Soon, you’ll be able to charge your iPhone at strategic locations around New York City – but you’ll have to put in a little leg work. The Charge Cycle is a stationary bike equipped with an iPhone dock, so users can charge their phones with the power of their own muscles, without plugging into the grid.

The Kickstarter-based project by David Krawczyk and Navjot Kaur aims to get at least 30 of these bikes out into the city where anyone can use them by early May 2013. Prototypes have already been placed around New York in locations like Washington Square Park, Zuccotti Park and Brooklyn Bridge Park.

The bike is equipped with micro-USB, 30-pin and 8-pin adapters, so virtually anyone can charge their phones. It takes about the same amount of time cycling as it does plugging into a wall charger to charge up a phone, since most phones have built-in charge limiting functions to prevent overheating. The Charge Cycle will be free for public use.

To use it, you attach your phone to an adapter ad secure it to the bike with a silicone band. A 10-segment LED display bar tells you how much charge you’ve accumulated as you pedal. The basket in the front holds your belongings as you ‘ride’. Watch the video above to see it in action.

Want to support this project? Check out the Charge Cycle Kickstarter page.

Classic static telephone booths are slowly fading from the urban landscape but talking on the phone has never been more popular. These 12 concept mobile phone telephone booths attempt to recapture the personal isolation those old public phones provided while enhancing the experience of conversing in the city.

Portable Cellular Phone Booth

(image via: Nick Rodrigues)

No discussion of portable cellular phone booths would be complete without the Portable Cellular Phone Booth, a one-off “sculpture” crafted from stainless steel, aluminum and polycarbonate. Though it dates from 2002, Rodrigues’ art object perfectly captures that pivotal moment in societal history when mobile phones began to nose landlines out of the picture.

(images via: Gawker and Nick Rodrigues)

Measuring 16″ X 24″ X 36″, the device collapses down to flat-pack dimensions and can be worn on the user’s back much like a backpack or rucksack, only harder and heavier. When a call comes in, simply unfold and insert one’s head – and try to ignore the amused, bemused and confused stares of onlookers.

Silence Chair

(images via: SilenceChair.com and Sensory Impact)

The Silence Chair from Finnish designer Antti Evävaara offers mobile phone users a comfortable personal space within which to chat. At the same time, the chair’s safety glass side panels ensure the sound of the conversation doesn’t intrude upon others.

(image via: Masty Wizdom)

Available in up to 67 different colors spread across a range of 6 different styles, the Silence Chair is designed for use in airports, lobbies, lounges, meeting rooms and libraries – the latter is the scene of the image above. Note the sticker on the side glass indicating the suggested use as a cell phone communication station.

Hush Cone

(image via: Design Buzz)

The Hush Cone, designed by Miles Thornley of Brown Kiwi, re-imagines the classic outdoor public phone booth for 21st century modes of mobile communication. While dispensing with the pricey wiring and the landline phone of old, the organically shaped fiberglass booth maintains the sense of visual and acoustic privacy that mobile phone users often find missing in urban environs.

The Cell Atlantic CellBooth

(images via: JennyLC)

The Cell Atlantic CellBooth (the name is a throwback to the good old days of Bell Labs) from artist Jenny L Chowdhury takes Nick Rodrigues’ personal phone booth concept and lightens it up a little. Like Rodrigues’ blocky booth, the Cell Atlantic CellBooth is worn knocked-down on one’s back but easily unfolds when a call needs to be made or taken.

(images via: JennyLC)

The insta-booth employs so-called “Third World Samsonite”, that plaid, stiff & shiny pseudo-fabric usually seen lining wheeled pushcarts sold from dollar stores. The fabric is light, tough and resists water in case the user’s caught outdoors in stormy weather.

The Veasyble

(images via: 2Modern)

Phone booth meets fashion? The Veasyble (with the emphasis on the “easy”) designed by Gloria Pizzilli, Arianna Petrakis, Ilaria Pacini and Adele Bacci appears to be an attempt to make the accordion cool again, assuming the accordion was ever cool that is. Combine it with Pac-Man and you’ve got a polyethylene, paper and fabric isolation chamber than can be shared by two in a pinch… ouch!

Prooff PhoneBox

(images via: Mathieu Gabiot and Contemporan)

You can knock down the traditional wall of telephone booths lining the walls of busy train stations, airports and the like but travelers still need a place to make their mobile phone calls. Enter Mathieu Gabiot’s Prooff PhoneBox, a truncated version of the old-style full length booth that serves basically the same purpose: providing a sound-sheltered environment where one can hear and be heard.

(image via: Apres Furniture)

Described by its makers as an “Acoustic Mobile Phone Booth”, the Prooff PhoneBox can be mounted singly or in ranks depending on the site and situation. It economical design focuses on the small space around the caller’s head: that’s where the speaking and listening goes on, after all.

