Nexpaq modular smartphone case doubles battery life, adds speakers, storage, more
Modular phones like Google Inc.’s Project Ara and the Puzzlephone are due to hit the market later this year. If, however, you can’t wait, nexpaq, a modular smartphone case, will let you hot swap a range of modules on your iPhone or Samsung Galaxy. Nexpaq, already fully funded after only seven days on Kickstarter, lets you add battery packs, a microSD card reader, an air-quality sensor, a breathalyzer, and more to your smartphone.
The nexpaq smartphone case has slots for six modules, all hot-swappable so you don’t need to power down your smartphone to switch between them. Modules are accessed and controlled via the nexpaq app.
The smartphone case also includes a built-in 1,000mAh, which the company says should increase your smartphone’s battery life by between 30 and 50 percent.
The nexpaq case is available for iPhone 6, Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, and Samsung Galaxy S5 while the individual modules are OS agnostic and will work on both iOS and Android.
There are 12 nexpaq modules available, including battery (over and above the built-in battery), an amplified speaker, a super LED flashlight, a SD card reader, a temperature and humidity reader, hotkeys, USB flash storage (32GB and 64GB), an air quality sensor, a breathalyzer, a laser pointer and more storage in the form of a 64GB hard drive.
Just seven days in, many of the entry level rewards are already gone, but you can get your hands on a case and four modules (battery, speaker, hotkeys and SD card reader) for $109.
Nexpaq cases for iPhone 6 are slated to ship by November, followed by the Samsung Galaxy S5 and Galaxy S6 Edge cases by January next year.
The company also has a Developer Kit, available as early as June, which includes a case and all 12 modules. Nexpaq hopes to inspire a hardware ecosystem for modules to be sold via a hardware app store.
Image via nexpaq, Inc.
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