They say it’s bad luck to hold an umbrella indoors. It’s right up there with letting a black cat cross your path and being a total doofus by walking underneath a ladder. But what about holding an umbrella when its sunny? What kind of luck does that create? Well, if British telecommunications company Vodaphone has anything to say about it, it’ll create very good luck indeed. Jolly good luck actually. Yeah baby. A full set of decaying teeth’s worth of good luck. Ok. We are done.
Sure the world of portable solar chargers is nothing new. The tech hasn’t quite caught on yet, forcing us to rely on the tried and true “plug-in” method for keeping our mobile devices going.  The reason? Who wants to carry another thing around. Life is hectic enough as is. Vodaphone may have solved that problem by building the tech into an old-fashioned umbrella. If its rainy, and you have to be holding something anyways, you may as well be multitasking. Speaking of multitasking, this magical little umbrella doesn’t just charge your phone, it also boosts your signal, providing you are on Vodaphone’s network. Of course, if the rain you are protecting yourself from also comes with ample cloud cover you won’t get much charging in. Stick to sun-showers for now.
This nifty gadget is still in the design phase. The Vodaphone Booster Brolly prototype will be undergoing testing at the Isle of Wight Festival next week. Until then, we’ll all have to settle with our umbrellas that can’t boost signals or charge our phones. They keep the rain away pretty well though. There’s always that.
