Nova: The Card-Sized Color Temperature-Adjustable Wireless Flash for Your Phone

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An external iPhone flash actually made our recent list of 13 photo gadgets we didn’t need, but that doesn’t mean we don’t see the potential of a flash accessory for smartphones. That particular retro-tastic flash didn’t suit our fancy; the new Nova wireless flash, however, has a lot more going for it.

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Nova is a credit card-sized, color temperature-adjustable wireless flash that communicates with your smartphone through Bluetooth. In many ways, it’s everything that the unsuccessful Paparazzo Light wasn’t.

It’s extremely portable, it’s going to be compatible with both iOS and Android, it’s wireless, and it allows you to control both the brightness and quality of the light you’re using. Given that it’s just a smartphone flash, the Nova seems to have all the bells and whistles you’ll ever need … and then some.

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The Nova consists of 40 LEDs mounted in rows behind a soft white diffusing panel. To use it, you’ll simply open up the free Nova app, use a slider to select the quality of the light you’d like to use, and take the shot.

If you want to get more advanced, the app has you covered there as well. Nova’s advanced mode pulls up a graph that will allow you to select exactly how warm and bright you want your light to be.

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Like the Paparazzo Light, Nova is relying on Kickstarter to get the funding it needs to make it to market. Unlike the aforementioned gadget, however, Nova is already fully funded … and with 29 days left to go.

The Nova team wanted to raise $25,000 to get rolling, and they’ve already accrued almost $26,500 from the 511 backers who have already demonstrated an interest in the wireless flash accessory. Here’s the Nova Kickstarter video:

For now, Nova is only iPhone compatible, but Android compatibility for Bluetooth 4.0-capable smartphones is on the way. If you want to learn more or get your own Nova, all you have to do is head over to the Nova website or Kickstarter page and have your credit card ready.

You can pledge anywhere between $1 and $165, depending on the reward you’d like, but the cheapest you’ll get your own pre-assembled Nova for is $55. Assuming everything goes according to plan, pledgers should have their Nova in hand by February.

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