A charging cable that backs up your phone -- onto itself
MemoriesCable, a smart 2-in-1 Lightning cable now raising funds on Indiegogo, can be filled with data while filling your phone with juice.
In a mashup that seems a long time coming, the MemoriesCable brings together a USB drive with a Lightning sync and charging cable.
The cable, part of a just-released Indiegogo campaign, is available either in USB 2.0 or 3.0 versions and comes with a variety of storage options, from 16GB to 128GB.
The cable comes with an app that helps you easily sync your phone's data straight to the backup drive that's built in as part of the USB side of the cord. The app lets you play videos straight from the drive; access and move your photos and music; and automatically back up the photos you post to Facebook and Instagram, as well as back up your calendar and contacts. It also allows you to automatically sync the activity that takes place on the drive to Dropbox and Google Drive.
That in and of itself is pretty impressive, so when you add in the fact that the MemoriesCable can also be used to charge your iPad or iPhone from any USB outlet and act as a sync cable between your mobile devices and your computer, it becomes even more appealing.
Unlike many other Indiegogo products that launch with only a prototype, the cable is already in mass production. Company representative Jonathan Gadalla tells CNET that PhotoFast, the outfit making the cables, is turning to Indiegogo to announce the product and offer it to early adopters at a discounted rate.
"I believe the Indiegogo and Kickstarter platforms have a lot of tech lovers and really we want to reach these early adopters quickly as well as to offer them a low price by cutting out the distribution and retail network," he said.
Prices are indeed cheaper through the campaign than they'll be through retail. For example, you can get a 16GB 2.0 cable for $49 (about £31, AU$67) through Indiegogo, while the regular retail price will be $80 (about £51, AU$110). On the other end of the spectrum, the 128GB 3.0 cable costs $149 (£96, AU$205) through Indiegogo, and will be $230 (about £148, AU$316) in retail.
The campaign, which started August 3, will run for 21 days and seeks to raise a total of $20,000. Even if that goal isn't met, the devices are expected to ship to all backers in September of this year.
