Tag: multi-purpose

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Tech Accessories

Tye mobile security device protects your stuff, saves the day when they stray

There are many products on the market track a lost pet or stolen smartphone. There are also many devices on the market that can be used to lock up a bicycle or other object so that it can’t be easily stolen.

patent-claimedTye is a new three-in-one, patent-pending device that can do both of those things, and also serves as an alarm system for electronic devices in much the same way that a car alarm system is used for vehicles. The device’s hub gets attached to any device that its user wants to protect. The hub communicates constantly with a small remote that the user hangs onto. If somebody attempts to take the protected device, Tye will sound an alarm.

An app for smartphones and the Apple Watch alerts others that there’s been an attempt to steal a protected device along with the exact transgression spot . Tye can operate up to 90 feet from the device via Bluetooth or up to 400 feet away using ZigBee wireless technology. It is expected to cost about $59-$64 once its Kickstarter campaign ends and will ship in September. Its maker is hoping to raise $60,000 by May 19.

The nice thing about Tye is that it can be used to prevent valued property from straying and find it if it does. Its use of Zigbee helps extend its local range but a cellular option would make the offering even more powerful.

 

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Cell Phone Accessories Chargers/Batteries Connected Objects Tech Accessories Technology

PowerLite provides more powerful smartphone camera performance

The multi-functional PowerLite from Australia serves as a power charger, as well as a light accessory for iPhones and Android smartphones. As a charger, the PowerLite provides six extra hours of battery life, while the thinner PowerLite Slim version adds three hours of battery life. The device uses 14 light emitting diodes (LEDs) to generate up to 630 lumens of brightness, about equal to a typical 40-watt light bulb. The light is controlled through an app for iPhones and Android phones. Users can opt to keep the device in flash mode or have the LEDs stay on constantly to record a video or illuminate a shot. PowerLite also serves as a remote selfie camera shutter. The device can also be used to find a misplaced smartphone. Pressing a button on it sets off an alert for the phone to make a sound.

Backers who provide $19 for the Kickstarter campaign will get either SKU of the device when it ships in June. That’s 58% less than PowerLite’s maker expects it to cost at retail. Its maker is looking to raise $60,000 Kickstarter.

PowerLite’s multi-functionality and slim design gives it a clear advantage over rival devices including the Lume Cube. The relatively low pricing is also a plus.

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Fitness

Bergaffe tube system proposes a one-stop slope shop

The Premise. For many, the multi-function nature of the smartphone has provided one tool that can achieve the functionality of a GPS device, a camera, a camcorder, a digital music player and much more. Perhaps there’s a similar opportunity to create another kind of do-it-all product for tasks in the physical world beyond the Swiss Army Knife or Leatherman multitool.

The Product. The Bergaffe is, by the Austrian designers’ own description, a “simple tube” that is threaded that it can be connected to a variety of different ends to create tools used for what seems to be primarily winter sports. When broken down, the tube itself is nothing more than a small threaded cylinder designed to create “a series of tubes” as the Internet was once famously described. Bergaffe plans to create multiple connections to increase the functionality of the tool.

The Pitch. The short campaign video walks us through some of the Befgaffe’s bag of tricks, showing its use as a shovel, a rake, a tripod and, perhaps most impressively, a bench. The last trick, though, requires use of a snowboard.

The Perks. The Bergaffe is due to hit slopes in March. Backers can offer £120 for the full basic package. At that price, it certainly won’t compete well with many of the products such as a shovel and tripod that it can replace.

The Potential. One can see the use for some of Bergaffe’s current applications, but  the company hasn’t really offered a tantalizing view of what lies beyond and how someone could create it in the field cost-effectively. Beyond a select group of skiers and snowboarders, this probably won’t help much, and it certainly won’t be worth the price of entry the way pricing is currently set.