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It seems that even if you do find a good place to store your earbuds, you’re still stuck with the annoying task of untangling them out before using. Hearkening back to the magnetic back that was one of the better features of the Zune premium earbuds, Nearbuds and Nearbuddy are small clasps that attach to the standard apple earPods to keep the gangly appendages better organized. When not in use, you can hang them up by sticking your earbuds to pretty much any metal surface. The product provides similar benefits to the Zipi, but are a lot more compact and let you hang your earbuds to the wall (for when you want to listen to some cool tunes, one would suppose). For $20, backers get a complete product with an expected deliver of August 2014.
Month: March 2014
The Premise. Audiophiles and musicians alike have bemoaned the digital era for ripping all the humanity and natural sound away from listening to music. Despite a dedicated community who still swears by vinyl, the rest of the music-listening population has merely accepted these imperfections as something that comes with the territory.
The Product. Named for the Hawaiian word for “righteous,” PonoMusic makes it clear that it is not a new file format or audio standard, and yet what it does is revolutionizes the digital music store. Using FLAC as means to distribute sound at a bitrate well above CD quality and without any compression, Pono wants to deliver users music the way it was meant to be heard. The player itself looks like an early MP3 player but has a unique, triangular shape and a LCD touch screen making control as easy as other personal music players.
The Pitch. With a lengthy campaign promo video, viewers are shown a parade of legendary music acts ranging from David Crosby and James Taylor to My Morning Jacket and Red Hot Chili Peppers. Each of these mega-stars talk about Pono as if it were the best thing that’s happened to home audio, a telling endorsement if nothing else. The rest of the campaign helps explain what makes Pono’s audio playback unique, and how it stands above other existing digital distribution models, making it more like the digital equivalent of a record album. Pono’s goal is to raise $800,000 to help establish the format for the consumer market.
The Perks. A first edition PonoPlayer can be had in yellow or black for a pledge of $300, with an expected release date of October 2014. For $100 extra, backers can get their hands on a limited-run chrome version with a laser-engraved signature from a variety of different artists supporting Pono.
The Potential. Even if the glowing praise from all of the high-profile rock stars in the video have more to do with how well Pono sounds versus trying to be respectful toward Neil Young’s vision, it is difficult to see Pono taking much momentum from smartphones and existing streaming services. Not only is the price high, but the campaign is built around the notion that hearing is believing; it will be some time before most folks can experience he triangular player versus lesser alternativs.
With whistleblowers raising issue with online security from hackers and governments alike, encryption can be an important tool to protect privacy. The Privus system allows users to encrypt their emails, chats, and texts easily for complete privacy. All you need to know is in the first second of the video, as a CIA and NSA Surveillance Contractor declares the Privus encryption unbeatable. For a pledge of $25, backers can get access to Privus email encryption with a year’s subscription to Privus Premier. Those who want safe physical storage can add on a 16GB USB drive with Cipher-Key application for a total of $65.
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If you’re the type who is bent on never letting them see you sweat, or you just work with people who are ridiculously clumsy, Evanilo has you covered – literally. The designer suits and shirts combine textiles with technology that keep you free of sweat rings in the summer, and protected from stains whenever. One drawback right now, though, is that sizes are limited. Of course, there are other stain-resistant pants for men and women, as well as a spray based on more traditional water resistance means that could be used to make clothes stain and water resistant. Nevertheless, for $50, backers get a size “slim fit” designer shirt with an expected delivery of August 2014.
What makes wearable technology so exciting is that it brings out the inner secret spy out of everybody. The Smarty Ring is back on Indiegogo to help those who missed it the first time pick one out before they hit the market. This sleek stainless steel ring can alert wearers of incoming calls, texts, emails, and even control music or take a photo among many, many other things. Like the device itself, the campaign materials ooze style and make this compact piece of tech look very desirable. The Smarty Ring is available without scrolling display for $175, or with scrolling for $275, and will ship out in May 2014.
Robotic toys are the perfect combination of imagination, fun, and real-world experience. The Robotiky is a small robot that children can use to learn how to program by using the intuitive Web-based platform. Transitioning from simple drag-and-drop steps to actual text-based code, children will learn the basics of how programming works. The campaign video gives a clearer idea of how simple it is to set up a Robotiky and how closely the developers worked with real children to make playing with the device both accessible and rewarding. Access to the full Robotiky experience is available for £99, plus an additional £20 for shipping outside the UK. But be prepared to wait as the binary bot isn’t slated to ship until February 2015.
The Premise. Traditional thermostat controls are incapable of adjusting to the constant fluctuations in temperature throughout the house. There have been a few temperature sensors that make the heating and air conditioning more responsive to the environment, but most of them are incapable of gaging the different temperatures throughout the house.
