Imagine this scenario: You’’re out and about around town when suddenly your cell phone beeps or vibrates in your pocket. Thinking you’’ve got a call or a text, you grab your phone only to realize that it isn’’t a friend trying to contact you. It’’s your phone. Letting you know that its battery is running out of juice. You realize you’’re not going to be anywhere near a charger anytime soon, and it becomes clear that your fate is sealed. Your phone is going to die. And there’s nothing you can do to stop it.

While such a bleak scenario may seem like a nightmare to you, it’s the stuff of dreams for a pair of Manhattan entrepreneurs. The duo invented Juicebox, a simple, public credit-card-operated phone charging station that could forever put an end to the dangers of hitting the town without a fully-charged phone.

For a flat fee of $2, you can charge your phone for an unlimited time in one of these cool-looking boxes, which are incredibly easy to use. Just swipe a credit card and one of several locked compartments pops open. Inside are various charging connections that are compatible with all major phone manufacturers. Plug your phone in, close the door, and your phone happily charges away, safe in its own little compartment, which stays locked until you come back and swipe your card again. Then the compartment pops back open and you grab your phone, empowered with a full bevy of social mobility that only a fully-charged battery can provide.

Juiceboxes can be installed anywhere: restaurants, movie theaters, malls, bowling alleys, you name it. To encourage venue owners to adopt the devices, the company behind Juicebox designed them to look more like good-looking pieces of furniture than out-of-place kiosks. The company also decided it would install them for free. Since no ultra-modern electronic device comes without its own ability to communicate, Juiceboxes are also equipped with 4G connections that alert headquarters when they need maintenance.

We can’t wait to see Juiceboxes start popping up at our favorite places. In our hyper-connected and always-on world, a couple of bucks seems like a small price to pay to stay up and running when your phone’s battery starts running out.

Sources

“Juicebox Wants to Be Your Phone Charger Away From Home,” Mashable, Jan. 27, 2012.