Dubbed the "Danba mobile power station," this new gadget, designed to charge mobile phones in an emergency, has begun to appear around the city, attracting increasing interest.

To give waning batteries a lift, the user must first insert one yuan into the public energy dispenser, then locate the appropriate plug from the machine's 12 options. The dispenser gives the phone a five-minute charge, allowing one to two more hours of communication.

"Without this gadget, I would be running into the same trouble all the time," said 19-year-old Lu Xiang, referring to an earlier occurrence in which he narrowly saved a crucial call from his girlfriend thanks to the emergency charge.

But Cai Weimin, general manager of Shanghai Tiger Electronic Science and Technology Co Ltd, expects more.

"What we have here is just our first-generation product; it is only a touchstone to test market acceptability before we make our next move," said Cai.

A veteran Taiwan businessman who came up with the idea for such a machine fives years ago, Cai, introduced this novel gadget, now manufactured in Taiwan, to the mainland market early last year.

Encouraging market

With more than 6 million mobile phone users and a affinity for the latest market trends, Shanghai was the natural choice as pilot city to test the market acceptability of this new product. And the response has been "unexpectedly encouraging."

Since last March, more than 100 units have been installed in various spots around the city, such as hypermarkets, railway stations and department stores, Cai said.

His company plans to introduce 5,000 units to the city this year, and is considering moving its Taiwan-based headquarters and workshops to Shanghai and neighbouring areas in the near future, Cai revealed.

"It seems that the mainland market is quicker than Taiwan in accepting such novel things," Cai said.

Firms keen to hook up with Cai vary from mobile phone manufacturers, telecommunication and mobile service providers to supermarket operators.

Cai has found interested parties as far away as Beijing, Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province and South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

User-friendly service

In fact, apart from the monthly revenues from emergency charges, estimated to reach some 1,000 to 3,000 yuan (US$120-360), what is really appealing to investors are the soon-to-be-unveiled next-generation functions, according to Cai.

With support from interests such as telecommunication operators, Cai intends to greatly expand his product's functions to enable customers to access varied value-added web-enabled services featured in e-time.

For example, people will be able to use the platform to make Internet Protocol (IP) calls or access virtual shopping features through the liquid crystal touch screen.

Such a platform will allow people to use their own notebook computers or personal digital assistants (PDAs) to access the Internet in a wireless mode, allowing fantastic online surfing opportunities.

"Such value-added services should be the highlight of our next-generation product," Cai said.

"What is much more valuable than technology is the right concept or idea, though your invention sometimes may seem rather simple," he noted.

| frontpage | nation | business | HK\Taiwan | snapshots | focus |
| governmentinfo | economic insights | campus life | Shanghai today | metropolitan |