with the iPhone 3Gs and/or the iPhone 4. We will have a new MintyBoost and MintyBoost “rechargeable” soon, if you need to support those two devices specifically hold off until you see these new versions of our kits on our site.
One of my favorite parts of the whole event was probably the Makers Shed. It was a physical version of the online store. If I were rich, I would have filled my car up with the interesting kits, books, and parts that lay in that hall. Instead, I came home with a few kits and books, including a Minty Boost kit from Adafruit. After having bought a 10-pack of altoids gum, I worked through the kit and was rewarded with a portable usb charger.
How do you keep an iPhone running for long periods of time when you are off the grid? You can’t change the battery in the phone, so carrying a spare isn’t an option. Devices like LadyAda’s excellent MintyBoost use AA batteries and can keep you going indefinitely, but unfortunately the MintyBoost and several other similar products don’t work with the iPhone 3GS. And anyway what I really wanted was a device that would take power from the high capacity 12V NiMH rechargeable pack that I use to power my portable ham radio gear. I could have re-purposed a charger meant for use with cars, but many of them use linear regulators and are therefore very inefficient, or aren’t compatible with the 3GS; plus they are overpriced. So instead I built a charger to suit my needs: the MintyBuck.
This is a somewhat confusing response to our email asking about the availability of some Altoids (photo bbum).
Dear Limor Fried,
Thank you for taking the time to let us know about your difficulty in finding Altoids® Gum. We appreciate hearing from you. As you might imagine, we take feedback like this very seriously.
We’re sorry to say that Altoids has been discontinued. We thought it was a great product – and, clearly, so did you. But, sadly, we’re occasionally forced to discontinue a product when there is low consumer demand for it over time, which is what happened with Altoids.
We all have our favorite products and can appreciate your frustration at no longer being able to enjoy Altoids. Thank you again for reaching out to us about this. We hope that you’ll find other Wrigley brands that you enjoy, both now and in the future.
Sincerely,
Janell ******
Consumer Care Representative
We’re not sure if this is correct and likely a scripted response for weird flavors of BIG RED that are no longer made, but wow – what a response if true!
Introduced in 1780, Altoids were originally marketed to relieve stomach discomfort. By the 1920s, the original cardboard box had been replaced by the more durable distinctive metal tins of today. The irreverent, quirky personality of Altoids has led Altoids Peppermint tins to be a top-selling mint in the U.S. Over the years the Altoids brand has expanded to include not only mints but sours, gum and sugar-free mints in miniature portable tins. For fun facts, ad viewing, games and ordering we invite you to visit Altoids.com.
We have plenty of mint tins for all our products and we also have many options and enclosures going forward (don’t worry about that) – we’re hoping someone from Altoids will see this and clear things up. However, if it’s true we just got a scoop! Adafruit electronics *and* candy gossip site!
This is a makerbottable altoid tin-like enclosure for MintyBoost XL found at thingiverse.com/thing:2144 Will presumably also work for other similar devices. It’s not necessary in the strict sense, but if you can’t find an altoid tin you have a ready replacement. Additionally, you can alter the files to print a design or logo on the lid (in relief and thin lines only, since the top of the lid is on the bottom of the print), and you won’t have to worry about insulating the board from the metal case.
The United States Computer Emergency Response Team (US-CERT) has warned that the software included in the Energizer DUO USB battery charger contains a backdoor that allows unauthorized remote system access. In an advisory, the US-CERT warned that he installer for the Energizer DUO software places the file UsbCharger.dll in the application’s directory and Arucer.dll in the Windows system32 directory. An attacker is able to remotely control a system, including the ability to list directories, send and receive files, and execute programs. The backdoor operates with the privileges of the logged-on user.
Printable catalog (PDF)
