About this project
Cabin - The Easiest Way to Recharge your iPhone
$188,559
BGR: This is easily the greatest iPhone accessory we’ve ever seen
CNET: ...looks like a very nice complement to the iPhone -- something Apple might have designed itself.
Cultofmac: ...that’s so sleek and unapologetically aluminum, you’d think it came straight from Jony Ive’s prototype design lab.
Maclife: The device respects Apple's design philosophy and complements it in a way that third-party peripherals seldom do.
Gizmodo: ...It's a nice fantasy.
Macgasm: The result is an "unobtrusive and simple recharging experience."
Geeky-gadgets: ...provide a portable iPhone battery solution that doesn’t compromise the iPhone's styling, size and design.
Digital Spy: An innovative battery solution for the iPhone...
GigaOM: ...a magnetic charger for the iPhone could be pretty nice.
UberGizmo: This is an awesome idea...
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We encourage you to watch our video above and read the explanation below for more details. We hope by the end, you'll agree with us that Cabin provides the best portable charging experience yet.
At the beginning of this project we asked ourselves one simple question: How can we build a better portable battery for iPhone? Wrap-around cases with integrated batteries can be big, bulky, and ugly, and separate external batteries must be connected using a Lightning cable, making them a pain to use and hold when on the go.
Introducing Cabin
So what’s a better way? This questioning forced us to rethink the typical portable battery design and ultimately led us to Cabin, a portable battery that offers an amazing charging experience without compromising iPhone’s size and design.
The Key to Cabin
Simply Magnetic. The key to Cabin’s ease-of-use is the magnetic connection between iPhone and Cabin. By designing a special MicroAdaptor for the iPhone’s Lightning port which magnetically attaches iPhone to Cabin, we have made the connection and charging process, if it may be said, incredibly delightful. Cabin is solid, precise, and easily attachable/removable.
The Best Portable Battery for iPhone
Easier Than Ever. No more tangled wires or awkward external batteries; Recharge your iPhone simply by resting the iPhone in Cabin, or recharge both separately or simultaneously using our Cabin Dock.
Svelte and Well-Crafted. Cabin is much smaller than common wrap-around battery cases. Instead of engineering just another case, we use magnetic connections, edge-covering frame, and aluminum unibody construction to keep Cabin small and simple to use.
Beautiful Finish. Cabin has been designed to accentuate the incredible beauty of iPhone. Its aluminum unibody construction and hidden LED indicator makes Cabin a compact, yet useful product.
Hold Comfortably. Its suitable size, aluminum unibody construction, and humanized design make Cabin feel great while in your hand.
Safety By Power. Cabin’s high quality 2200mAh battery extends iPhone’s battery life by about 130% with the same charging efficiency as Lightning cable. Cabin uses a customized battery cell certified by international safety standards and a top-level circuit protection cell that is the same as that of commercial smart phones. The metal shell also ensures high structural strength.
The Best Dock for iPhone
Put On and Go On. Thanks to our MicroAdapter, placing iPhone directly on the Cabin Dock is as easy as putting your phone on the table. An iPhone and attached Cabin battery can also be placed on the Dock together, charging both in the process.
Charge and Sync. Not only does the Dock charge iPhone or iPhone + Cabin but it also provides data synchronization during the charging process if connected to a computer through the USB port.
Seamless Design. Cabin Dock was designed alongside the Cabin battery to ensure seamless use and a coherent experience. Just like Cabin, we are using the best techniques and components to make Cabin Dock a great compliment for the iPhone.
Minimal but powerful. We have designed a Dock that is beautiful and useful while taking up very little desk space. In the meantime, it has the high efficient charging ability just as the Lightning cable.
A Better Lightning Cable
Connect Magnetically. Our passion for improving the charging process has even extended to improving the Lightning cable itself. Our MagAdaptor for the Apple Lightning cable easily connects to our iPhone MicroAdaptor or Cabin.
Connect without Thinking. It doesn’t matter which orientation the MagAdaptor and MicroAdaptor are connected. So need to connect iPhone while driving in the car? Simply get Lightning cable with MagAdaptor close to the base of your iPhone and the two will snap together magnetically for a safe and hassle-free connection experience.
The Simple Life
Design Story
Team
Production Schedule
July: Complete detail design work for the mass-produced version of Cabin, make the procurement plan for cells and the internal circuitry components.
August: Produce the mould for plastic components, work on CNC machining of aluminum components, and produce the PCB (printed circuit board) and complete PCBA (printed circuit board assembly).
September: Finish the surface treatment for metal components and mass-produce and assemble the plastic components.
