Portable flash for your smartphone camera will also recharge your handset

PowerLite is an external flash unit that plugs into your smartphone. Besides providing enough light to take a photograph in the dark, the unit will remotely activate the shutter on your phone's camera and will also recharge the battery on your phone. PowerLite is being crowdfunded on Kickstarter and with less than three days to go, the device is $50,000 short of the $60,000 target necessary to start production.

The device weighs in at a bit over one ounce and measures .3-inches. PowerLite is stuffed with 14 LEDs providing 630 Lumens (equivalent to the light from a 40 watt bulb). The LEDs can be dimmed from your phone so that they can provide you with just the right amount of lighting. And the PowerLite can also offer you additional hours of battery life for your phone thanks to the 1600mAh battery inside the unit. Another version of the product, PowerLite Slim, features an 800mAh battery. Two versions of each model are available, one with a Lightning cable for the iPhone, and another with a microUSB cable for phones powered by Android 4.3 or higher.

A $19 pledge (58% off of the expected retail price) will get you a PowerLite unit and there are further discounts for those willing to pledge higher amounts of money. If you share the project on Facebook or Twitter, you can pledge $5 and receive a PowerLite or PowerLite Slim. Should enough money to fund the project come in during the next three days, PowerLite is expected to ship in June.



source: Kickstarter via Slashgear