iblazr is a Synched External Flash Unit for Smartphone and Tablets
Disappointed in the power of your smartphone’s built-in flash when shooting at night? The iblazr wants to help you. It’s the world’s first “fully synchronized” external flash unit for iOS and Android smartphones and tablets.
The square-shaped attachment mounts to the audio jack of your smart device, and can be used with both the front and the back of the camera.
Since it connects via the audio jack, you can use the iblazr as an off-camera flash by using a headphone extension cable. You can also use a headphone splitter to use multiple iblazr units with your device.
On the front of the device are four powerful LED lights that can easily outshine the puny LED lights found next to mobile cameras.
Inside is a built-in 200 mAh battery that can power 1000 flashes per charge without sucking any of your smartphone’s (or tablet’s) power. Need a constant light? The iblazr can do 40 straight minutes on a single charge. Recharging is done using a USB cable.
Unlike other LED attachments that exist for smartphones, iblazr is designed to sync with camera apps, eliminating the nasty red (or white) eye that you often get with built-in flashes. The official app is free:
The downside to this is that you’ll need to a compatible app to take advantage of it.
The software behind the project is open sourced, so iOS and Android developers can freely build sync compatibility into their own camera apps.
Performance-wise, iblazr claims to be 10 times more powerful than the built-in LED light on iPhones when shooting in video mode:
Here are some comparisons showing how the light stacks up against built-in flashes for still photographs:
iblazr is currently raising funding on Kickstarter, where a $39 contribution will preorder you an iblazr unit (they start shipping in December 2013).
You can also find out more about the iblazr by visiting its official website.
iblazr: The first fully synchronised flash for iOS and Android (via Photocritic)
