Tag Archives: led flash

The Kick Portable Lighting Studio: A Flash of Colors

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Last month we featured the iblazr, an external LED flash for mobile devices (it’s on Kickstarter now if you want to get one).  If you have an iPhone 4 or later and you want a more versatile flash, get Rift Labs’ The Kick. Not only does it have more LEDs, it can also display millions of colors, emit animated light effects and copy colors from videos.

the kick light by rift labs

The Kick has 40 LEDs. You can adjust their brightness and color temperature from the device itself, but for most of its features you need its companion iPhone app. From there you can change the color of the light that the LEDs emit, pick a lighting effect and – its coolest feature – you can sample a light or a lighting effect from a video. You can choose a video online or one that’s already on your iPhone. This lets you simulate the light from fire, lightning, TVs and more.

The Kick also has a tripod mount and its own battery, which is charged via USB.

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You can order The Kick from Photojojo or directly from Rift Labs for $179 (USD). Again, it only works with the iPhone 4 or later.

[via Gadget Review]

iblazr LED Flash for Mobile Devices Plugs into 3.5mm Port: from Audio to Video

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Most modern smartphones have a built-in LED camera flash. But if you think that your phone’s flash isn’t bright enough to properly document your party nights, dramatic Instagram pics or Bigfoot sightings, keep an eye out for the iblazr. It’s an external flash for mobile devices that plugs in via the 3.5mm headphone jack.

iblazr led flash

The folks behind the iblazr claim that its four LEDs provide four times more brightness than the iPhone 5′s built-in flash when taking pictures, and up to eight times brighter when shooting videos. The image below supposedly shows the difference between the iPhone 5′s flash (on the left) and the iblazr (on the right).

iblazr led flash 2

The iblazr will also have its own power supply so you won’t worry about it draining your mobile device’s already limited battery life. It will also come with a free camera app that will let users toggle the iblazr’s brightness and other options.

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But of course the iblazr’s best feature is the fact that it plugs in via the 3.5mm headphone jack. This makes it compatible with virtually all mobile devices. Apparently you can also control multiple iblazr units at once using a headphone splitter, as shown in one of the images in the gallery. Their website is hinting at a fundraising campaign soon; keep an eye on it or on their Facebook page if you want to. I hope it comes with sensor that will prevent it from flashing when it senses that the user is shooting a video vertically.

[via DamnGeeky]

FLASHr iPhone Case Shines a Light on Notifications

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If you weren’t aware of this, you can make your iPhone’s LED flash work as a notification light, so that you never miss any notifications (Settings-> General-> Accessibility-> LED Flash for Alerts). There’s one problem though. Since the flash is located on the back of the device, it’s easily missed if your iPhone isn’t properly placed.

iphone flashr kickstarter case notification light

The FLASHr seeks to improve this thanks to its glowing frame. Thanks to the design, the iPhone’s LED flash will illuminate several sides of the case, making it next to impossible to miss the notification light. The case is made out of three layers, with an extra part that reflects the LED flash onto the glow frame. Each layer is available in 5 colors, allowing for 125 possible color combinations.

The FLASHr case was launched as a Kickstarter crowndfunded project, and you’ll have to pledge at least $35(USD) to get yours.

iphone flashr kickstarter case notification light prototype

[via TechCrunch]