Sony Reon Pocket: A Cool Wearable Air Conditioner You Control With Your Smartphone
The Reon Pocket promises to keep you cool in the hot summer and warm in the chill of winter; it's controlled by an app that runs on your smartphone. Sony is crowdfunding the project on First Flight in Japan and was seeking 66,000,000 yen for the project and has raised 104% of that goal with 21 days to go. The device is aimed at business people who have to wear suits when it's blazing hot during Tokyo summers.
The small device slides into a special pocket inside shirts that are purchased along with the Reon Pocket unit itself. The pockets on the shirts place the unit on the lower neck area. Sony is offering a basic package for backers on First Flight that comes with one shirt for $130. Shirts come in men's sizes only with small, medium, and large available.
Reon Pocket is powered by a battery and can run for 90 minutes per charge, and a full charge takes two hours. For now, the plan is to launch the device only in Japan with no indication that it will be offered elsewhere. Once the crowdfunding is over, the product will launch sometime next year. One caveat to the device is that it may be difficult to get it out of the pocket in the shirt without taking the Reon Pocket shirt off for some users. Recharging the device while at work if its battery goes dead may be difficult for some. Earlier this month the Sony Walkman turned 40, the Walkman is one of the most iconic products Sony ever produced.
