The approaching sunny summer time is inviting to spend more time outside – a healthy mindset but causing some headache when it comes to keep all our electronic gadgets charged up while disconnected from the power grid.

Solar bags started to show up as commercial products just a few years ago but have become a popular option to keep the growing collection of gadgets-on-the-go powered. What’s more, companies start to add other features to these type of bags, features that have been hardly possible without solar panel integration.

One of the new generation of solar power backpacks is the Multi-Purpose Solar Charger Backpack from Brando with integrated Ultrasonic mosquito repellent, making it the ultimate backpack for outdoor enthusiasts.

The storage capacity of the power bank at 10.000mAh is impressive and offers output options of 19v, 13~16.8v, 13v & 9v @3.5A and 5V@1A. This is enough power to serve for almost any portable device you might possess.

There is no indication of a solar charging time but judging on the storage battery capacity it might take several days of full sunshine to get this battery fully loaded. If you can’t find enough sunny hours, there is the option to load up your bag via AC.

The Multi-Purpose Solar Charger Backpack is retailing for $189.- including a ton of adaptors and connectors for many types of personal devices and laptops.

A nice option is the modular solar panel part which can be taken off the backpack and placed as personal solar power generator on a sunny place outside or behind a window while driving around, being at the office or at home.

If you dream about being outside while doing your work on the computer the ‘Multi-Purpose Solar Charger Backpack’ allows you to transfer your office work into the great outdoors, making you independent from the power grid and chase away the bugs.

Device controlling bags have been around for a long time offering to those who got their hands-on experience with such bags a convenient way to operate the basics on cellphones, iPods and other MP3 player.

The growing number of interactive backpack styles give choices for function and taste. The function of device control on bags is becoming mainstream adding another feature choice next to zippers, headphone cable eyelets, special audio pockets or water bottle compartment on our bags.

This is of course good news for consumer as the days of incredible high premium prices for a audio control function are gone.

UK fashion brand TOG24, already known for making cool looking winter jackets with audio control has some very affordable, techie looking backpacks in their collection like the Martel Music Backpack selling for £29.95 ($44.60)

Remember, using this type of backpack with remote control and headphone port on the shoulder strap not only makes it convenient to quickly change songs, volume or pick up a call, it also gives an additional layer of protection to your precious little devices which can be kept safely inside the bag while operated via the bag.

Looks like Columbia Sportswear designed a complete range of technology enhanced outfit for the 2009/10 winter season.

First we had the heated boots Bugathermo for men and Snow Hottie for women.

Then, Columbia launched the heated jackets Radiance for women and the Refugium Jacket for men to stay comfy warm during outdoor adventures.

The latest soft technology product I found is the Super Charger™ backpack, big and rugged enough to hold your skiing, snowboarding, hiking or climbing needs.

The twist: it includes a complete sound system with water resistant stereo speakers as well as a cool, illuminated soft keypad for audio device control on the shoulder strap.

The integrated amplifier drives the 2 speaker in the shoulder straps which allows you to listen to your action tunes while out and about. The keypad gives control to the audio player from the packs outside, keeping your precious player safely stored inside the pack away from scratches, pumps, rain or snow.

Available in the colors Citrus or Black for $125.- on various online stores or directly via Columbia’s site.

I wonder what will come next from Columbia Sportswear’s techno range.

There are time you don’t want to use earphones or the use of earphone present a higher risk of accident which is the case in areas one has to be aware of his/her surroundings.

UK based Noisebag has jumped on the trend of boom bags and launched a range of Noisebags with integrated stereo speakers in the shoulder strap.

Targeted towards the cycling, walking, skateboarding and similar action/adventure folks, the Noisebags connect to any iPod, MP3 and MP4 player via a 3.5mm audio jack.

The on-bag amplifier, powered by 4 AA batteries, pumps out your tunes while enjoying whatever action your are emerged into.

The Noisebag’s audio design is exceptionally good looking, the speaker integration as well as the pocket for the audio player and the control of the music-amplifier well positioned together in easy reach of the shoulder strop.

Noisebag has to offer two of ‘mid’ and ‘big’ with a color selection of Orange, Pink, Blue and Camo. Available for £29.99 (around $47.40) via their online store.

[via: Shiny Shiny]

Dicota, one of the leading manufacturers of high-quality, exclusive notebook bags unveiled their first technology enabled bag, the Red Dot design award winning BacPac.

This exclusive backpack offers everything one could wish on an urban style bag for all the essentials needed in today’s life: a protective detachable Notebook sleeve with high-class HDF padding (high-density foam) for Notebooks from 14″ to 15.4″ and various compartments to organize USB drives, pens or CDs are well stored in the workstation.

The iPod is simply connected in the specially designed multimedia pocket located on the side of the bag. The earphones and the soft control pad is on the shoulder-strap, easy to reach on operate most of the iPod models and iPhones.

Available at this online store for $223.19, the BacPac offers another smart twist by featuring waterproof zippers around the bag to ensure no water is ever reaching the precious electronics inside the bag.

A good looking option to make sure the delicate electronics stays save while being able to have full control over what to listen on the go with the convenience of not taking out the iPod/iPhone each time to skip a song or turn up/down the volume.

[via Gizmag]

The KILLA Vintage series #1 bags are the first to combine two of the most popular wearable technologies into one product: wearable solar power and iPod control.

But the uniqueness does not stop there. The Vintage series #1 bags are made from 50 year old WW2 German vintage back pack and satchel and can last another 50 years, long enough to survive the fast moving fashion world of today.

KILLA partnered with QIO Systems using their PANiQ textile interface and modules to control the iPod/iPhone family and other Bluetooth enabled mobile devices.

