Lunecase Uses Electromagnetic Energy to Display iPhone Notifications

[furi0usbee]

Oh.......... I get it now. I'm supposed to look at the *back* of my phone now. Got it. I was doing it all wrong.

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Hey rather than using that *wasted* energy and light something up, why not just put that wasted energy back into my battery life. Sound good?

 

[DavidLeblond]

Nah, CNN is all about the plane these days!

BREAKING NEWS: Potatoes: Can they be used to find Flight 370? We ask Capt. Sully for his opinion!

 

[nutmac]

I am not exactly looking for the case to notify me of incoming text and voice calls, and iPhone's built-in "LED Flash for Alerts" more or less provide the same function. But considering Lunecase does not need battery nor connection to the phone, it is undeniable cool technology if it works.

Having said that, the timing is rather poor. Lunecase is expected to ship in August, which is probably about a month before iPhone 6 will be unveiled.

 

[dysamoria]

This is a little scary - the fact that this case can power its LED off of the background electromagnetic emissions of the iPhone tells you that there is fair bit of energy to exploit there. Makes you wonder if there is a genuine cause for concern.

Of course there is. But you should've known that prior to this case. We are bathing in high energy emissions all day. We didn't evolve in that environment. I like my convenience devices a lot, but I think there's some long term consequence to pay. I think I've experienced certain parasomnias due to microwave emissions. The science is still inconclusive and debated but there are psychiatric applications of electromagnetic emissions for depression treatment being explored. If they think that works at all, why the hell wouldn't the opposite work too (cause problems)?

The physics are cool though. But why does this phone need such a case anyway?

 

[C DM]

I am not exactly looking for the case to notify me of incoming text and voice calls, and iPhone's built-in "LED Flash for Alerts" more or less provide the same function. But considering Lunecase does not need battery nor connection to the phone, it is undeniable cool technology if it works.

Having said that, the timing is rather poor. Lunecase is expected to ship in August, which is probably about a month before iPhone 6 will be unveiled.

To be fair, a brightly flashing light is somewhat different than a softer tone LED on the back of the phone--for some one might be good, for many others another (while for others neither).

 

[GeneralChang]

Of course there is. But you should've known that prior to this case. We are bathing in high energy emissions all day. We didn't evolve in that environment. I like my convenience devices a lot, but I think there's some long term consequence to pay. I think I've experienced certain parasomnias due to microwave emissions. The science is still inconclusive and debated but there are psychiatric applications of electromagnetic emissions for depression treatment being explored. If they think that works at all, why the hell wouldn't the opposite work too (cause problems)?

To be fair, our species actually did evolve with a pretty high level of background radiation, and we’re built to handle a pretty decent ammount of it. It’s difficult to get historical data for this more than a hundred years ago or so, but if our radiation exposure has gone up due to our exposure to consumer electronics, it’s extremely marginal.

Now airline travel? That has seriously increased our exposure to radiation. Same goes for the depletion of the ozone layer, especially in the southern hemisphere. You should probably focus your concern more on that than your phone.

 

[kaielement]

I like this because I can see the battery it could safe showing you notifications without lighting up the screen. I like it the same way the moto x has the active notifications.

 

[perealb]

The iPhone already does that. Go to Settings/General/Accessibility and turn on "LED Flash for Alerts".

 

[C DM]

The iPhone already does that. Go to Settings/General/Accessibility and turn on "LED Flash for Alerts".

Certainly not the same thing: a brightly flashing light (especially in a darker environment, or when in public and people think you are taking pictures constantly) is different than a softer tone and much less noticeable (especially to everyone else) LED on the back of the phone. Similar in a sense, but different enough as well.

 

[macnisse]

Cool tech idea!

 

[cariacou]

a shame that this idea was released that late

I mean, will you ever see that icon light up ?

Everyone uses iMessages/WhatsApp nowadays... texts are gone.

And iMessages can't light up that LED, they are transmitted over data, as opposed to SMSs.

and calls.. well, maybe once every few days...

 

[869639]

They should have implemented the lights on the two sides on the very front tips so that the lights are visible when the phone is sitting face up....

I'm pretty sure majority of the people do not rest their phones facedown....

 

[cogitodexter]

Come August when this thing is supposed to be ready, is there even going to be a Ukraine to ship it from?

 

[macduke]

If your phone didn't emit electromagnetic energy, it wouldn't *work*. That's what radio waves are. It looks/sounds like it's leeching power off your phone's transmit antenna, which 'powers up' when there is an incoming call or text.

If I'm right, I can't imagine this is going to do good things for signal strength/reception, and that'll cause your battery to drain faster.

I agree that it's a cool bit of tech, though. Even if maybe not practical.

Came here to write basically this. The energy has to come from somewhere—if it's being absorbed then a certain percentage isn't making it through.

Also, how long does it stay lit for? How does it know that you saw the message so that it can clear it? I wasn't able to find some of these answers on their Kickstarter page yet. I think I read the whole thing, but I didn't yet watch the videos.

