Lensbaby has created a lot of fans with its creative lenses for pro photographers; now it’s bringing its sometimes-blurred focus to the world of smartphone photography. The LM-10 Sweet Spot creative focus lens attaches directly to your phone’s camera and accomplishes a cool blurred effect as you take your photo. As with many other add-on mini-lenses for the iPhone 4 and 5-series phones, it attaches magnetically. One of these special attachments goes for an early price of $40 with an estimated delivery date of July 2014. Lensbaby hopes to raise $20,000 in its 30-day campaign on Kickstarter.
Month: April 2014
Coaching only gets basketball players so far. At some point, they won’t know what a good shot feels like until they experience it for themselves. In the spirit of basketball shot trainers such as the Shoot Natural Glove, the Jump Shot Pro is a worn constraint that people wear to allow them to perfect their jump shot. This sleeve is worn on the shooting arm and helps to spring load the forearm to shoot the ball with more power. One Pro costs backers $80 with an estimated delivery date of August 2014. The Jump Shot Pro sleeve has a $50,000 Indiegogo goal over a 60-day campaign.
Mixologists, or bartenders as they’re commonly known, take their cocktails quite seriously. Achieving the perfect drink doesn’t only have to do with liquid ingredients, but also with good ice. Les Glaçons is an ice making kit from Montreal with separating planes, locks, a liner and insulating sleeve that produces large cubes of ice that are perfectly dense and clear. According to the detailed campaign, this is the best kind of ice for cocktail making. One of these kits costs early birds $160 CAD and birds $200 CAD with an estimated delivery date of October 2014. Glaçons hopes to raise $20,000 CAD on Kickstarter in its 33-day campaign.
The Premise. Having music any time, any place, is something made increasingly possible through mobile devices. One new product delivers home audio quality with an integrated streaming interface for any music, anywhere.
The Product. Sno Speakers are the next in a growing line of all-in-one streaming music systems. Weighing in at under two pounds, the Sno system includes a proprietary OS that can access Pandora, Spotify, other streaming services, and also play music off internal storage ranging from 16 to 64 gigabytes. With 30 hours of playtime and a fog-proof touch panel, this Wi-Fi-enabled speaker can complement any social activity or be mounted on a wall to create a jukebox on-demand vibe in any room. Bluetooth 4.0 and AirPlay support ensure that music can also be streamed onto the speaker from virtually any device.
The Pitch. With an understated, scarcely narrated campaign video, Sno Speakers just shows the product in use, with pop-up video bubbles explaining the available features. The second half is dedicated to showing off the speakers in a variety of places they would excel, from parties to game rooms, showers to fishing trips. The rest of the campaign materials are dedicated more closely to providing technical specs and installation and mounting instructions for the device, which all look pretty simple and intuitive. Sno Speakers has a prototype in place and is ready to move onto manufacturing, trying to raise $75,000 to do so.
The Perks. A Sno Speaker with 16GB onboard storage is available for only $89. The 32GB model is available at the $109 level, and the 64GB model can be had for $125. Wall mounts are also available to create a stable panel for accessing room-filling music. All speakers are expected to be delivered August 2014.
The Potential. Sno Speakers are a great idea, but the portable 21st century boombox idea is already taking off. We’ve already covered the Auris Wily, which offers less onboard storage but more connectivity and utility options with its integrated camera, and other electronics giants have shown tablet-infused offerings. Ultimately if the Sno Speakers want a chance at finding market traction, it will have to be on the merit of its sound quality and the proving it’s a more convenient option than controlling via a smartphone.
The Premise. The pickup trick is one of the few products that’s as popular with consumers as it is with businesses. One of the reasons for its so popular is because it can accomplish so many tasks, even serve as a hot tub. But few accessories live up to its ability to accommodate so many scenarios.
The Product. Shark Kage Ramp is the Swiss Army knife of truck bed accessories. Not only does it serve as a motorcycle and ATV ramp, but it also functions as a truck bed extender, cargo cover, trailside worktable, and trackside or trailside sunshade. It’s made of aircraft grade aluminum for durability, dependability, and perhaps most importantly, safety. It has a 1,500 lb. load capacity, but is also angled in such as way that it works for street bikes and Harleys. Another nice feature is that the bed extender is designed to cinch in against the rear tire of the truck and keep it from bouncing – so going off road just got simpler and quicker.