The Product. The Kumostat is joining the market of Internet-connected thermostats, but expanding the range of possibilities. By connecting with cloud-connected “Kumo Sensors” and existing Wireless Sensor Tags, the Kumostat gives a more accurate and precise reading of the environment in all the different parts of the house. You can customize the setting of the heat and air conditioning to reduce your energy bill while also guaranteeing a comfo-rtable temperature whenever you’re in the house. For example, the Kumo Sensors can automatically turn off the air conditioning when three or more windows are open. All of this can be done through the seamless interface of the iOS or Android smartphone app.
The Pitch. The video starts off in a Kumostat utopia (Kumopia?) where all the walls an windows are equipped with Kumo sensors. It explains how the sensors sense motion, and automatically adjust the temperature to benefit the room with the most activity for optimum efficiency. It switches to graphics of the smartphone controls that allow for the customization of your environment; the seems like a simple app for anyone to use, yet complex in the ways it can be personalized. Lastly, the Kumostat video makes a pitch to businesses by highlighting the fact that the Kumostat can work in large buildings—and reap large energy saving benefits.
The Perks. There are many different combinations of sensors that best fit your needs. If you already own Wireless Sensor Tags, the Kumostat itself only costs $36 and is compatible with Ethernet Tag Manager revision 5 or higher. If you don’t know what any of that means, it probably means you’re building your connected thermostat from scratch. The best option for you then is the $136 pledge category that includes a Kumostat, a Reed Kumo Sensor (door/window, temperature, humidity), a PIR Kumo Sensor (infra-red occupancy, temperature, and humidity), and one Wireless Sensor Tag Hub. That should be more than enough to get you started, and you can expand your collection of sensors if you enjoy the benefits of the connected thermostat.
The Potential. The Nest brought connected thermostats into the mainstream of the public eye, and now others are looking to join the market. These thermostats are going to start appearing in more and more homes as more people realize how much money and energy they save. Kumostat adds an interesting twist by factoring in the possibility of there being different temperatures in the house. It doesn’t have the same aesthetic appeal as the Nest, but there’s no reason why it wouldn’t be able to succeed in the market of people with larger homes and a desire for more control over their home environment.
The Premise. When it comes to a child’s imagination, any number of common household items can become tools for adventure or props to act out any number of fantasies. For centuries, the imagination has been enough to entertain, but what if there were real-world stimulus to add to the excitement of play?
The Product. The Moff band is a wearable snap bracelet that children can put on when they play make-believe. By syncing up with the Moff app on a tablet or smartphone, different modes can be chosen to simulate specified wrist movements into real-life sound effects for laser guns, sword fights, air guitar, or sports equipment. With Bluetooth support, acceleration and gyro sensors, and powered by a watch battery, the Moff is easy to put on and begin playing with immediately. For the time being, Moff only works with the five most recent generations of iOS devices, but Android compatibility is in the works.
The Pitch. Moff CEO Akinori Takahagi introduces the Moff in a gentle, playful video that combines hand-drawn animation to represent the imagination and live play to demonstrate what the Moff is capable of. The entire presentation of all Moff’s campaign, from videos to pictures and even the app itself, is generally friendly and easy for children to understand and use as well. Moff is looking for $20,000 to get Bluetooth certification, finish tooling and bulk order the device’s internal components.
The Perks. A $45 pledge is required to get a Moff band for any child or child at heart. All products are expected to ship in July 2014.
The Potential. The Moff band is something that children should be very excited about, helping them bring their imagination into the real world. Having to be tethered to an app on a mobile device hampers the usability somewhat, as children will probably either still want to have a phone nearby to change settings or will be continually pestering parents to change the settings repeatedly. The novelty of these sound effects will be something that enraptures younger users, while those already attending grade school might look elsewhere for something more substantial. Still, children will love the idea of enhancing their play without having to break the action for sound effects.
More and more accessories for tablets seem to come out everyday, each one fancier than the last. LapTape is a strap that holds a tablet when the user is sitting down with their knees up. The strap loops around the front of the knees and then holds the tablet’s bottom corners. While a different approach from many products that are designed to prop up a tablet on a flat surface, LapTape is so basic that asking early-birds for £13 and regular backers for £15 seems like a lot of money. In any case, those looking to give their iPads a suspended sentence can help the product’s creator raise £10,000 in his 30-day Kickstarter campaign with an estimated delivery date of July 2014.
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You won’t find any sign of Sandra Bullock or George Clooney here. But the concept for Gravity Link is combines a shirt pocket with magnetic force that allows you to lock your mobile in place so it doesn’t fall out of your pocket. You can also stick it to the outside of your pocket for hands free phone conversations, listening to your favorite songs on your music app, or recording your friends attempting to dance as a live band jams while you’re all hanging out at the local pub. Pop the iPhone in upside down to get easy access to Siri. Unfortunately, the Gravity Link is linked to its own shirt so it won’t work with yours unless you’re Audi-driving, sunglasses-wearing developer Coal Kolivas. For $50, backers get a T-shirt with the specialized pocket with an estimated delivery of May 2014. Higher reward tiers should net long-sleeve shirts and other apparel.