October: Check the quality of all components, complete final assembly, test and package the final product, and deliver Cabin to all our wonderful backers!
Risks and challenges
Like all hardware projects, our main challenges are logistics and manufacturing.
For the manufacturing, we’re confident we can bring Cabin to production with complete satisfaction to our backers. Shenzhen is home to most of the world's major electronics factories (including those that produce iPhone and other Apple products) and within and surrounding the city is a complete industrial supply chain. We have already received component commitments from our suppliers, and have sustained relationships with the factory to ensure production can be carried out according to plan.
We also recognize our product may be affected by the logistics market and must pass a variety of security certifications and licenses after manufacturing from the factory in Shenzhen is complete. We are actively applying for these licenses now. If we encounter extraordinary circumstances, delivery might be delayed but we are committed to providing the latest information to all Kickstarter Backers about logistics information and estimated delivery times, which is very simple as our team is based in Shenzhen. Any hiccups or delays will be communicated with 100% transparency.
Being located in Shenzhen's manufacturing hub, we are situated directly in the production environment, so it is very simple for use to focus on and solve any potential logistics and manufacturing problems, and also work directly with the component suppliers and manufactures to ensure Cabin's quality. We appreciate your confidence in us and we promise to deliver to you the best charging experience possible!
Learn about accountability on KickstarterFAQ
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Please note that the Cabin battery in this Kickstarter is specifically for the iPhone 5/5s and is not compatible with iPhone 6 or iPhone 5c. We have already started preliminary design work on an iPhone 6-compatible Cabin though as we understand the iPhone 6 will be released in the next few months. If you do like our concept for Cabin and want to support us, we encourage you to give a few dollars at the first reward level as this will allow us to not only complete Cabin for iPhone 5/5s, but also to continue our work on Cabin for iPhone 6 and be able to release that model as soon as possible. We will then also be able to send you updates directly and inform you of our exact plans for Cabin for iPhone 6. As for the iPhone 5c, it is compatible with our Adaptors and Cabin Dock, but not with Cabin battery.
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With relation to any infringement, we are currently taking advice about legal steps and adjustments to avoid this. There have been questions about our use of Lightning as opposed to MicroUSB. We believe a main reason other accessory manufacturers have used MicroUSB is because Apple's licensing fees for this certification and chipset are expensive. We don't believe in increasing our amount of profit by reducing the user experience and cost. We are currently in the application process for receiving an official license for Lightning. With regards to patents, these do not mean these innovations are only restricted to the owners. One of the main directives for patents is to encourage innovation, not to stifle it. In most cases, it depends on the licensing fees. Most court cases happen because of a disagreement on licensing fees. Note that we are not the first to use a magnetic interface. This has also been utilized by the likes of Microsoft and Sony. Whether POGO infringed upon Apple's patents is unknown, but it seems they were infringing upon audio jack connection patients. HyperJuice seemed to have run afoul as they designed their connector to copy Apple's MagSafe design and infringed on both trademark and design. Our adaptor is of a brand new design and uses a magnetic connection to improve the user's experience, much in the same way as Pebble, the Sony Xperia Z1, Microsoft Surface, and even the Palm Veer.
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No. Cabin's magnetic charging system and port design is not compatible in any way with Apple's MacBook charger. The size and shape of the port on each is completely different.
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Yes. Both the Dock and Lightning Adaptor act as data cables when connected to a computer’s USB port.
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It’s important to understand that Cabin is not a replacement for a case. You should instead think of Cabin as a portable battery that attaches magnetically to the base of the iPhone. There will be anti-slip strips on the sides of Cabin to help hold the iPhone firmly in place while standing upright or while face-up. iPhone and Cabin may indeed separate due to vigorous movement or if held face-down, but the advantages of Cabin compared to other portable batteries are it’s ease of one-handed use, lack of need for a Lightning cable connection between iPhone and the battery, and it’s simple ‘snap-on’ process.
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Concealed in the base of Cabin is a single LED. Similar to a traffic light, Green means Cabin is 50-100% charged, Yellow is 20-50%, and Red means the charge is less than 20%.
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We have designed Cabin to achieve function without damaging its seamless appearance. Between the base of Cabin and iPhone is a thin gap/groove which allows voice and sound to pass through.
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At the base of Cabin battery is a single LED. Much like a traffic light, green means Cabin's charge is 50-100%, yellow is 20-50%, and red signals Cabin's charge is less than 20%. We are currently seeking factories that meet our requirements for production of this LED component and will update when we have more information.
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Funding period
- (45 days)