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Upal Sengupta

"Summertime and the livin’ is easy" – song lyrics by George Gershwin.

When the weather warms up, my favorite thing to do is to go out in a canoe for a quiet day on a lake somewhere.  If I have the time, I’ll go camping for a few days to really “get away from it all.”  This picture sums it up for me – it was taken from my campsite in western Ontario a couple of summers ago during one of my favorite canoe trips.

For most of us who work in the technology industry, our normal life is full of interruptions – phone meetings, emails, and unexpected projects – so being able to unplug and disconnect gives us a chance to recharge our own batteries.  But what about our real batteries – the ones in our smartphones and cameras?  Even if we aren’t at work, we may want to keep those devices powered up.

While you may want to turn off your work emails, you might not want to be away from the safety and convenience of your smartphone. Whether it’s a medical emergency or you just want to get a photograph with your camera, it’s good to know that your battery is charged up and your device is ready to go.

When you're away from an electrical outlet on a weekend camping trip, you probably aren't going to be plugging in anywhere to make sure you’re topped off.  Fortunately, in the last couple of years, many portable power solutions have been developed that allow us to keep our smart phones charged up for days when you don’t have  access to a power outlet.  Just search the term "power bank" and you'll see an incredibly wide range of products to choose from.  The larger the milliamp-hour rating, the longer you'll be able to stay away from home without giving up the convenience of your smart phone!

TI components like battery charger ICs, boost converters, low power embedded processors, and USB charging port controllers are the enabling technology behind these handy power bank products.  If you’d like to learn more about what’s inside them, check out  our system-level block diagrams.  

Heading out (or staying in) on more than one adventure this summer? Discover more options for summer fun in our “Summer Adventures” blog series:

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