Mu, the Awesome Folding UK Power Plug, is Now Shipping

[JMcEntegart]

The design that blew our minds three years ago is back, and this time it's a real product.

Mu, the Awesome Folding UK Power Plug, is Now Shipping : Read more

 

[killabanks]

[citation][nom]hahchbnm[/nom]they show in that video and it can be played on current tegra 2 phones, theres cracks that allow it to work on adreno gpu's as well. Gorgeous game for a phone.[/citation]
what? lol

 

[Cons29]

wrong section maybe?
anyway, having moving parts will most likely cause some trouble after some time. they better build it good

 

[DXRick]

Wow. And to think I was alive when this was created.

 

[bin1127]

What will they think of next?

 

[womble]

"special kind of pain that comes from standing on a UK-region plug" I think there are very few people over here who will disagree with that observation.

As a weapon the UK plug has few equals, I hear even the Klingons banned their use.

 

[Guest]

Another over engineered white elephant.

 

[nukemaster]

Maybe its just me, but can they not just use a similar folding design to what we have in the US/CAN. IT only needs to prongs and they just fold flat into the unit it self. Or does a ground place holder prevent reverse polarity(2 prong stuff here has no worries of polarity) for them.

US/CAN charger with folding plug, and many have this design now.

 

[alyoshka]

This was one of the most amazing ideas 3 years ago, and to get it accepted and finally come out into the market, it's taken them 3 years. Great going, this is the beginning of a very very well earnt rest.

 

[fazers_on_stun]

Hmm, and here I was expecting a power plug that could fold proteins too ..

 

[Alabalcho]

@Nukemaster, UK plugs need the ground pin (even if it is plastic) as it actually "unlocks" a door on the outlet for live / neutral pins. The plug itself usually contains a fuse as well.

 

[mikewong]

The UK plug design was wrong since the beginning...

 

[mickey21]

[citation][nom]mikewong[/nom]The UK plug design was wrong since the beginning...[/citation]
Agreed, a more horrible common plug for a country there does not exist. Plug fail. You would think they would eventually call for a complete redesign, but I guess that might be a pain. Heck they did it with light bulbs, why not plugs.

 

[Benihana]

Wow. The English sure aren't off to a good start in the world of tech news.

 

[pjmelect]

The UK plug is very well designed it does not fall out of the socket like the American one does if it is knocked, it is much safer because of the higher voltages in the UK making it impossible to come in contact with the electricity, it is earthed, fully fused and it can handle twice the power of the American plug.

 

[nukemaster]

I am sure all plugs in US/CAN are fully grounded as well. The third prong in the article is nothing more then a place peg(thanks Alabalcho) to open the safety shutters(Tamper Resistant for US/CAN users)

http://www.leviton.com/OA_HTML/ibeCCtpSctDspRte.jsp?section=23899&minisite=10021

The plugs are fused because they CAN provide more then the 13 amps(2a 3a 5a 10a) standard devices use. This is almost a needed safety.

Many US/CAN higher power devices can have a integrated circuit breaker on the plug as well.

The BS 1363 is however as you say VERY safe. And they adopted those safety shutters very early.

While we(US/CAN) can not get as much power(due to the lower voltage + higher current needing much bigger wires). We do still have 20 amp 110-120(12 gauge wire) volt plugs as well. After that, well we break out the 240 volt stuff too

Check this out.

http://www.slimplug.com/