Kickstarter is supposed to be a source for crowdfunding of new and, hopefully, innovative projects, not as a way for some individual to come up with the front money to make bulk purchases of already-existing Chinese hardware to sell at a profit to the ignorant:
Ultra-high capacity battery for mobile devices ($144,516 pledged of $25,000 goal)
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/560071831/ultra-high-capacity-battery-for-mobile-devices?ref=card
This individual presented these battery packs of widely different styles (indicating different designers) which were undoubtedly already available from various Chinese manufacturers on alibaba.com as his own development at which point 2,461 clueless people who didn't know these sort of devices have been available for quite some time supported his "project." All he actually was was nothing more than an eBay seller with people fronting the money to make his bulk purchases of already existing Chinese goods. I mention this here in case he tries to pull something like this again.
Well, he does make up a fight though, as there is a long-ass post at the end of the FAQ where he claims to disprove the china-copy accusations.
TL;DR, he pretty much says that yes, the cases were designed by a Chinese company, but that they have 'our' one-of-a-kind charging circuit in them.
Best case scenario, if he is telling the truth?
He asked a Chinese manufacturer to make a USB charger with a circuit that he hired someone experienced to design just for him.
Not very kickstartery thing to be honest.
amspire
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Aldi Traveller MPP-7400
« on: November 05, 2011, 05:31:31 PM »
Quote
Aldi have just released in Australia the Traveller MPP-7400 7400mAH battery pack for about $20. It includes mains charger, 10 output adapters. I believe it is a limited time sale probably ending 9th to 11th Nov. There is I think a smaller unit that will be $12.99 from the 9th to the 15th.
Not a bad thing at all for the price.
http://www.traveler-service.de/popups/MPP_7400_au_popup/index.phpThe thing is it has 5 charging LEDs on the front panel. The instruction book says 4 LEDs means it is fully charged, but in practice no-one can get past 3 LEDs. So I had to take it apart, and photos will be coming. I can confirm that with 3 of the 5 LEDs lit, the battery is fully charged.
The main charger IC has had the most thorough milling job I have ever seen to erase the identity, so now I want to work out what it is.
More photos soon, but I am just giving some advanced notice in case anyone else is interested.
Richard
mpp7400.jpg (84.55 kB, 916x805 - viewed 253 times.)
WTF?
These batteries were already available from Aldi but these gentlemen could still run their silly kickstarter campaign?
Aaaaaaarrrgh!