The Mu brings portability to UK chargers
If it's one thing that makes me glad I don't live in the UK, it's the power plug the country uses. While most of the world only disagrees on how the two pins that make up the plug should look, the UK is using a three pin plug that makes even the smallest phone chargers look like laptop chargers. This is what made Min-Kyu Choi design a concept plug back in 2009 – a plug that would cleverly pivot two of the pins to line up with the third when not actually plugged into anything.
Now this concept has made it into an actual product, The Mu. It's a 1A USB charger that uses the pivoting pins to minimize the thickness of the adapter when not in use. 1A is enough for smartphone charging, though will essentially double the charging time of devices with larger batteries, i.e. tablets. The downside is that the Mu is £25, which is a fairly steep price for a charger, but if I lived in the UK I would jumpon this in a second.
My favorite USB charger ever is still the Hama Piccolino, which despite being too weak to charge most of my devices at full speed is still around to charge the odd accessory. While the Mu is still not as tiny as the Piccolino, it's a lot smaller than what the British normally have to lug around. So, if you're a UK resident and tired of those huge chargers, you might want to check this one out. Just make sure that your phone can charge off generic chargers, as some brands use triggers to make them charge only off chargers made for those brands.
[The Mu via Pocket-lint]
