Go Mango
So you’re on an Ugandan island and you’re feeling kinda isolated… who ya gonna call? Or more to the point, HOW ya gonna call when your phone’s battery gave up the ghost 20 miles outta Kampala? Look to the sun – not directly, mind you, but via the nice folks at Rwanda-based Mango Telecom. Sweet! (image via futureatlas.com)
Pickup The Phone
While we’re not exactly sure what’s going on here, it would appear that Efecty – a Colombian company specializing in online payments and foreign exchange – also offers a truck-based phone charging service. Mobile device battery getting low? Login and they drive a truck to your door! That’s right: don’t pickup the phone, phone the pickup. (image via ben dalton)
Cranking Call
Back to Africa, where mobile phones have become an everyday essential. This fact of modern life has begat a lucrative economic opportunity for anyone with electricity to spare. Take this rural entrepreneur, charging phones with car batteries and charging customers for the privilege. They even offer music while-u-wait – powered by the very same rack of lead-acid batteries. No telling when or how they recharge the batteries; perhaps a kite and a key are involved. (image via Kaj17)
Harge Times
Louisiana is about as foreign as one can get within the Lower 48 and the above “Phone Harge” kiosk at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport proves it. Google Translate won’t help you here; neither are there any obvious instructions on the kiosk itself. Perhaps the word “phone” and the glowing green graphic of a battery can offer some clue as to the structure’s purpose… aha, now we “C” it! (image via Jen Gallardo)
Big Shavings
That’s not the razor phone I was looking for… and that annoyingly buzzy dial tone has got to go! This place must be some kinda clip joint and – hey wait, it IS a clip joint? Since “kinyozi” is Swahili for “barber”, then er, yeah. All-righty then: take care of business up front, party in the back, trim those unsightly nose hairs and juice up the ol’ iPhone – shear genius! (image via Meena Kadri)
More of a recycler than a recharger? Check out Power Fill: 10 International Battery Recycling Bins!

