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This versatile MagSafe smartphone light can also charge your phone in a pinch
Godox, a company known for its professional photography gear like flashes and reflective umbrellas, has announced a new lighting product for smartphones. Its MA5R is a magnetic power bank with an array of diffused color-changing LEDs on the back that can improve phone photography while keeping battery anxiety in check. It’s priced at $49, and while you can preorder it through online specialty stores, official availability isn’t known.
The MA5R attaches to MagSafe-compatible iPhones, smartphones supporting the Qi2 wireless standard, or mobile devices upgraded with a magnetic ring on the back. It can also be used handheld, but Godox didn’t include a standard tripod mount for attaching it to stands — an odd omission given the company’s lineup of pro gear.
The accessory can be controlled through the Godox mobile app over Bluetooth, which allows its color temperature to be adjusted across a wide range — from 1800K (warmer) to 10000K (cooler) — so you can match the lighting in almost any environment. You can also opt for a wide range of colors if you’re looking for a more dramatic lighting effect or choose one of “14 pre-programmed special effects,” which could be useful when shooting video.
On the other side of the MA5R, next to its magnetic mount, is a small display showing battery life and lighting brightness. There’s also a smaller front-facing LED light that can be used to improve selfies by rotating the accessory while it’s attached to a phone. It offers a smaller range of color temperature adjustments between 2800K and 6500K.
The added lights mean the MA5R is 13 millimeters thick, so it’s not exactly going to disappear when attached to your phone. And it’s only got a 5,000mAh battery inside. That’s enough to keep its LEDs running for up to three hours, 40 minutes at full brightness or up to seven hours, 20 minutes at half brightness, but not quite enough to fully recharge many smartphones more than once.
Wireless charging also stops while the LEDs are turned on, so maybe think of the MA5R’s charging capabilities as a bonus feature for what looks like a solid portable lighting solution.
Creature Commandos is the better version of The Suicide Squad
The US DOJ indicts three Russian citizens for allegedly operating Bender.io and Sinbad.io crypto mixing services used by North Korea and ransomware gangs (Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai/TechCrunch)
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / TechCrunch:
The US DOJ indicts three Russian citizens for allegedly operating Bender.io and Sinbad.io crypto mixing services used by North Korea and ransomware gangs — On Friday, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the indictments of Russian citizens Roman Vitalyevich Ostapenko …
Joe Biden’s national climate adviser sees AI as a ‘massive opportunity’
Sure, President-elect Donald Trump is probably going to try to blow up efforts to tackle climate change as soon as he steps into office. There still isn’t enough renewable energy available to reach US climate goals or even meet skyrocketing electricity demand from AI. And time is running out to spend down climate funds from the Inflation Reduction Act before the Trump administration can attempt to claw it back. Despite it all, Joe Biden’s top adviser on climate change, Ali Zaidi, isn’t sweating it.
He’s managed to keep the perhaps cloyingly upbeat optimism that’s become a trademark of the Biden and Harris camp even when that enthusiasm doesn’t necessarily reflect sentiment on the ground. The Verge spoke with White House national climate adviser Zaidi this week about what he sees ahead for clean energy technologies and where there might still be room for progress.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
You have a background in law. How did climate change become your thing?
I came to the United States at the age of six, and for me, for my family, the story of America is the story of economic mobility. I really came to Washington wanting to work on putting more...
Black America is Losing it Over Trump's 'Hush Money' Case Sentencing
Today was the day marked on the whole country’s calendar: the sentencing of President-elect Donald J. Trump. After he was found guilty back in May 2024 on 34 felonies counts, a judge has now handed out the long-awaited sentence of the 47th president.