Product Reviews

English inventor Trevor Baylis released his pioneering Freeplay wind-up radio in 1996, designed to improve communications in Africa and slow the spread of AIDS. Since then he's gone on to develop a range of energy-producing products such as piezoelectric shoes, and this, the wind-up Eco Media player.

Things have certainly come a long way since the Freeplay; it supports MP3 and video, and sports a 1.8in TFT screen. It also has a built-in light, a feature that we've never seen before. 2GB of internal storage is supplied, but can be boosted with cheap and spacious SD cards.

We found that a few minutes' frantic winding provided enough power for around half an album, and while this is an admirably sustainable power source, topping up the battery on a bus is sure to raise a few eyebrows.

The player lacks compactness, stylish design and an intuitive interface. If the company can improve on these features, then it could be a real turning point.