Pentaphone Isolation Space

(images via: DesignBoom)

Austrian designer Robert Stadler conceived the Pentaphone as a vertically adjustable isolation space that doubles as an intriguing piece of indoor furniture. Crafted from stained and varnished wood panels lined with acoustically absorbent foam, the Pentaphone may look more than a little sci-fi but why not? It’s hard to get any quieter than being in outer space.

Corniche des Chapeaux

(images via: Benedetto Bufalino and Textualy.org)

Is it a stretch to call Corniche des Chapeaux a mobile phone booth? Perhaps, but let’s just keep it under our oversized hats, shall we? This collaboration between artist/designers Benedetto Bufalino and Victor Vieillard saw a series of colorful hats line the waterfront of Marseille, France, in June of 2007.

(images via: Benedetto Bufalino and Ma-Buse)

Besides serving as cozy, convenient spaces for mobile phone communication, the hats functioned as sunshades during the day and reading spaces by night thanks to integrated lighting.

The Mobile Phone Booth

(images via: Design Quarters News)

Designer Alain Gilles has come up with the Mobile Phone Booth, a wall-mounted personal space similar in many ways to the Prooff PhoneBox. The Mobile Phone Booth is larger, however, and includes an integral inner shelf to rest one’s communication device of choice… or one’s arm.

CellZone Cell Phone Booth

(images via: Softpedia)

The CellZone “Bring Your Own Phone” Cell Phone Booth from Salemi Industries looks a lot like the traditional telephone booth it’s meant to replace. Coincidence? We think not – and neither does US Cellular, who’ve seen fit to install a few CellZones (renamed “Chatter Box”) at US Cellular Stadium… where else?

(images via: UMass and Softpedia)

The cylindrical, transparent-doored booths look a little like those message capsules used in pneumatic tube delivery systems but not to fear: you won’t end up like a Futurama character should you step inside one. On the contrary, you’ll stay put but your mobile phone messages will do the traveling for you.

PARCS Phone Booth

(images via: Archiproducts)

The PARCS Phone Booth is a mobile office partition designed by PearsonLloyd. Functioning as an acoustically and visually shielded private space within public areas, the PARCS Phone Booth creates a head-to-toe sonic cocoon that offers silence to both the user and those who work nearby.

The Cone of Silence

http://www.healthcare-informatics.com/blogs/gwen/its-time-get-smart-and-remove-cone-silence

Designers of mobile phone booths have shown they’re long on creativity but short on practicality – a forgivable foible, as the concept of creating space for mobile conversations is mainly untested in the real world… or is it? The classic 1960s spy comedy Get Smart featured the Cone of Silence, an awkward and ineffective acrylic double-bubble affair meant to conceal top-secret conversations between Maxwell Smart and the Chief of CONTROL.

(images via: Alistair Cockburn, Tiki Lounge & Bar and TV Acres)

The flawed device was also available in a portable version for two and the “Umbrella of Silence” for groups. An idea ahead of its time? Perhaps, and not the show’s only one… Agent 86’s preferred mode of mobile communication was his shoe. “Smart phone” indeed.

Cell phone technology and styling continue to progress by leaps and bounds bu that still leaves a lot of wiggle room for creative engineers eager to answer the call for ever odder phones. Here are 15 of the hottest cellphone concepts around. Your future’s calling!

The Hot Line

(images via: Hulger)

Concept cellphones aren’t always feature-packed and futuristic – sometimes they’re just the opposite. Maybe UK-based designer Vladimir Rachev misunderstood when someone requested he create a cellphone tough as iron. Maybe he wasn’t listening; lost inside his own bizarre, twisted world. In any case, the Iron Phone addresses the worst fears of harried housewives speed-ironing while waiting for that all-important phone call. Happy now, Vlad?

Collect Call From Armadillo

(images via: The Design Blog)

The unique style of Jonathan C. Smith’s 03-Phone is said to be inspired by the banded body plan of an armadillo; ditto its coppery color and matte metallic sheen. The phone features a jog wheel that allows the structure to collapse in upon itself, making it much more compact and easy to store in pockets or purses.

Let’s Do The Twist

(images via: Sizzled Core)

The Cryptex phone doesn’t use buttons or a screen because, well, these are the things people expect their cellphones to have and that would be just too easy. Operating the Cryptex requires a whole new way of looking at cellphones, plus a hefty helping of haptic technology and wrists of steel. Twist any dial to turn the phone on; twist the number dials one at a time to make a call. It’s hard to imagine anyone waiting for this phone, except Chubby Checker who’s anxiously waiting for a commercial gig.

Transformers Too

(images via: Slashphone and Tristooges)

The so-called Blackberry Terminator 9900 and the Parkoz Hardware Transformers Cell Phone have yet to be seen in the same room together, not that there’s anything wrong with that. Regardless, this is one VERY mobile phone that might not get held up – though considering its complement of machine guns, YOU might be!

