This week’s Smart Device roundup features a new piece of luggage that follows you around, an exercise buddy that charges your mobile devices, and a wireless charger that can juice up your device as far as 30 feet away.

Hop!

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If you’re one of those travellers who packs their whole house in a single bag, then the Hop! suitcase may have been designed for you.  Hop! looks like any other suitcase but has been tricked out with receivers that enables it to  receive, identify and triangulate different signals so it can connect with your smartphone and follow you around.

If Hop! gets lost, it locks down and sends a notification to your smartphone that your luggage can’t find you. Not to mention, it actually follows you around. The concept sounds really cool, as it leaves your hands free from dragging luggage through the airport. But I’m pretty sure the TSA won’t be too happy if they see you walking around with a  bag following behind you.  We don’t have to worry too much about that scenario just yet, as Hop! is still a concept with only one working prototype. Let’s just hope that more features will be added to Hop! such as GPS tracking.

Cota

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Most induction or wireless chargers today aren’t really convenient to use since it requires you to put down your device on a charging plate, rendering your device unusable while charging.

Physicist Hatem Zeine, founder of Ossia, aims change people’s mind regarding induction charging with Cota.  Cota uses an unlicensed 2.4Ghz spectrum used by WiFi, Bluetooth and other communication signals to send power from a source directly to a device via airwaves.  It’s like charging your device via WiFi, which means it can power up multiple Cota-enabled devices, and you can charge your device almost anywhere the signal is available, which has about 30 feet in range.

Though the innovation is something to be applauded, there are a lot of concerns regarding sending power over the air.  First, safety issues.  Is it really wise to charge up the air?  According to Zeine, Cota only send 1W of power at a time, which is said to be safe.  Then another issue is power loss.  In a demonstration, only 10 percent of a device’s needed energy was delivered to a Cota-enabled gadget, the rest was lost.  If this issue is not addressed, then we’d  be wasting a lot of energy using Cota.  The device is said to be in the final stages of getting FCC approval, so we’ll probably learn more about the device in the near future.

PULSE Kinect Jump Rope

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Jump rope is a great way for kids to pass time, but it’s also been used by athletes in training as allows for good cardiovascular exercise.  Uncharted Play is putting a new life in these fitness accessories by harnessing the energy you exert in using it to something that powers your mobile gadgets.

image source: Uncharted Play

The Pulse Kinect Jump Rope has onboard kinetic generators that converts movements, in this case jumping or skipping, into usable energy for small appliances or mobile gadgets.  If you’re trying to lose some weight or just want to get your heart pumping without exerting too much effort, then the Pulse Kinect Jump Rope is a great gadget to try out.  Not only will you become fitter, you’ll also create enough energy to charge up your mobile devices without plugging into an electrical socket.  Right now, Pulse is in limited release with only 100 of them being made.  It costs $129.