MicFlip Is A Fully Reversible USB-A To Micro-USB Cable

Indiegogo and other such crowdfunding websites are home to a large number of ambitious projects, hoping to pique consumer-investor curiosity and turn dreams into entrepreneurial ventures. Not all such projects are feasible, nor all such projects funded. But some projects do stand out of the crowd.

This is the MicFlip.

Overlooking the cringeworthy YouTube ad, MicFlip is a rather interesting take on the first world problem of plugging in the cable the wrong way.

As the Indiegogo project page states, MicFlip is the world’s first fully reversible USB-A to Micro-USB cable. Featuring “an ultra-strong braided nylon lead, a robust aluminum shell and gold-plated plugs to prevent corrosion”, the MicFlip tries to improve upon traditional cables by giving us what we need: reversibility on existing products.

So far, all the Android smartphone flagships that have been released, have come along with the familiar micro USB port. On the other end of the spectrum (or cable, as you may), USB Type A ports have been the de-facto way of how “host” devices have communicated with smartphones and other accessories. Such is their ubiquity, that there is a good chance that you, as a reader on XDA Developers, may be in possession of at least two USB (A) to Micro USB cables.

The annoying part of both USB Type A as well as micro USB is that both have a fixed orientation of the port, in the sense that you can not mindlessly plug in a cable and have it fit correctly, without any damage. MicFlip aims to fix this, as it allows reversibility on both ends of the cable.

The Indiegogo project page does not detail the exact mechanism of how this is achieved. However, taking a guess from one of the product images, this reversibility may have been achieved by thinning the plastic tongue inside the plug and allowing the electrical contacts to be present on either side of the tongue. The tongue may operate on a hinge-like mechanism, thereby allowing “reversibility” in connecting the plug into the usb receptacles.

As a plus point, the MicFlip also uses braided nylon for the cable, giving extra durability to the cable. Not a standing point in its entirety, but such durability would be a decent addition to a product that aims to provide convenience.

Granted, USB Type C is just round the corner, featuring reversible plug connectors. Even the new OnePlus Two will come with USB Type C. However, the fact is, wide scale adoption of USB Type C is still quite some time away. In the meanwhile, MicFlip aims to serve your needs.

The project has already raised 528% ($31,698) of its $6,000 funding goal within 5 days, so there is no doubt that the MicFlip is indeed a product needed by many. Shipping is expected to start in August, with the official deadline being September 1st, 2015. The product will retail for $20 after its campaign, but you can early bird pre-order one for $15 now.

MicFlip as a product is an innovative way to tackle a problem which was one of the reasons that eventually led to the development of USB Type C. It makes the tinfoil hat totting conspiracy theorists in us to think of USB Type C as a way of achieving planned obsolescence in today’s money oriented world.

Source:XDA

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Karbonn Titanium S5i listed online for Rs 7,999

Indian smartphone vendor Karbonn is readying a new variant of the Titanium S5 smartphone, called the Titanium S5i. The smartphone is listed on certain Indian e-commerce websites with a price tag of Rs 7,999.

Karbonn Titanium S5i comes with a 5-inch TFT display with a 480×854 (FWVGA) pixels resolution. The smartphone is powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor paired with 512MB of RAM. The handset comes with a 4GB in-built storage, and can be expanded up to 32GB via microSD card. The Karbonn Titanium S5i offers dual-SIM (GSM-GSM) support, and runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.

The smartphone sports an 8-megapixel autofocus rear camera with LED flash and a VGA front camera. Connectivity options include  3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Micro-USB, and GPS. It is backed by a 2000mAh battery, and is currently available in Deep Blue colour variant at HomeShop18. The smartphone was first spotted by New Gyaan.

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Sony launches Vaio Flip hybrid laptops in India, starting at Rs 94,990

Sony has launched its new VAIO Flip range of hybrid notebooks in the Indian market. The company has launched four variants of the Flip laptop in the country with prices starting from Rs 94,990. Sony today introduced The new VAIO Flip aims to suit the computing needs of everyone and is available in 13-inch, 14-inch and 15-inch sizes.

