Sony's mini air conditioner can fit in your pocket
You can adjust temperature with a smartphone app.
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This device can keep you cool or warm using a smartphone app.
If it's always been your dream to have air conditioning with you wherever you go, Sony might have the solution. The Reon Pocket, from the company's startup acceleration program, is a small device that fits in a shirt pocket and can keep you cool or warm at the touch of a smartphone app.
The device slides into the back of a specially designed shirt, sitting at the neck. Temperature is adjusted through the app, which connects to the Reon Pocket via Bluetooth. Sony is crowdfunding the gadget.
A basic package with the Reon Pocket and one shirt costs around $130. The shirts come in a men's small, medium or large. The device's battery lasts for 90 minutes after two hours of charging, according to the South China Morning Post, and Sony plans to launch the Reon Pocket only in Japan for the time being. The target demographic is business people who have to wear suits in the sweltering heat.
If all goes well, the device could become available next year, said Yoichi Ito, a project lead on Reon Pocket, in a blog post.
Originally published July 25.
Update, July 26: Adds more information.
