Apple That

PowerPot X

The PowerPot X is a pretty good name for this new device, as it is basically a pot that provides electricity. You pair it with a camp stove and thermoelectric modules on the bottom of the anodized aluminum kettle can give 10 watts to the PowerPot’s dual USB ports. The creator says that this is enough to charge one iPad or two iPhones.

The PowerPot comes in two sizes: The 4 quart PowerPot XL and the 2.4 quart PowerPot X. Other products like this have been popping up on Kickstarter like the FlameStower, which is basically the same thing but a little bit smaller with a little less power.

To make sure that your iPhones get an even, predictable flow of electricity, the power passes through a regulator before it reaches the USB ports. The regulator also has a built in power meter with LED lights arranged in a triangle design that shows how much power is flowing.

Currently, the Kickstarter campaign has raised more than it’s goal of $30,000 and still has 36 days left. It is set to start shipping out in May 2014.

Lightstrap

The new Apple iPhone 5s has a pretty great camera with a redesigned lens and dual LED flash, it is certainly capable of taking “acceptable” photos in a low light setting. But what about situations where that isn’t enough?

The Lightstrap is a nifty case that has a built in flash that wraps all the way around the back of the case. It is built to mimic a professional flash ring that photographers would use. This type of flash will allow you to take much higher quality low light photos, and it pops right on the back of your iPhone and protects it just like any other case. It even looks good.

The Lightstrap lets you get pretty in depth. You can choose from seven brightness levels and six different color temperatures. The flash is 10 times brighter than the one built into your iPhone 5s, 15 times brighter than an iPhone 5, and 30 times brighter than the 5s’s video mode LED. The Lightstrap has its own built in 1000 mAh battery, and on a full charge can take about 500 photos or about 30 minutes of video. It can be recharged with a standard USB cable.

The 16-millimeter thick, 2.5-ounce accessory does not require a specialty camera app — Lightstrap is triggered by the iPhone’s built-in LED flash.

The retail price will be $97 dollars and it is set to ship out in April of 2014.

The battle between Apple and Adobe is nothing new to anybody in the tech world. The lack of Adobe Flash Player on any and all Apple products is evidence of the two companies’ troubled past. The inability of the iPad to run Flash when it originally launched was a huge argument against the device. Flash content has been huge on the internet for years now and Apple’s refusal to support it has led to a lot of negativity against iOS.

Apparently that isn’t the case, however. It appears that things have been shifting over to HTML 5 in a big way and iOS supports HTML 5. So now that Flash isn’t that necessary on iOS, how are terms between Apple and Adobe? Well, Adobe’s CEO has a little something to say in that regard.

The top executive of Adobe, Shantanu Narayen, recently stated that the feud between Apple and Adobe is over. According to Narayen, “It’s an argument that the press likes to continue bringing up.It’s control over the app store that’s at issue here. We allow people to author once and get as wide a distribution as possible. If you build in Flash, you can run the apps on other platforms. If you can build an app using our tools, and if you run it in through AIR, it can be in the App Store.”

Narayen makes a good point. AIR has proven to be a great workaround for app creators who still like using Flash, and there’s nothing like a good ol’ fashioned workaround to settle a feud. I’m still not convinced that everything is all hunky dory between Apple and Adobe but at least they are speaking to each other, which is always a great first step.

Source: Hot Hardware – Adobe CEO Says Apple/Flash Battle Is Over