The Pitch. The video for the $42,000 campaign begins with a rather mellow choice of music, though it does change direction at about 40 seconds into the video to something that seems more anticipated. The detail for the product’s uses is nicely done along with some good camera angles that add interest. One might expect to see the guys at the end riding off into the sunset rather than walking given the many types of motor vehicles shown throughout the video, but this is certainly one of the more professional looking videos shot for a Kickstarter campaign.
The Perks. There are seven tiers from which backers can choose for this big ticket item. For $399 a backer gets the 24” version of Shark Cage Ramp. Larger donations will get you a longer ramp. Expected delivery is May 2014.
The Potential. Shark Kage Ramp could really have an appeal to a broad range of people, from amateur to professional racers as well as self-employed repair and landscapers and rural emergency response teams. It could even appeal to outdoor enthusiasts who like to take their truck with them on extended hiking, camping, and cycling excursions.
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Taking the kids out for a walk is good for both them and you. But as summer approaches and the temperature rises, heat and humidity can make for a cranky and unpleasant outing in a stroller. That’s where Geleeo comes in handy. The gel pad doesn’t need any prior freezing (which is good because it would be difficult to fit in many freezers), fits into pretty much any stroller, and keeps little ones cool while you show them around the neighborhood. For $60, backers get one cooling pad with an expected delivery of May 2014.
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Ion is the 21st century lava lamp
One thing that makes any music better, especially at a party, is appropriate lighting. With Bluetooth Low Energy connectivity, a multitude of templates and options, and even a comprehensive pattern editor, Ion is essentially the high-tech reboot of the lava lamp. With 40 tri-color LEDs and audio sensors that respond to music or even just phone notifications, Ion can provide an interactive light show for any occasion. Ingeniously, the developers of Ion have set up a Web site where users can try out these options and get a feel for what the light is capable of. Once hooked and ready to get their hands on the real deal, backers can get the party started with an Ion for $199, shipped in August.
The Premise. Eggs are a super food for many and folks have come up with a million different ways to prepare them. In Japan, people like to scramble their eggs in the shell — this is they called the Golden Egg — and then hard boil them. People looking to make a Golden Egg have to be creative in doing this, because there hasn’t been any easy way to do this before.
The Product. The Eggxer is a clever little product that scrambles eggs in their shells. One simply places the egg in a protective casing which goes into the device. An LED light makes it possible to see inside of the shell. To scramble, just pull the string a couple of times and then you can easily see through the shell to determine when the egg is thoroughly mixed. The Eggxer needs no electricity to work and comes in three colors: black, yolky yellow and green (to match green eggs and ham).
The Pitch. Eggxer’s campaign video shows its creator, Assaf, and his daughter explaining the inspiration for their product as well as how to use it. In addition, they list the different cooking possibilities that come with a scrambled-in-shell egg. Eggxer is aiming to raise $90,000 in its 50-day Indiegogo campaign.
The Perks. The early-birds get the Eggxer for $29 in either yellow or green or at a standard price of $34. The more sleek black and metallic version goes for an early price of $34 and a regular price of $39. The highest tier of $99 offers a family package of three Eggxers. All tiers have estimated hatch dates of August 2014.
The Potential. While the idea of a mixed scrambled egg isn’t too popular, it’s certainly has intriguing culinary possibilities. The internet offers a slew of tutorials on how to scramble the egg inside of its shell. There currently aren’t other products, however, that do it for you. Eggxer is made even more convenient by the fact that it doesn’t need electricity to work and doesn’t need to be cleaned too often either. All of these features and more make the Eggxer quite a contender on the egg preparation market.
As Apple’s machines get further and further away from having the jungle of wires a personal computer usually comes with, any accessories being developed for the Apple brand ought to have the same philosophy in mind. Hence, the keyDock for iPhone provides an unintrusive, simple phone dock that connects through the USB port on the side of the keyboard, keeping surfaces tidy while still providing all the features of a standard dock. Available in six different colors and with Lightning or 30-pin connectors for different models of iPhone, the keyDock is due out in July 2014 and backers who pledge €10 can get connected.
As any gentleman knows, sending a card with a gift is imperative for the opportunity it provides to share a sentiment. But what if gift givers could record videos, songs, pictures or other surprise content to enhance the gift? Tagtalk has just that idea in mind, combining QR codes and NFC to sync up to cloud-based uploads. These colorful gift tags can be attached to any present and make giving a gift more personal, even from thousands of miles away. It’s hard not to get ideas of how to use these tags to surprise friends and loved ones after watching the campaign video. A Tagtalk tag is available for as little as $6 CAD and launches in August.