The flexible solar power system comes from Solarc, a German company we have posted some time ago about their sexy solar bags. The KILLA Vintage series 1 # bags have a power pack as well storing the sun’s energy for later use.

This unique bags are available only in a very limited numbered and tagged edition, 20 units per year and can be purchased by KILLA’s new wearable electronic shop ARChitect in Vancouver, 46 Alexander Street, Vancity, BC

By launching the extraordinary Vintage series #1 bags next to the gorgeous hoodies and jackets with device control, KILLA is definitely claiming the #1 spot in the technology enabled, wearable electronic fashion business.

It’s the time of the year when companies release their newest gear for the coming winter season.

Columbia kicks off the Fall/Winter 2009 interactive bag season, at least as far as I could find new bags, with the Super Charger Ski Backpack which includes a Soundtrack Audio System containing an amplifier inside the bag, two water proof speaker and a soft panel audio device control in the shoulder straps.

The Super Charger Ski Backpack works apparently also with Skullcandy audio accessories. It has a Versatile Ski Carrying (VSC) System featuring diagonal or vertical ski carrying straps which allows also to carry a snowboard.

Audio controlling bags have been around for some time now, fortunately the prices came down as well so it is now surprise to see more people opting for such functionality on their bags.

Being myself a heavy user of device controlling bags, I can not often enough underline the convenience of having the basic controls of an audio player at my finger tips, easy to access on the straps, especially when out and around, the usual time one carries a bag.

The additional speakers in the top of the straps are nicely designed, blending into the overall style of the bag and acting not only as cool feature but also a bit as a safety device, allowing to listen to music but still being fully aware of the action around.

As this time is also the ‘Back-to-School’ time you can have the Super Charger Backpack, which comes in the colors Citrus or Black, for $125.00 minus 10% when using the coupon code ‘school10‘ at the checkout on this online shop.

Finland based Suntrica is a young company exploring the possibilities of thin, lightweight solar panels as wearable add-on solution for clothing and bags.

An interesting idea as such self-containing add-on module allows to quickly and easily move it from one bag to another, leave it at home when no sun is shining.

Personally I like the integration of flexible solar panels, I don’t mind if my solar panel has no use while being under an overcast sky as the integration takes away the need to take care and not loose another item in my growing ‘gadgetery’ I am carrying around.

Nevertheless, some people might like the modular solution and the next best thing I could imagine using is Suntrica’s SolarStrap™, a lightweight, flexible  solar-charging badge containing on one half the flexible solar panel capable of harvesting 50mAh by full sun light and housing on the other half the storage battery with a capacity of 950mAh, larger enough to fill up most cell-phones and MP3 player when fully charged.

The power output is rated at 5.5V at 800mA via mini USB and a selection of the most common cellphone adaptors. The weight of the SolarStrap is 60g and the dimension when folded is 144x97x25mm.

The SolarStrap might not the most powerful solar charging solution but it is small to be placed quickly anywhere on your bag or body and being small and freely placable you can alway adjust the placement to point straight into the sun achieving the maximum on solar power harvesting.

A interesting concept / product but I couldn’t find any shop who is selling it and no price information was available as of today. I will watch out if the SolarStrap becomes commercially available.

It’s the time of the year where people start looking into the far distance, into summer, sun and adventure. A friend of mine is getting ready for an extended trip through the wilderness. Reading his packing list I noticed a ton of spare batteries filling up the space of his backpack, adding considerable weight to it.

A look around the Internet came up with a Space age Solar Backpack, the Blue Sun Solar Backpack which uses CIGS (Copper indium gallium (di)selenide) Solar Cells, the same material used in Nasa Space Technology like the Hubble Space telescope.

This flexible, water (and it seems space) resistant solar panel generates 6 Watt of power which is either stored in the onboard battery pack or used for direct charging via a Cigarette Light Adapter to fill up any of the devices needed on adventure trips like Cell Phones, Digital Cameras, Camcorders, GPS Units and audio player.

Flexible, lightweight solar panels in backpacks provide the best available option when it comes to ensure additional power needs during longer trips through the great outdoors. They save volume need for spare batteries or solar charging devices, they save a great deal of weight which would be needed to carry along and they are much more robust compared with glass based solar cells.

Having Solar power bags around the city is cool, having solar power bags for adventure trips is smart.

If you are on the lookout for a solar power charging bag, the Solarbag Shop has a larger range of different model.

Need to cheer up a bit the last leg of this school year? How about the Targus SonicPak from Dell?

Dell is offering this cool looking BoomPak featuring a padded compartment for protection of not only Dell laptops but will also fit for MacBooks of up to 15.4″.

The sound part is integrated into the front panel which is transformed to a sound emitting area giving decent sound via the surface sound technology from NXT. As this technology uses the soft, called ‘EVA’ material of the bag itself it is a space saving and extremely lightweight sound solution for on-the-go.

Any audio source can be connected via a standard 3.5mm pin connector, so many cell-phones, MP3 player and of course laptop computers.

The battery compartment with an on/off switch, a power-indicator LED as well as a 1.4W*2 amplifier (yeah it’s stereo sound) is integrated into the surface sound panel. The batteries should be able to provide power for up to 100 hours, sounds a bit much for 4x AA batteries or the volume is turned down to ‘unhearable’ levels which misses the point of having a BoomPak. Having half of that time for real volume would be still a good thing.

Dell is selling the SonicPak for S85.99, a reasonable price for what you get next to the great looking sound: side mesh water bottle holders, adjustable, padded shoulder straps, molded carrying handle, oversize zipper pulls for easy gripping and  plenty of pockets for accessories.