Poseidon Portable Charger will fit in with your rugged lifestyle

If you're a mountaineer, an outdoor enthusiast, an athlete or just someone that has to go through a lot of rugged terrain in the course of your work, chances are, you probably have yourself a smartphone or device that can weather all those difficult environments. But what about your other accessories, shouldn't they be all-terrain too? That's the thinking behind a new Kickstarter project, the Poseidon Portable Charger, which claims to be the" first military-grade and waterproof mobile battery."

Built to give extra power to your smartphone, tablet, or action camera, the portable charger has the maximum rating of IP68, which means it is both waterproof and dustproof. More than that, it even has the military-grade standard of MIL-STD 810G which also gives it a shockproof ability. So it is actually the perfect companion for adventure seekers and outdoorsy people who can't part from their gadgets but will be out of wall socket range for a few hours or days.

When it comes to charging power, it has a dual-USB output system so you can charge two gadgets at the same time with its 8000mAh of power. It can give an average smartphone 3-5 times full capacity charge, a high-powered tablet 1-2x, and an action camera like a GoPro, around 5-7x of charging. It's also pretty small and handy, weighing just 8.43 ounces, and having a size of 5.74 x 3.19 x 5.1 inches, which will just fit into your back pocket.

The Kickstarter project has already reached its goal of $50,000 in pledges and it still has 43 days to go. All you have to do is shell out around $79 to be one of the first to get the Poseidon Portable Charger. The estimated delivery date for the mobile battery is by July this year.

SOURCE: Kickstarter

Google Glass under new management: Tony Fadell, CEO of Nest

Google Glass is flying to a new nest - that nest being Tony Fadell, co-founder and CEO of Google-owned smart thermostat group Nest. Google Glass jumped out of the experimental Google X division Thursday and on to Fadell’s list of responsibilities. Almost exactly a year ago, Google bought out Nest for $3.2 billion. Maybe Fadell can use his management skills to boost something new and make a comeback with Glass.

Google Glass is led by current manager Ivy Ross - who will now report to Tony Fadell. Fadell won’t be ending his ties with Nest, and won’t be merging Glass either. Both establishments will remain separate under the control of Fadell.

At this time there's no word on what the next generation of Glass will look like. The Glass At Work program is continuing - meanwhile there's no given timescale on new products, so says Google. Production for current Glass will end within weeks. The focus now will be “future versions of Glass”.

Fadell has taken on some big roles prior to Google Glass. Before Nest, he was in charge of Apple’s iPod and iPhone projects. Watching Tony take on Glass will be an interesting sight as reports suggest the product has lost momentum.

SOURCE: SlashGear

Story Timeline

• Developers starting to doubt Google Glass future


• The next Google Glass model will be powered by Intel


• New patent filing shows a slimmed-down Google Glass


• Google Glass app brings augmented reality to Tesco grocery stores

Adobe Lightroom now available for Android devices

Mobile photo editors are a dime a plenty, but if it comes from a developer that has made its brand name as a verb meaning you've retouched your photos, then you might want to pay attention to it. Adobe Lightroom is now available for Android, bringing their popular photo editor and its powerful tools to your smartphone. While it is of course a little lesser than its desktop app, it still is a pretty handy tool for mobile photographers as you edit on the go.

With Adobe Lightroom mobile, you will be able to edit photos from your smartphone and even those images from your DSLR camera that are synced to your Adobe Creative Cloud. It has the usual editing tools you've come to expect from Adobe, including exposure, highlights, shadows, composure, etc. And if you're a little too lazy to manually edit the photos, there are also preset settings or filters which you can apply to your photos.

If the changes you make to the photo are "nondestructive", you can sync it back to its RAW file. You can also use Lightroom to organize your photos by importing those stored in your gallery, and then flagging or removing photos that you don't want to keep. And of course, you can easily share the photos on your favorite social networks. All the edits, metadata and collection info from Adobe Photoshop Lighroom 5 will be synced to all your devices that have Lightroom Mobile.

To be able to use this app, you need to be a subscriber to Adobe Creative Cloud or its various plans. You can use Lightroom mobile for free for 30 days, but after that, you would need to sign up for membership. The Photoshop and Lightroom package costs around $9.99 per month. You can download Adobe Lightroom mobile from the Google Play Store.