Here’s a short video of the Parkoz Hardware Transformers Cell Phone “ringing”:

Conduit Can Do It

(images via: Cool News)

Tirshathah Hunter has crafted a concept phone that looks almost too good to actually use, though the LEGO generation would surely love to get their hands on it. The Conduit breaks down into three discrete devices: a slimline cellphone, a camera phone and a PDA including stylus. The pieces can also be positioned in such a way as to support a flexible roll-up screen.

Too Board To Chat

(images via: Camera Phones Plaza)

As cool as this Maple wood camera phone concept is, it only won the Silver at the 2008 International Design Excellence Awards. Kudos to Korean designers Hyun Jin Yoon and Eun Hak Lee for leafing well enough alone and not barking their disappointment to the judges. The compact slider-style phone features backlit numerals activated by touch-sensitive sensors on the back.

Morph’in = More Fun

(images via: Techfre and Nokia)

Even the big phone-makers dabble in concepts from time to time, as the intriguing series of Morph cell phone concepts from Nokia demonstrates. The most notable Morph is the wrist-worn version that functions both as a beauteous bangle and a slick cell phone. Integrated electronics and self-cleaning surfaces employing today’s hot buzzword, nanotechnology, add a dash of futuristic elan.

Crazy 888

(images via: Cell Phones Etc and Slashphone)

Nokia has more than one trick up its sleeve, thanks to the Nokia 888 concept phone designed by Turkish design student Tamer Nakisci. Crafted with the Nokia Benelux Open Design Awards in mind, the 888 concept responds to the need for flexibility by being, well, flexible. It can even be worn like a wristband for true hands-free operation. The phone is powered by liquid batteries and is packed with advanced features such as a bendable touchscreen, a touch-sensitive body cover and speech recognition capability.

Here’s a video of the Nokia 888 in action (and reaction):

The Multifaceted Phone

(images via: Mobbit Info)

The above little number – covered in little numbers – is the CUin5 mobile phone concept by Branco Lukic; one of “non.object” series. Conceived as a “super practical” phone, the CUin5 features a numeric keypad, mike & speaker on each of its faces. The face you touch first activates while the others lock down.

Check out this video of the CUin5 – wait ’til the 35-second point, it’s worth it:

Snakes On A Phone

(images via: Cell Phones Beat and Hand Cellphone)

The BenQ-Siemens concept phone also follows the snakelike, wrap around the wrist ethos that many cell phone designers are following. In theory, making the phone easier to carry and more secure to hold involved having the phone hold on to YOU.

Black Box Fades To Black

(images via: Camera Phones Plaza)

Also from BenQ-Siemens is the Black Box – a very intriguing concept phone whose touchscreen changes its layout depending on what functions the user selects. Sadly, the Black Box is doomed to remain a concept as BenQ-Siemens has folded their European operations. At least it can be said they went out with a bang.

The Loose Leaf Phone

(images via: Yanko Design and Gigaset)

Enjoying the benefits of modern technology while still being environmentally conscious is sort of like having your cake and eating it too – it’s not so easy, in other words. Leaf, an innovative new concept design from Siemens’ Gigaset Eco Visions series, is made of recyclable eco-plastic and sports an invisible OLED display hidden behind a translucent lens encasement. It looks like a leaf – and you’ll feel all warm, fuzzy and eco-friendly while you’re using it to order in some organic, vegetarian fast food.

Not Coming Zune?

(images via: Zunescene and Concept Phones)

Did Apple dodge a bullet when Microsoft canceled the promising Zune 3 concept phone? Depends on if you’re an Apple fanboy or in the Zune platoon. Either way, the Zune 3 is – was – an impressive piece of engineering. Those familiar with the Zune 80 would feel right at home while enjoying added features such as built-in IE and WiFi. The scratch-resistant, touch-sensitive glass that completely covers the front of the shell is especially impressive.

Glassy Glassy Is Classy

(images via: Trends Updates and Ubergizmo)

Designer Mac Funamizu explores some tantalizing technology with the Glassy Glassy transparent phone concept: the screen, graphics and numerals aren’t visible until the phone is turned on. While one might be concerned about the survivability of a glass phone in real life situations, the basic tech employed in the Glassy Glassy is quite workable and should show up on everyday cell phones of the future.

The Bender Of Cell Phones

(images via: Textually and Yanko Design)

Cheers isn’t just a place where everyone knows your name, it’s a new and unusual concept cell phone that runs on alcohol! Well, in a way it does, and not like Futurama’s Bender does either, from the future though he may be. Cheers (the cell phone) draws its power from an alcohol cell that is said to be more energy efficient than regular batteries. The design of the phone is meant to ape that of old-time hip flasks, so it’s recommended you keep your phone and your flask in different pockets. Driving while talking on Cheers may be legal but it could draw unwelcome attention from assorted badge-wearing types who might wonder why you’re drinking through your ear.

Thinking of holding off on the purchase of a new cell phone until one or more of these cool concepts hits the retail shelves? Think again – concept cell phones work well as test-beds for new technologies and sounding boards for innovative new designs. You might not see these exact phones in the store some day but their futuristic features are well on the way. Buy now or bide your time – it’s your call.