Hasta La Gadget!

No matter what smartphone you have, at some point in time, even if you’ve got a 2,300 mAh battery, you’ll end up needing a juice up. While there are plenty of battery cases available, these kinds of products quickly become obsolete once the format of your smartphone changes. That’s one of the reasons why having an external battery makes a lot of sense.

The TYLT PowerPlant has a 5,200 mAh battery, which comes in a nice, rectangular cuboid shape with rounded edges. The PowerPlant comes with an integrated cable, so that you aren’t fumbling around with cables. The downside is that this cable is quite short, so you can’t operate your phone in one hand while keeping the battery in your pocket or  your bag, with a cable trailing out. You’ll need to set your phone down so that it can juice up. Thankfully, the PowerPlant also comes with a microUSB and USB slots, so any cables you have will work with your devices. Charge-ups are pretty fast, too.  One full charge up takes about 2 hours for the iPhone 4S. The pack has got four LEDs telling you the remaining charge, and you can easily get 3 complete charges on a typical smartphone using the battery.

The TYLT PowerPlant comes in three different versions. One for iPhone 4/4S, one for iPhone 5 and one for other smartphones. The last model has got an integrated microUSB cable. Naturally, this battery can also be used for any other mobile devices you have, like tablets. The performance of the battery is certainly good, though it remains to be seen if this will continue over time. Most of these battery packs will suffer as the batteries degrade, but overall, it’s a really interesting device that will definitely help keep you powered up when you are in a bind, and no matter if you change phones or models, you’ll be still able to use it, which isn’t the case in for battery cases.

The only negative is the rubber cover the ports. I almost ripped it out the first time I opened it. It takes a while before you realize which side can be easily opened. The PowerPlant costs between $69.99 to $89.99 (USD).

I’m not sure what it is with the cheap Chinese gadget makers and their desire to make things that look like the Sony PSP, but they keep doing it. Funny thing is, the latest PSP lookalike has better specs than the PSP itself.

The Megafeis G600 handheld runs the Android 4.0 operating system. Under its hood it’s got a 1GHz ARM Cortex A8 CPU (compared to a 333MHz CPU in the PSP), along with a PowerVR SGX531 GPU. And unlike the PSP-3000, the Megafeis has a hi-res 800×480 display (more than twice the resolution of the PSP). It’s also got an HDMI 1.4 compatible video output and support for full 1080p video output.

It’s only got 512MB of DDR3 memory built in, but you can expand up to 32GB of storage with a microSD card. You’ll also find a built-in motion sensor, and a 5-inch capacitive touchscreen – both of which aren’t present on the actual PSP. Wi-fi supports only 802.11 b and g, but still that beats the 802.11b PSP-3000.

Of course in addition to running Android games on it, you can use it with emulators to play classic N64, PSX, GBA, NES, SNES, and Genesis games on it. However, one thing that the Megafeis G600 can’t do out of the box is play actual PSP games – although you might be able to get the PPSSPP emulator to run on it.

One other thing that the Megafeis has going for it – it’s dirt cheap. It sells for under $85(USD) over at DealExtreme.

Last year we heard about how Teague Labs was able to make a pair of headphones with 3D printed components. While that’s revolutionary in and of itself, that proof of concept still used store bought and manufactured parts. Industrial designer J.C. Karich set out to try and make a pair of headphones that anyone with access to a 3D printer and basic electronics raw materials can make.

Karich succeeded in his task. He was able to make a plug, a headband and bases for the speakers using 3D printed parts and a fabric ribbon for the cord. As for the “speakers” themselves, Karich used nothing but copper wire and magnets.

As you can imagine, the sound coming from the headphones is quite weak and of low quality, hence Karich’s clever name for his creation – Low-Fi, High-Tech. But hey, it works!

If you want to try making your own headphones from scratch, head to Karich’s Thingiverse page for the instructions as well as the 3D files.

[via Damn Geeky]

We know by now that Apple has adopted a more-or-less annual update cycle for the iPhone. In between major revisions, we’ve seen the company release “S” versions that feature upgrades to the previous version’s internal hardware. But GSM Arena received a couple of pictures showing what their tipster thinks is a prototype of the iPhone 5S. If – and that’s a huge if – these images are legitimate, then it looks like the iPhone 5′s thin and tall form will be discarded in favor of that of a Nokia Lumia.

If this is a legitimate leak, it appears that the iPhone 5S is going to be wider than the iPhone 5 and will have a curved edge-to-edge screen. The curvature of the screen in the device is mimicked by its rear panel. As I said, I think it looks a bit like one of Nokia’s Lumia phones.

Another thing that it looks like? An illustration in one of Apple’s patents, which describes a phone with a transparent housing and a flexible wraparound display. But obviously neither of these features are present in this alleged prototype.

Again, the pictures could be a hoax or those of a knockoff. Or it could be legit, but as with many prototypes, one that is not destined to become a commercial product. It’s also possible that Apple will skip the iPhone 5S and go straight to the iPhone 6. I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple has decided to cash in on the demand of people who want an iPhone with a larger screen. It wouldn’t be unprecedented.

[via GSM Arena & Patently Apple via Nowhereelse]

There are tons of keyboard add-ons for the iPad, but who are we kidding? Admit it, you’ve found it hard to actually get anything worthwhile done with your iPad. A few hours of browsing Reddit here and a few rounds of playing Magic there and suddenly it’s 4 AM. The perfect time to fire up Netflix and catch up on Archer. So really, we don’t need a keyboard. We need the iBed.

It’s out of stock – unsurprisingly! – from maker Kikkerland as of this writing, but you can get the iBed from Taylor Gifts for $19 (USD) or from Amazon for $15. I know what you’re thinking. Don’t. Don’t buy one then use it to eat while you poop. Come on man. Even slackers have standards.

[via Craziest Gadgets]