According to Sony, the VAIO Flip’s design is based on the essence of ‘sharing with others’. As name suggests, the display can be flipped in three different angles. The first is the laptop mode which is used for highly productive work, the same way as conventional notebook PCs. The second is called the viewer mode, wherein one can slightly lift the display and flip over it so that you can share the experience of watching a video or movie with another person or give instant presentation anytime. The last is the tablet mode wherein the display can be completely flipped over and it rests on the keyboard like a conventional tablet. It is best utilized for touch, browsing the web, taking pictures etc.  Its chassis is constructed with brushed aluminum hairline finish.

The Sony Vaio Flip F13N1A features a 13.3-inch full HD touch display. It is powered with Intel’s fourth-generation processors (up to i7 clocked at 1.6GHz) with Intel HD Graphics 4400 paired with upto 8GB of RAM and up to 256GB SSD storage. Vaio Flip F13N1A also includes a battery that lasts for up to 7.5 hours, an 8-megapixel rear camera and connectivity options like HDMI, Wi-Fi, USB 3.0 and NFC. The Vaio Flip F13N1A is priced at Rs 99,990.

The Vaio Flip F14N16 features a 14-inch full HD touch display. It is powered with Intel’s fourth-generation processors (up to i7 clocked at 1.8GHz) with Intel HD Graphics 4400 paired with upto 8GB of RAM and up to 750GB hybrid drive. Other options include HD camera, a battery that lasts for up to 6 hours and connectivity options like HDMI, Wi-Fi, USB 3.0 and NFC. It is priced  at Rs 94,990 which is lower than the 13-inch variant as it uses a hard disk instead of an SSD.

The 15-inch Vaio Flip is available in two variants — the Vaio Flip F15N12 priced at Rs 104,990 and the Vaio Flip F15N17 priced at Rs 119,990. In terms of specifications, the Vaio Flip F15N12 features a 15.5-inch full HD touch display, 1.6GHz Intel Core i5 processor, 2GB NVIDIA GeForce GT 735M, 4GB RAM, 1TB flash storage, HD camera and a battery that is said to last up to five hours.

The Vaio Flip F15N17, on the other hand, features Intel Core i7 processor clocked at 1.8GHz, NVIDIA GeForce GT 735M and 8GB of RAM, in addition to the above mentioned specs.

The touchscreen notebooks come with Opti-contrast panel and with a Triluminos Display for mobile also features Sony’s BRAVIA expertise and all the three notebooks sport a full HD resolution. There is also a presence of X-Reality for mobile which optimizes the quality for the sharpest videos.

The laptop comes with a VAIO Paper which is a digital notebook and handwriting app that replicates the feeling of natural writing with pen and paper. You can write on your VAIO Flip PC with your finger or the optional Active Pen to add images and sound that enhance your creative writing and express yourself in ways that you can’t with just pen and paper. It’s easy to use, organize and share your creation via email and other apps.

Vaio Flip laptops include backlit keyboard which allows for work in low-light conditions. All these notebooks come with great audio quality like Clear Audio+TM, xLoud, Clear phase, VPT, Voice Zoom and S-FORCE front surround 3D to offer soul-shaking clarity.

Sony is also offering buyers with a free headphone worth Rs 12,990, accidental breakage insurance and unlimited free music downloads via Sony Music.

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Surface Pro 2 : Hands-on preview

Microsoft has unveiled the Surface Pro 2, a new version of its flagship 10.6-inch Windows tablet at an event in New York City. It’s a 10.6-inch tablet with enough specs that can turn it into a laptop or even a PC replacement.  Microsoft has bumped the specifications to the latest Intel Haswell processor

Surface 2 unveiled : first impression

Today Microsoft announced the specifications and price points for its new Surface tablet hybrids. Microsoft’s Surface tablet was supposed to usher in a new generation of Windows RT products, targeted to compete more with iOS and Android tablets than full-featured laptops. The Surface 2 is a