If you only look for apps that would make your iPhone more awesome, then you’re limiting yourself. The Apple economy is not just fueled by apps but also by hardware accessories that can turn your phone into something more interesting. Do you know that your iPhone can act as a health monitor, credit card reader, breathalyzer, thermometer, and wind reader? These items detailed below are but a few of the nifty functionalities that will take your iPhone a notch higher.
Jawbone UP wristband
Jawbone has been known for its sleek, forward-thinking, and visually irresistible devices. The company recently came up with an activity tracking wristband that offers users various functions that can assist them in leading a healthier and more holistic lifestyle. This little device, which does not physically connect to your iPhone but rather via its Bluetooth connectivity, boasts of its comprehensive sleep tracking functions (deep sleep, light sleep), an alarm clock, activity tracking (calories burned, distances), mood tracker, and food consumption monitor.
Square credit card reader
Maybe you’re constantly mobile and you keep running around town to close deals, deliver payments, and collect payments. In the past, collecting payments can be quite troublesome because it required going online or going to a physical establishment. But with the advent of app merchants that offer credit card dongles or swipers that can be attached to smartphones and tablets like what Square offers, these types of transactions are easily carried out regardless of location. It’s ideal for small business owners who want to simplify transactions even while they’re out in the field.
Breathometer breathalyzer
Drunkards, rejoice! If you keep worrying about whether you’re still fit to drive after a night of booze and partying, or not, then you have to get a Breathometer. It’s a portable breathalyzer that you can attach to your smartphone, which connects to an app that will measure and show details about your blood alcohol content and other alcohol-related information that will help you figure out if you are capable of driving home safely or should you take a cab instead. Initially starting out as a crowdfunding project on Indiegogo, the Breathometer says the project is “inspired by the smartphone and the desire to make the world a better place.”
Thermodo thermometer
Thermodo is a tiny electrical thermometer designed by a Danish studio to measure the temperature at any given location. It helps you measure the temperature for both indoor and outdoor locations. All you have to do is get the dongle, attach it on your device’s headphone jack and voila, it will transmit real-time temperature data with the aid of a dedicated app.
Vavuud wind meter
Another Danish startup is making a buzz through Vavuud, a wind meter which also attaches to an iPhone’s earphone jack to measure wind speed. It’s quite interesting that the dongle doesn’t require any electronics, but that’s because it employs technology that’s deceptively simple. A smartphone contains sensors that can pick up and process wind speed data that the two magnets placed inside the accessory’s rotor has generated, so you wouldn’t really need electricity for it – a perfectly calibrated iPhone would do.