All smartphone owners unlock the screen many times to see any type of information, something that drains the battery much faster than we would like. popSLATE promises to end this habit. It is a smartphone case with a ink screen that will be available on the back of the iPhone 6. We can use it to view our favorite photos or we can even use it to use PassBook. Looks the perfect solution to save battery life.
You may have already heard of this case, but it's because popSLATE is a two-year-old project that has raised $ 219.000 in donations. At first, it promised to be a second screen for the iPhone 5, but it did not arrive in time. Now they are already sending covers those who have helped the project go ahead, but only for iPhone 6.
At first glance, it is a case that increases the weight and size of the terminal but, as an excuse, to say that has its own brain that allows synchronization with our iPhone and, at the same time, work independently. It does not show notifications or emails, but can show up to 8 images (screenshots) that we can change using a button or programming a time period. It seems that the customization possibilities are very high, but the price, $ 130It seems excessive for what it offers. For that price it should do a lot more than just offer black and white images.
The easiest of all is to get it ready: we will only have to put the case, download the popSLATE application and, a lot of pop-ups later, the phone will be paired with the case via bluetooth. Its strongest point is that it does not take its energy from the iPhone battery, but has its own battery which promises to last for at least a week. An E-Ink screen only consumes power when it is in motion, so if a still image is displayed, the battery could last even longer. The problem is that, ironically, using Bluetooth makes the popSLATE's non-battery drain purpose fail and the runtime remains shorter.
The popSLATE app is an attempt to be a social network that will allow us to connect to our Instagram for quick access to some of our photos or grab some images to display on the back of our iPhone. We can "like" or comment from the application and you can only "re-pop" images in black and white, something that is far from the red heart of Instagram.
popSLATE pretends to be a productive case to take advantage of the back of our iPhone, but it is not a second screen like the one on the Yotaphone 2 which is a fully functional E-Ink screen. In addition, some information, such as screenshots from Google Maps or the calendar, looks really bad, something that they will presumably fix over time.
So, if you want to have a second screen to show certain images, popSLATE is your cover.
Why does it have to be useless? The fact that you don't like me either, because in fact it is xD.