Fully Charged: Samsung’s handy multi-device charger, 24-hour Xbox One game trials, and contactless donkey ride payments finally a reality
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Samsung’s triple-device charger solves a mounting problem
Samsung currently sells smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, headsets, and quite a bit more in the handheld department. Coming soon? Perhaps the Gear Solo and Gear VR, among surely many others. If you’re entrenched in Samsung’s device ecosystem, keeping everything charged is probably already a challenge, and it’s only going to get worse.
Enter the company’s new Multi-Charging Wall Charger, a smart plug that can split an electric current across up to three devices hooked up via standard microUSB (which means it works with non-Samsung devices as well). The Max 2A signal is automatically divided based on how many devices are attached, and while more means longer waits, it’s perfect for overnight charging without crowding your wall sockets or USB ports.
It’s priced at US$39.99 (about £24) and will be available soon from Samsung’s US store, though no word yet on worldwide availability.
READ MORE: Samsung Galaxy S5 review
Daylong game trials coming to Xbox One
It appears that free 24-hour game trials of certain titles are coming to Xbox Live Gold members using Xbox One, thanks to a report from a user in Microsoft’s ongoing preview program. An image posted on Reddit shows “Free Play Day with Gold” listed atop a game, Max: The Curse of Brotherhood, while an unrelated Twitter exchange between Xbox Support and another user seems to confirm the concept.
Considering how consistently great Sony’s free games have been for PlayStation Plus, it feels like Microsoft has been playing catch-up with creating additional value for its paid Xbox Live Gold subscriptions. A game that you can potentially play in full for an entire day? Depending on the game selection, that could be a very great thing indeed.
Finally! Contactless donkey ride payments a thing
Once upon a time, kids without a small amount of change would be unable to ride the donkeys at Blackpool Beach. Imagine them sitting on the sand, bawling their little eyes out because mum and dad didn’t carry any cash or coins. It’s a heartbreaking image.
“Over the years I’ve had to turn hundreds of kids away because mums and dads don’t have the cash on them to pay for a ride on Dillon [the donkey] – and the beach is often the last place you want to be carrying lots of change,” says Mark Ineson, owner of Real Donkeys, clearly longing for a modern solution to this sad scenario while also seemingly acknowledging the futility of his business model.
But it’s an issue no more, thanks to Barclaycard, which has created the “UK’s first payment saddle” for Dillon. Now parents at Blackpool with contactless credit or debit cards can simply tap and let their children enjoy the finer things in life. Such as riding a beach burro.
READ MORE: You can now pay your bus fare with a tap of your phone
Save the world with squats in Superhero Workout
Getting fit can be a real pain (in more ways than one), but developer Six to Start knows that adding gaming elements to your workout can make a world of difference – as it’s shown in the past with The Walk and the immensely popular Zombies, Run! for mobile phones.
The company’s latest mobile and tablet app is Superhero Workout, out now for iOS (£2.99) and this autumn for Android, which uses the device’s camera for motion-sensing tech that delivers on-the-fly readings of your workouts. But more than that, it gives you a reason to sweat, with quick routines that read actions like punches as energy blasts. And it works with the Apple TV, which lets you better position your iOS device for motion sensing.
[Source: App Store]
READ MORE: Apple could be making a fitness band… for your barbell
Andrew Hayward
Freelance Writer 
