The cPulse Android phone case is loaded with LEDs and dreams

You know what your phone needs? 128 multi-color programmable LED lights embedded into a crazy swivel hinged case. Am I right?

There is a new Kickstarter campaign in the neighborhood, it is called cPulse by Codlight and is just what is described above, a smartphone case that has a bunch of LEDs on it. In addition to the 128 LEDs on the panel, there are three touch buttons ready to accept your commands so to display notifications and take basic actions without actually turning on your phone’s display, or submitting it to grubby fingers.

I almost forgot, there is also an ambient light sensor to enable their mobile lighting sleep system. I could try to explain the articulating hinge assembly that lets you either cover and protect your phone display, or angle the LED panel in any direction to get the best light. I could also try to explain the music lighting player and more, but instead, why don’t you just check out this fun little video they’ve slapped together for us.

If you were wondering how the LED panel gets its juice, you may have guessed that it pulls it from your phone. The case allows you to slide your phone onto its micro USB plug, sipping a modest 180mAh of juice for each full hour of use. Don’t worry though, there is an external USB port so you can plug in without having to dismantle anything. If you were still doing the math, that will be just under 7% battery use per hour on your supported LG G3, HTC One (M8) or Samsung Galaxy S5 running Android 4.4 KitKat.

The case will add about 5.5mm thickness to your smartphone, and up to an additional 86g of weight.

What’s the catch?

The problem, or blessing, depending on your point of view, is the need to use cPulse’s APIs, and accompanying lighting recipe file format, to create supported apps. There are a handful all ready to go, like an alarm clock and the ability to show notifications for calls, calendar events, Gmail, SMS, Facebook and Twitter, but further success may depend on third party devs getting on board.

I would be remiss if I did not mention that the cPulse considers HTC’s Dot View case, Phillips Hue lighting system and more as competitors. In fact, the French startup plans to focus on smart lighting more than it does mobile devices. As such, it plans to support future smartphones by supplying 3D files optimized for Sculpteo.com 3D printing, then ship you the electronics so you can snap it all together at home. We might question their decision to forego the actual manufacturing of their product, but we’ll let the campaign have its say on that.

There you have it, a fun new smartphone case for all your extra lighting needs. Head on over to the Kickstarter page for all the details on the Codlight cPulse case. Just do so before August 31st if you are hoping to score a unit for as low as $90.

What do you think, is this the sort of case you would consider for your Android phone?

from Android Authority http://ift.tt/1nv8Huf