HUNDREDS of shared umbrellas, called e-umbrellas, have been put into use in Shenzhen since Thursday. Users can unlock an e-umbrella as easy as unlocking a shared bike and pay 0.5 yuan (US$0.07) to use it for half an hour, the DT News reported Friday.

The developer of the e-umbrellas, a Shenzhen-based technology company, put 500 e-umbrellas on roadside railings near bus stations, Metro stations and shopping malls across the city Thursday morning.

The DT News reporter saw eight e-umbrellas placed on roadside railings on Xinzhou Road near the Peking University Shenzhen Hospital on Thursday. However, few people took the umbrellas because there was no sign explaining how people could use them.

The company’s founder, Zhao Shuping, said that the company plans to put around 1.8 million e-umbrellas into use in Shenzhen, and the umbrellas will not only be placed on the roadside but also in taxis and app-based cabs. Zhao said that the company is also developing a partnership with an app-based bike operator, hoping that special holders could be installed on the bikes to hold the e-umbrellas.

According to Zhao, the cost of developing and maintaining an e-umbrella is 90 yuan, but users only have to pay a deposit of 19 yuan to use the umbrellas.

Just like using an app-based bike, users can download the e-umbrella app to look for available umbrellas nearby and obtain the password to unlock an umbrella. Users don’t have to return the umbrellas to any designated locations, and the app will stop calculating the fee when the user closes the umbrella.

“We encourage users to bring the umbrella home and share it with their family members,” Zhao said, adding that the company has assigned a team to deploy and recycle the umbrellas, and some umbrellas would be unlocked for free for children and the elderly on rainy days.

According to the e-umbrella’s designers, the umbrella can be used as a walking stick and is also equipped with a GPS device and a solar panel that consistently powers the device.

Each umbrella has a small bag attached, in which users can leave written notes to other people and make new friends. The next generation of the e-umbrella will also have an MP4 player, according to the report.

(Zhang Yang)