I regularly visit crowd-funding websites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo to see what interesting items pop up there, with the idea of posting items about them on the Elektor.Magazine website.
 
One of the things I find remarkable in the last while is the number of projects on these sites for smartphone cables – charging cables of every conceivable sort. Extra long, super sturdy, with reversible connectors, non-curling, fast-charge cables, you name it. It’s unbelievable. For many years I have been using the standard cable that came with my smartphone, and you can buy dozens of different aftermarket charging cables in the store, but clearly that’s not enough for a lot of people.
 
To give you an impression of what people apparently want, I compiled a sample of some noteworthy Kickstarter cable projects for you: an extra sturdy cable made from Kevlar, a cable that automatically rolls up into the AC adapter, a Lightning cable with illuminated connectors, the longest and strongest charging cable, a cable with magnetic connectors, a cable with armored connectors, and a handmade cable with a leather sheath – and that’s just a start. Most of these cables do well on Kickstarter, and some of the above examples are already in production.
 
No matter whether you are still using the standard cable or need something different, there’s certainly enough to choose from.