I don't know how many remember this, but a couple of years back there was a design student whose final year project was to redesign the three pin plug. And he did a ruddy good job of it. The plug essentially had rotating horizontal pins, so you could fold it flat and you could fit a 'four way' adapter in the volume of a 'normal' three pin plug.

It was quite 'a thing' at the time. Everyone said it was a bloody good idea and someone should pay him a ton of money for it. And then it all went quiet.

It turns out that didn't happen. It turns out he got together with a partner and they're doing it themselves, at least as a USB charger/adapter. Now called The Mu Plug. And I bought one, from Amazon. Not in the normal price range for a standard USB adapter but then.. it's not a standard USB adapter really. And an idea this good needs supporting.

Ao , what is it actually like? Well, I've put a few photos up on Flickr. The packaging is very nice, very Apple-ish ion fact. The unit itself when folded is very small and light. I was carrying it in my pocket and forgot it was there. It's almost exactly half the size of an iPhone 4 and about the 1.5 times the thickness. And it weighs... well, effectively nothing. About the same as a couple of AAA batteries, which is all I have to hand that is comparable. The plastic is very nice, matt finish and well moulded. The 'fins' that fold out and the pins both have a very solid action and stay where they are put well.

It's basically a very clever idea, very well realised. It's something of a luxury compared to a standard charger (and it's a standard 1A charger, so it'll take a while to charge a large tablet or current generation phone) but if you want a charger to go in a laptop bag while taking up the absolute minimum amount of size and weight, I don't think there's a better option out there.

I remember it, hope it makes him a fortune. It's one of those 'Why has it taken this long?' designs

Yeah, I read a bit about this recently where the guy said he'd had extremely good offers from manufacturers to take his idea from his concept and put it into production - but he wouldn't have any involvement, he would have had to sign over all intellectual property to the manufacturer.

He turned down these offers so he could do it himself - his reasons being that the experience of doing this himself would be worth far more to him than the money, for future projects. You've got to give the guy credit for not just selling out to the highest bidder, he may not be as rich, but what he now has is invaluable... experience.

And for that, he deserves to succeed.

+1

£25? I'll take 6.

Course if he'd done it today, he'd just have Kickstartered it and he'd be sitting on a fortune already...

EDIT: Just had thought - could one of the admins please move this thread to the Gadgets, Phones & Gizmos section

I'd buy one if it had 2 usb ports on it, but £25 for one.... that's pricing it with full blown portable batteries for recharging devices (and by the look of it about the same size)

Though do you need two USB ports all the time. You could use it for a laptop and daisychain the other devices off that. I appreciate that two USB ports would be more useful. Though this looks like a very need solution if you travel within the UK with your kit. You do not have to worry about being stabbed by the prongs if you have it in a jacket. I wonder if there will be a continental Europe version?

It is a great product but not at that price. Problem he is going to have sooner or later is that as if it becomes popular somebody in china will start producing the exact copy at the fraction of the price. You will be able to pick it up on ebay and have it shipped over couple of weeks.
I personally wouldn't pay more than a fiver for this so 25 quid is just insane in my opinion. I understand that some will find value in this but will this product be feasible in the long term? I am scepticle.

The result of that thinking is people won't bother making new or interesting things because they know they will be ripped off and make no money out of it. Woohoo for that.

OooooOOooooo
I think my sarcasm meter just peaked.

Mark

Yes the price is a but steep, but first versions are usually more expensive. As you said once it becomes popular it will be cloned by some factory in China and be for sale on eBay for £2.99 including postage. The advantage of buying from the developer is that it funds further research into better versions. I personally would like to see two continental versions and possibly with two USB ports as well. Then you could buy three one for the UK and another for northern Europe, and finally southern Europe. Being foldable they will not damage anything else in your bags. That alone is worth something to a lot of people.

Somewhere I have a folding travel plug. It pre-dates USB, but folded totally flat and covered every part of the world. It used to fit in my toiletry bag, and I think I got it from the pound shop. Probably not up to modern safety standards though!

If you Google "World USB Travel Plug Adaptor" you'll find better options than carrying 3 separate pieces of circuitry.

I don't think he has anything to improve on US and European chargers, they are compact already and cheap as chips:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/DURAGADGET-Slim ... 895&sr=8-2

UK seems to be his only play...

Yes there are other alternatives but none are elegant.