It is always a risk to leave the house with your smartphone. Even as batteries grow, the danger of being out in the world with little time left on your device can create a panic akin to witnessing a natural disaster. And the worst part is when you go to someone to ask for a charging cable only to find they don’t have your cable type!
Next week Gadgetswe’re going to tell you how Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) are work to eliminate this headache for smartphone users worldwide. The idea is that if all devices had a universal charging standard, the other half of us wouldn’t be left out in the cold with no way to charge our smartphones. However, this means that Apple would have to switch from its proprietary Lightning cable and adopt the USB-C standard that has dominated the rest of the industry.
Then it’s time to talk about nothingness. This new smartphone brand is making the rounds in the Android hype machine. Celebrity YouTuber, Marques Brownlee, specify the Nothing Phone (1) and some unique features in a half-hour video. Those 900 LEDs on the back are cool to look at and offer a bit of hands-free functionality for things like checking battery power and notifications. But it’s still up in the air if there’s anything else on the smartphone that moves the needle. The Nothing brand is the brainchild of Carl Pei, formerly OnePlus, and the playbook here gives us a bit of déjà vu.
Last but not least, we’re curious about Bandai’s new Digimon watch, the vital hero. It’s a fitness watch for kids based on the virtual pet game that gamifies walking and running so your Digimon’s life depends on how much physical activity you do throughout the day. The more active you are – or your child, if they wish – the faster the Digimon’s stats will improve to increase its chances of winning battles against other monsters. The game has one Pokemon Go-Similar mood to it. Well, if only Apple and Google would gamify our walking in this way – we’d be a lot more inclined to hit the road!
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