I want to know—if it's only text and phone message, can it detect iMessages? I doubt it. What I mean is it sounds like they are checking for the special wavelengths that phone calls and SMS use, which in simple terms aren't the same type of data streams that one might use to view a website in Safari. FaceTime and iMessages would use LTE or WIFI, and would be indistinguishable from other traffic such as background refresh, push notifications, email, etc. So this case could be fairly useless for people who don't use regular text messages very often—and at worst it would be inconsistent—leaving you to believe you have no new text even though someone in your contacts iMessaged you. Another concern is Voice over LTE (VoLTE), which is coming down the pipe. I doubt this case would be able to detect this type of call as well due to the same concerns. Lastly, won't fit the iPhone 6 and it's supposed to ship in August. Pass!

 

[Parasprite]

Of course there is. But you should've known that prior to this case. We are bathing in high energy emissions all day. We didn't evolve in that environment. I like my convenience devices a lot, but I think there's some long term consequence to pay. I think I've experienced certain parasomnias due to microwave emissions. The science is still inconclusive and debated but there are psychiatric applications of electromagnetic emissions for depression treatment being explored. If they think that works at all, why the hell wouldn't the opposite work too (cause problems)?

The physics are cool though. But why does this phone need such a case anyway?

We've been bathing in microwave emissions for billions of years, the sun puts out massive quantities of electromagnetic radiation, many things from bricks to bananas put out radiation (not even talking thermal here) and we've certainly evolved in an environment full of it.

It's only mildly related, but you might find this interesting: http://xkcd.com/radiation/

 

[Parasprite]

Came here to write basically this. The energy has to come from somewhere—if it's being absorbed then a certain percentage isn't making it through.

Also, how long does it stay lit for? How does it know that you saw the message so that it can clear it? I wasn't able to find some of these answers on their Kickstarter page yet. I think I read the whole thing, but I didn't yet watch the videos.

I want to know—if it's only text and phone message, can it detect iMessages? I doubt it. What I mean is it sounds like they are checking for the special wavelengths that phone calls and SMS use, which in simple terms aren't the same type of data streams that one might use to view a website in Safari. FaceTime and iMessages would use LTE or WIFI, and would be indistinguishable from other traffic such as background refresh, push notifications, email, etc. So this case could be fairly useless for people who don't use regular text messages very often—and at worst it would be inconsistent—leaving you to believe you have no new text even though someone in your contacts iMessaged you. Another concern is Voice over LTE (VoLTE), which is coming down the pipe. I doubt this case would be able to detect this type of call as well due to the same concerns. Lastly, won't fit the iPhone 6 and it's supposed to ship in August. Pass!

For the last point, once the tech is made, making a slightly bigger version would be simple. It's not like it depends on the phone being exactly 123.8mm tall. A new case with virtually the same [whatever goes inside] and you have an iPhone 6 version, or Galaxy, HTC One, Nokia or the like.

If it takes off you'll probably eventually be able to buy a cheap one at the £1 shop when everyone interested forgets about them, sold next to glow-in-the-dark sticker packets and mood rings.

 

[dec.]

My iPhone has a builtin screen that can display the same information and more.

You're holding it wrong.

 

[Prof.]

It looks cool, but who rests their iPhone on its screen for this to be useful?

One recent study suggests people who place their phones face down are hiding something, specifically from their significant other. However, I have always placed my phone face down over the fear of something falling/spilling onto the screen and smashing/damaging it.

(I use an otterbox symmetry case)

 

[C DM]

One recent study suggests people who place their phones face down are hiding something, specifically from their significant other. However, I have always placed my phone face down over the fear of something falling/spilling onto the screen and smashing/damaging it.

(I use an otterbox symmetry case)

And that's why you can find studies showing almost anything and then even often others showing something that is the opposite of that.

 

[0098386]

I'd like that without a case, if they could make this as a decal you can just stick to the device that lights up. I leave my phone face-down (to prevent others reading details on-screen) so this could be quite convenient to see what type of messages are popping up on the screen underneath.

 

[Serban]

who holds the iphone 5/5s with the face down, now the glass is directly in front?
Kind of useless the notifications way. Its kind maybe for the other persons around you to tell them that you are in a conversation

 

[kensic]

I can understand her annoyance. But, I have to ask: how would this case with a muted light be any better?

Unless you happened to be lying awake with your eyes open, you won't notice it. And if you were, you would could achieve the same thing by putting the phone on its back, so you could see the screen light up.

This seems to be a solution in search of a problem. And I don't see a problem. Sure, it's a cool demonstration of technology, but once beyond you get beyond the "science project" concept, there's nothing there.

wait, there is a native feature to have the LED stay on when u have text or missed calls?

I know there is a native feature, where LED flashes HELLA BRIGHT for a second (like using flash when taking a picture).

 

[SmileyBlast!]

My iPhone has a builtin screen that can display the same information and more.

Yeah but what if your iPhone is face down, huh? Huh?

 

[i4m]

This is a little scary - the fact that this case can power its LED off of the background electromagnetic emissions of the iPhone tells you that there is fair bit of energy to exploit there. Makes you wonder if there is a genuine cause for concern.

yeah like static electricity is a cause of concern...

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It looks cool, but who rests their iPhone on its screen for this to be useful?
...

hmm... criminals... and terrorists?

 

[perealb]

Certainly not the same thing: a brightly flashing light (especially in a darker environment, or when in public and people think you are taking pictures constantly) is different than a softer tone and much less noticeable (especially to everyone else) LED on the back of the phone. Similar in a sense, but different enough as well.

Change the notification style to an alert with lock screen option ON and it will have the subtlety you want.