Imagine a world in which you never have to worry about your cell phone running out of battery again.
For women at least, that world is here, thanks to 27-year-old Chicago entrepreneur Liz Ormesher Salcedo, who has invented the 'Everpurse' that charges your cell phone on the go.
'Everpurse', hides cutting-edge technology in the lining of a cute clutch, making it possible to simply drop your phone in the pocket get it charged.
Salcedo developed the technology while working as a social worker, where she regularly found herself stranded when her phone ran out of juice.
"Often I wouldn't be able to get through the entire workday with enough charge," she was quoted by the New York Daily News as saying.
"It became a really big problem, so I looked for a solution," she said.
Salcedo and her husband Dan, a serial entrepreneur, started experimenting with off-the-shelf parts from an electronics store until they made the first prototype in one of her old bags.
"I tore out the insides and I glued and taped things down," she said.
"I moved things around and I played with it for a week, and then I moved it around again."
They would continue to make adjustments over the next year until they perfected the 'Everpurse', which they put on a crowdfunding platform in early September in the hopes of raising USD 100,000 to professionally produce and sell the bags.
'Everpurse' met its fundraising goal in just six days and the pot keeps growing. They've now raised over USD 150,000 and have orders to make roughly 1500 bags.
"We've gotten a lot of 'oh my god this changes everything,'" Salcedo said.
Fans can order the purses in an array of colours, in either fabric (USD 129) or leather (USD 159).
The bag powers up when placed on a wireless charging pad, and holds the equivalent of two iPhone batteries when fully charged.
The technology can easily be modified to hold even more charge, Salcedo said, which means a bag that could power your phone for a full week is "totally doable."
For USD 600, you can also have an existing purse retrofitted with the Everpurse technology, which the team will sew into the lining of your bag by hand.
Right now, the bag is compatible with the iPhone 4, 4S and 5, as well as the Galaxy S3, and may eventually be expanded to work with more types of phones.
