Rural populations will be able to leap across the digital divide and access vital information like never before as Lifeline Energy unveils its revolutionary new Lifeplayer development. An innovative tool that it is being called the “iPod®” for development.

A group of Liberian women listening to the Lifeplayer

Created to deliver on-demand programming that classrooms or communities can replay continually, the Lifeplayer is an oversized MP3 player that can be pre-loaded to hold 64GB of educational content, can download Internet audio and can record live voice or radio programmes for playback later. With a wireless solar panel and a hand-wound crank, the Lifeplayer can even charge mobile phones.

“This exciting new product launch comes as we grow our organization under the Lifeline Energy banner and expand our efforts to address the broader energy needs of the extremely poor,” says Lifeline Energy’s CEO Kristine Pearson. "We spent more than two years gathering feedback from the field and believe we’ve created a tool that can scale education delivery as never before,” she says.

Continuing our leadership in the global effort to tackle energy poverty, the Lifeplayer represents the first time that the extremely poor have the opportunity to access real-time information on demand anytime, anywhere – in even isolated locations -- without concern for electricity or batteries.

Made for large group listening, it has excellent sound quality that ensures 60 learners can hear it clearly. For classrooms of more than 60 listeners, speakers can be added to ensure everyone can hear.

Tom Hanks, our Ambassador, who is an advocate for renewable energy solutions and is the primary funder of the Lifeplayer, says that the mission is “to get energy technologies into the hands of those who need them most, who will use them in creative ways that we can't even imagine."

The Lifeplayer isn’t just limited to school-based learning. A community can listen to an unlimited range of programmes that is either pre-loaded onto the Lifeplayer or can be recorded from the radio or downloaded from the Internet or a cell phone via a microSD™ card. This might include: how to start a business; how to use micro-finance; how to tackle local environmental issues; how use fertilizer and pesticides correctly; or how to prevent diseases.

Even oral histories that are in danger of being lost can be recorded onto the Lifeplayer and saved for future generations.

The Lifeplayer is the first of many products that Lifeline Energy will design through our new product development and commercial arm, Lifeline Technologies Trading Ltd. (LTTL). LTTL not only focuses on developing clean energy, self-powered products for the poor, but also donates profits from product sales to Lifeline Energy.