This is interesting, reposted from the wearables computer list.
P1 to feature wind-up power? [potential confirmation] [13:46 EST, 2/23]
A recent article posted at CNN.com [direct link not available] confirms recent speculation that the Consumer Portable (codename P1) may include a "wind-up" power source.
Essentially, this power source would be a concealable arm on the side of the Portable's case, which could be spun by hand to generate power for the Portable's Lithium Ion battery. The idea is that this Portable must be able to run the Mac OS, but must also be able to sustain operation for an entire school day (it is expected to be Apple's biggest hit in schools -- ever). To provide both of these abilities without needing to be plugged in, Apple is reportedly licensing the remarkably efficient wind-up technology from a British company that invented it.
Several anonymous sources claiming to be privy to Apple's plans for the webMate, the education-specific version of the P1 (apparently webMate and macMate are the same machine; one is the education-tailored version, the other designed more for the general public; the differences are not entirely clear at present) suggested similar things earlier this week.