Smartphone battery pack sales have doubled thanks to Pokémon Go

By Trevor Mogg Published August 8, 2016

milwaukee pokemon go first amendment app 1 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

There’s no doubt about it. Pokémon Go has for many people brought an end to their sofa-based slackness, the addictive augmented reality game prompting mobile gamers to leave their home and explore the outside world, albeit through the window of a smartphone.

And it seems that its creator, Niantic, isn’t the only company delighted at the game’s astonishing success. Makers of smartphone battery packs, too, are evidently making a killing, with U.S. sales of the device mushrooming as millions of Pokémon Go players dash around the great outdoors catching digital monsters as they go.

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Recently published data from market research firm NPD suggests sales of the packs reached 1.2 million units for the two-week period starting July 10, just over double that of the same period a year earlier.

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NPD noted that in the six weeks leading up to Pokémon Go’s launch, sales of the packs were slowing and stood at just 4 percent above last year’s figure. And then along came Pokémon Go.

The game has a habit of draining a handset’s juice as it utilizes potentially demanding features such as GPS, motion sensors, and augmented reality. Plus if you’re out for hours on end trying to catch ’em all, of course your battery’s going to burn out.

Pokémon Go includes a power-saving mode that turns off your handset’s display when it’s in your pocket, a feature that still ensures you receive an alert when a Pokémon is close by. However, for many players, any savings it offers clearly aren’t enough for a marathon Pokémon Go session.

If you’re a Pokémon Go player with a battery problem, or simply an avid smartphone user fed up with its lousy battery, then be sure to check out DT’s pick of some of the best chargers on the market today.

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Contributing Editor

Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…

Gaming

NBA All-World aims to replicate Pokémon Go’s success starting today

A player walks around their neighborhood's map in NBA All-World.

Niantic launched NBA All-World, its basketball-themed, location-based mobile game, on iOS and Android today. Ahead of this release, Digital Trends attended a presentation to learn more about how the sports AR title works.
If you've played any of Niantic's games before, many elements of NBA All-World will feel quite familiar. The mobile game tracks players' location and encourages them to explore. While doing so, players will find Drop Zones that grant them new gear. Niantic says Drop Zones will often be placed near real-world counterparts, so players can find money near a bank or shoes near a shoe store.
There will also be Player Encounters, where they can face off against current NBA athletes. Niantic tells Digital Trends that classic athletes aren't currently in the game, but feels that idea "is a good one."

In Player Encounters, users face off against athletes in one of four minigames: 3-Point Shootout, Beat the Clock, Around the World, and First-to-Five. While they feature some impressive and realistic animation for a mobile game, Niantic says these minigames only use simple swipe controls because the studio wanted to make something that is easy to play while someone is walking around their neighborhood. If a user wins a Player Encounter, they can recruit that athlete to their team, customize them with items found at Drop Zones, and upgrade them by playing with them. Players can also challenge players they already recruited again to earn more currency.
The title also includes "Rule the Court" neighborhood leaderboards, many of which are placed at real-world basketball courts, where players can compete for the highest score. Currently, there are no player-versus-player elements in NBA All-World, although Niantic understands players like competitive modes in their sports games and may add them in the future. In fact, many features are still in the pipeline for post-launch updates, including Niantic's trademark AR support. Early in the second quarter of 2023, Niantic plans on adding AR support to NBA All-World to enhance the loot drops from Drop Zones to make it look like they're happening in the real world.
One thing that will be in the game at launch is microtransactions, which Niantic says will be similar to the ones available in its other games and allow players to increase their athletes' stats with Offense, Defense, and Fitness boosts.
Despite the undeniable success of Pokémon Go, Niantic has never been able to completely replicate its success with games like Harry Potter: Wizards Unite or Pikmin Bloom. However, the studio seems confident that basketball has the global mass appeal to make NBA All-World another massive hit for the company. The early footage we saw of the game does leave us optimistic for NBA All-World's prospects, but we'll ultimately have to wait and see if the game will make it past its rookie season.
NBA All-World is available now for iOS and Android.

Mobile

This retro battery pack is way cooler than it has any right to be

The Shargeek Storm 2 battery and Shargeek Retro 35W charger.

As a photographer and general content creator, I often find myself in remote locations with depleted batteries and no convenient power outlets to charge them. As such, portable power banks are an essential part of my kit whenever I travel out into the wilderness.

However, as useful as a power bank can be, there’s no denying that few electronics are as bland in terms of design and available features as those that deliver the sweet nectar of electricity to our various gizmos and gadgets. That might be changing, though, with battery banks such as the Shargeek Storm 2.
A design unlike any other

Gaming

Bizarre Pokémon Scarlet and Violet glitch doubles your running speed

Four character run in different direction in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are among 2022's glitchier video game releases due to issues with constant pop-in, camera clipping, multiplayer, Koraidon getting stuck in a handstand, and more. Now, players have found a glitch that allows the player character to walk around much faster than intended. If you're not riding or dashing on the back of Koraidon, walking around in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is pretty slow. Reddit user hamsterhead64 discovered a strange glitch that will speed up the player's exploration, though. By simply connecting a second controller to the Nintendo Switch while playing Pokémon Scarlet or Violet and pointing both left control sticks at an angle, the player character will move faster in that direction. You can see this glitch in action in the video below, which was reposted to Twitter by @Munosnail.
https://twitter.com/munosnail/status/1594292538898321414
Independently verified by GameXplain and the team at Digital Trends, this glitch is an easy way to get a notable speed boost in the open-world Pokémon games, at least until Game Freak patches it out. This method does not work while riding Koraidon or Miraidon.
Pokemon's transition to a more open-world format hasn't been the smoothest one. Pokémon Legends: Arceus also had its own traversal glitch. In that game, players could climb up steep slopes by quickly aiming and canceling a Pokéball throw. The limits of the Nintendo Switch and Game Freak's game engine are clearly starting to show in the latest Pokémon games, but this is likely something that will be fixed eventually in a post-launch patch.
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are available now exclusively for Nintendo Switch.