Following a highly successful Kickstarter campaign during which it raised nearly 10 times its target funding, Native Union’s JUMP cable is now available to buy in the US and UK.
The device itself is a small portable battery charger designed to let you recharge between a quarter and a third of your smartphone’s battery, according to the company.
While that might not sound too impressive considering some of the other portable battery chargers we’ve looked at before, the JUMP isn’t trying to charge your phone two or three times, it’s trying to be small and unobtrusive, which it mostly manages.
There are two different versions too. One with a Lightning connector so you can use it with an iPhone and one with a standard micro USB so you can use it with virtually all other makes.
The idea behind it is that you use the JUMP cable in place of your regular cable when you charge your device, thereby meaning you never need to remember to carry a spare standalone charger with you.
As you use it, the JUMP charges your phone and the little box in the middle of the cable at the same time, thereby providing you with an extra bit of charge when you need it most.
The JUMP has been designed so that when the cable’s not in use, each connector fits neatly into place, making it easy to squeeze into your pockets – the unit is square, and a little narrower than a credit card meaning it’ll even fit into the small coin pocket in your jeans, which not too many mobile battery chargers can claim.
In reality, the exact amount of extra battery life it’ll give you depends on your phone and how big its battery is. The company claims an average of a quarter to a third of a full charge. I got around 20 percent on one occasion, but on another (when I was listening to music from the phone via a Bluetooth speaker) I got an additional 10 percent charge, plus about 30 minutes of music playback while it was charging.
As you might expect, if you plug the JUMP into a USB slot without having your phone plugged in the other end, it’ll charge a little quicker than doing both at once. Either way, with capacity of just 800 mAh it doesn’t take too long to refill (or too long to discharge) and there are three little LEDs indicating how much juice is left at any time.
Whether the Native Union JUMP cable is worth the $49.99/£39.99 asking price is really down to how much you value peace of mind. It’s a viably small and portable source of power to get you through the last few hours at the end of the day, and it seems to live up to its promise of around 25 percent extra battery life, depending on your device.
The only thing that really concerns me is how tightly the cable fits into place when wrapped around the JUMP. It’s really quite snug, which means the easiest way to remove each end is to actually pull directly on the connector, which probably isn’t the best idea in the long run.
Ultimately, it’s a lightweight charger that provides the peace of mind that your battery will make it through a night out, whereas the Dark Energy Reservoir is designed to potentially get you through Glastonbury Festival . But then, you wouldn’t really want to carry that in your pocket all weekend, which is really the point behind the JUMP.
➤ Native Union JUMP cable
PayPal launches an app for Pebble smartwatches
PayPal announced today that users of the service who also own a Pebble smartwatch can now download a special app to make payments directly from the device.
Announced in a blog post, the company said the app allows users to make payments at local retailers, restaurants or anywhere else that accepts PayPal. It’ll also allow you to receive payment notifications on your wrist without needing to reach into your bag or pocket to check they are correct.
The support for payments on-the-go joins a wealth of other apps, such as Glympse location sharing , which arrived earlier this year. On the PayPal side, adding support for a popular wearable like Pebble makes sense; it already has an app for devices running Android Wear .
➤ Pebblers Meet PayPal – PayPal App Now Available for Pebble [PayPal blog]
Barnes & Noble launches its Samsung-developed Galaxy Tab 4 Nook tablet, starts at $179
Following a recent tease , Samsung and Nook have finally teamed up to announce the Galaxy Tab 4 Nook. It’s aimed at those who want the best of both worlds: a full Android tablet that can also double up as a solid e-reader.
There’s no doubt, then, that both companies are targeting Amazon’s range of Kindle Fire tablets, which also function as a tablet and an e-reader.
Designed and put together mainly by Samsung – based on the Galaxy Tab 4 design – books and other materials can be downloaded from the Nook store.
In terms of specs, there’s a 7- inch 1280×800 screen, a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon processor and Android 4.4 KitKat on board. And it’s now available to purchase in Barnes and Noble retail outlets for $179 respectively.
Hopefully, Barnes and Noble will be able to use its new business model – having an external manufacturer to create its e-readers – to survive turbulent times.
➤ Barnes & Noble (Press Release)