Save the sheep from a grisly death in Flockers

Save the sheep, save the world. Well, at least, win a game. That's the main idea behind the new Android game called Flockers, from the makers of the other addictive game Worms. This time around, the sheep are tired of being caught in the middle (or rather, being used as weapons) in the war of the worms, and you need to help them escape from their cruel masters. Are you up to saving some sheep?

The A to B puzzle has one purpose only and that is to save the sheep from coming to any harm from those giant buzz-saws, meat cleavers, a pit full of spikes, etc, that they encounter as they try to escape from a life of being used as weapons in that other game. The game has over 60 levels, and you can choose from among 18 different kinds of sheep that you need to save. You will be able to unlock the different sheep species (including zombie, robot, pirate, skeleton ones) as you collect wool along the way.

You might have already figured out from the description that this game is not as meek as the sheep. Well, actually, the sheep aren't that meek either as they can be as tough as they should be as they fly, jump over obstacles, etc. And what happens when you fail to save them? Oh nothing, they just explode all over the place (sometimes deliberately to help their fellow sheep), guts and blood and all.

But the game has a gore free option too, just in case you don't want to traumatize young kids who want to play the game on your phone. Let's hope they don't freak out at exploding sheep with fluffy insides. You can buy Flockers at their special sale price of $1.99 from Google Play Store.

Spoiler Alert lets you uncomplete the game, play in reverse

The main point of playing a game is to finish it. To achieve victory is the ultimate goal of gamers. But with Spoiler Alert, it's very different. This is the first game you'll ever uncomplete. "Finishing" it means to play the game in reverse. All the main character, Chili Pepper Knight, needs to do is go back and meet Mr. Death Bunny, Big Bad Squid, and Lucky Jack the Invader to unfinish the game. Really, there is no pressure because the game had already been beaten. (Huh?!?)

Okay, don't be confused. The game is simply played in reverse. There is no big bad boss or villain to defeat. No coins to collect and no princess to be rescued because everything had been done for you. You need to go from the last level to the first. The challenge here now is to avoid numerous time paradoxes. Unlike most games, you don't have to beat enemies but rather you need to revive them.

Play the game backwards. That's what Danish game developer MegaFuzz wants you to do. This particular game has been successful on iOS but it's only now that Android gamers are getting the unusual game. The reverse gameplay is a challenge on its own so this can be a new favorite and addicting game.

The one-button gameplay makes it simple and easy but can be difficult to master. Graphics are handdrawn so there is a bit of a retro, classic feel. Chili Pepper Knight's journey takes you to four unique and diverse worlds that he will be visiting in reverse. Game is available for only $0.99.

Download Spoiler Alert from the Google Play Store

Story Timeline

• Galaxy Life takes you on an inter-galactic multi-player adventure


• Game of Thrones adventure game now on Android


• Secret Files Sam Peters goes on a new adventure where mythology meets science

Flyme OS 4 beta for Nexus 5 gets leaked

Xiaomi's MIUI won't be the only game in town soon, especially on the Nexus 5. The Chinese-made custom ROM has had many fans, but it seems like Meizu wants a piece of that pie as well. A leaked image of this Chinese manufacturer's custom-made Flyme OS 4 for the Nexus 5 has popped up and is making rounds over the net. And while the brave first testers described the ROM as "beautiful", subsequent tests revealed showstopper bugs that definitely confirms this image as an unofficial beta version.

Flyme is to Meizu as MIUI is to Xiaomi. Version 4 of the custom Android experience was revealed when the Chinese OEM launched its Meizu MX4 September last year. There was talk that Meizu would eventually make available a distinct and official version of Flyme for the Nexus 5, similar to what Xiaomi has done with MIUI up until MIUI v5 (no word yet on an official MIUI 6 port). Though not exactly official, a version of Flyme did appear that same month.

This beta version of the ROM has been described as usable and yet at times broken. Some have reported certain critical functionality, like Home or Recents buttons not working as well as some broken icons. These aren't exactly surprising in a test version, though if it is really an official beta image, most of these things should have already been dealt with beforehand.

Those still willing to take Flyme OS 4 for a spin, do note that it involves flashing, which potentially means wiping your device clean, though there is a multiboot way available as well. Users should note that like MIUI, Flyme comes with its own app ecosystem, so you'll have to install some gapps package in order to get access to Google Play Store and regular Android apps.

VIA: XDA

Material’s Drop Shadow Depresses Dev

The bitter-sweet love between developers and Material Design is perfectly portrayed in this programmer’s tragedy of woe. Find out why Material Design’s inconsistencies and APIs bring more struggle than they should, but not more than they are worth.

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