Meet BatteryBox: The Portable Battery Backup For Your Macbook and Mobile Devices

 BatteryBox Macbook and Mobile Device Charger

If you regularly work away from your desk, you’ll know the tension of trying to finish before your battery runs out. With enough juice to power a Macbook Pro for 5-7 hours or a Macbook Air for 12-13 hours, the BatteryBox should make for a more relaxing schedule. Right now, you can pick one upat a 28% discount.

We’re not talking about a power brick here, either. The BatteryBox is under four inches long, and pretty much self-contained. It comes with a custom, compact cord for charging your Apple machine, although it can also charge any USB device. It utilizes a special management system, known as BatteryOS, to eek out the power as long as possible, and it automatically shuts off when not in use. As a result, it can sustain a Macbook Air for over 12 hours, or an iPhone 6 for 75 hours — that should be enough to get any presentation sent off. Meanwhile, the BatteryBox itself recharges via micro-USB. 

WonderCube accessory provides emergency charging and storage in one

The WonderCube is a versatile keychain accessory that aims to provide emergency charging, storage, and much more

WonderCube is a 1-inch (2.5 cm) cube keyring that’s designed to function as a numerous accessories for your iOS or Android smartphone. The product, which is currently the subject of a crowdfunding campaign, promises to function as an emergency charger, a storage solution, an LED torch and more.

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While the WonderCube packs a whole lot of functionality, its primary focus is keeping a user's smartphone charged. It’s flexible 3-inch (7.6 cm) foldout cable is available in both micro-USB and Lightning varieties, making it compatible with both the Android and recent iOS smartphones. The idea is that the device replaces the user’s charging cable, giving them one less thing to carry around.

Of course, it's sometimes not possible to plug your smartphone in to juice it up, but the WonderCube has you covered there as well. Opening up the top of the accessory reveals an adapter for a standard 9V battery. Clip one in, plug in your phone and you're promised another 3.5 hours of talk time.

The second major component of the WonderCube is its ability to provide users with extra storage via the inclusion of a microSD reader, supporting cards up to 64 GB. Direct file transfer between a smartphone and the accessory is currently only available with Android devices, but the crowdfunding campaign includes a stretch goal for the development of an iOS app.

As if that functionality wasn’t enough, the little device also packs a flashlight (3 mm or 0.1 inch wide LED with a 3 V button cell) and has a micro-suction cup plate on one side, meaning you can fix it to the back of a smartphone and use it as a stand. Lastly, there’s a full-sized USB connector, meaning the WonderCube can be used as a bridge to connect a smartphone to a computer for backing up or transferring files.

As the WonderCube is a crowdfunding effort, there’s no guarantee that it'll make it to market. However, if you’re interested in the little cube becoming a reality, you can make a pledge over on Indiegogo, where the project is aiming to raise US$50,000.

The $30 super early bird pledges are already sold out, with single WonderCubes now starting at $45. The team is targeting a $69 final retail price for the accessory, and assuming the campaign is successful, aims to ship initial units in August.

Flexible patches could act as mobile input devices

Computer scientists from Saarbrücken University, in collaboration with researchers from Carnegie Mellon University in the US, have developed touch sensitive flexible silicone stickers featuring electrically conducting sensors. The stickers, which can be worn on the skin, can act as controllers for mobile devices.

"The stickers allow us to enlarge the input space accessible to the user as they can be attached practically anywhere on the body," said Martin Weigel, one of the Saarland researchers.

Silicone allows the sensor patches to be flexible and stretchable. "This makes them easier to use in an everyday environment," said Jürgen Steimle, head of Saarland's Embodied Interaction Group. "The music player can simply be rolled up and put in a pocket. They are also skin friendly and users can decide where they want to position the sensor patch and how long they want to wear it."

Users can also design their own patches; all that is needed is a simple graphics program.

While the sensors are currently connected using a cable, integrating chips into them may allow the patches to communicate wirelessly.

- See more at: http://www.newelectronics.co.uk/electronics-news/flexible-patches-could-act-as-mobile-input-devices/74724/#sthash.zFqNSZva.dpuf

Sony announces four new FE full frame E-mount lenses

Sony has given its line-up of FE full frame E-mount lenses a significant boost with four new lenses and two new converters

While Sony's full frame mirrorless cameras like the A7 II and A7S have impressed us with what they are capable of, there's no disputing the lack of lenses designed for the system has been a major draw-back. Sony is now addressing this with the launch of four new FE full frame E-mount lenses including two wide angles, a telephoto macro, and a travel-focused zoom.

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Potentially the most interesting is the Distagon T* FE 35-mm F1.4 ZA from Zeiss. The 35-mm lens is the first E-mount offering to feature a F1.4 aperture, and has a 9-bladed circular aperture for smooth bokeh. It also features a Direct Drive SSM (DDSSM) system for quiet precision focusing, and its dedicated aperture ring can be set for smooth or click-stop operation depending on whether you're shooting video or stills. It will go on sale in April for US$1,600.

The Zeiss Distagon T* FE 35-mm F1.4 ZA

The second wide angle prime is the considerably more affordable Sony FE 28mm F2, which is also smaller and lighter. This lens also has a 9-blade circular aperture for smooth bokeh, and it uses three aspherical lens elements, including one advanced aspherical element, and two ED glass elements to ensure image sharpness. It will be available in May for about $450.

Designed for shooting close-ups and portraits, the FE 90-mm F2.8 Macro G OSS is a medium telephoto macro lens. It uses Optical SteadyShot (OSS) image stabilization, to reduce blur, and will be available in July for $1,100. Meanwhile, with a 10x zoom, the FE 24-240-mm F3.5-F6.3 OSS is Sony’s new "all-in-one" full frame E-mount lens aimed at photographers who want to travel light. It also features OSS and will cost $1,000 when it arrives later this month.

The Sony FE 28mm F2 with the Fisheye Converter attached

Finally, Sony also announced a pair of converters for use with the Sony FE 28mm F2. The Ultra-wide Converter will give the lens a 21-mm angle of view with a F2.8 maximum aperture, while the Fisheye Converter gives a 16-mm F3.5 fisheye. Both converters will be available in May for about $250 and $300, respectively.