It’s a manly man’s toiletry case – as opposed to one of those foofy female lookin’ things that he’d feel he must keep hidden beneath the underwear and beside the socks. And when he returns home and is too tired to unpack, no worries.The Tooletries Bathroom Travel Case is a sleek, hard shell case that still makes for an attractive storage unit – in a masculine sort of way. For $39AUD, early bird backers get one case in the color of their choice, and pink is not one of the options. Anticipated retail is $59AUD. Expected delivery of November 2014.
Month: June 2014
The Premise. Bike locks are relatively unrefined. One needs to simply trust in the strength of their lock to protect them from thieves. Given enough time and opportunity, however, thieves can break into the strongest of locks unbeknownst to the owner.
The Product. Skylock is an incredibly sophisticated solar-powered U-lock for your bicycle. It connects to your mobile phone and lets the owner know if their lock is being tampered with. This super-lock provides keyless entry and key sharing for multiple riders via Bluetooth as well as a GPS locator. When a crash or accident occurs, the lock sends a signal to your phone that gives you the option to either say that you’re uninjured or call for help from family, friends and even the authorities. This product is also functional, using a dual-locking mechanism for maximum security. If the bike should run out of battery, it won’t let the user lock the bike until recharged. The lock can also be charged externally by micro USB if sunlight is unavailable.
The Pitch. So far, Skylock has received tons of praise from the press which its campaign features. The video shows the lock in action, displaying how it alerts the rider when the bike is moved, the way it springs into action after an accident has occurred, as well as how easy it is to share access to the bike. Skylock is looking to raise $15,000 in a month-long Indiegogo campaign.
The Perks. Early riders can enjoy the Skylock for $149. It’s base Indiegogo price is set at $159 while its retail price will be $249. Higher tiers offer bundles of locks for bike share programs.
The Potential. Good bike locks can be hard to find. Locks such as the HENCH bike lock offer bank-level security, but aren’t “smart”. The Lock8, a UK smart bike lock, recently ran a successfully Kickstarter campaign. This product offers keyless entry, anti-theft alarms and GPS locating services. The Skylock takes the smart lock to a new level with its bike sharing capabilities and accident panic button. For a product that will protect you and your bike, the Skylock’s price is competitive and is a great investment for any bicycle commuter or enthusiast.
The Premise. Children play with toys to learn fundamental skills they will need later in life. Building toys are particularly beneficial for kids, teaching them rules about structure and space.
The Product. XYZ is a building toy comprised of squares that interlock together at their edges. They come in different colors and are large enough to easily create a life-size structure. Made of a recyclable material, these blocks are not only environmentally friendly, but also extremely strong. Part of the campaign features a creator standing on a four tile block with ease.
The Pitch. The campaign video for XYZ shows a few of the hundreds upon hundreds of ways that the tiles can be used. It shows the versatility of the product featuring smaller structures like laptop platforms or larger products like robots. The rest of the campaign goes into XYZ’s backstory of how the idea was conceived during a university project. This London-made product hopes to raise £30,000 in a 30-day Kickstarter campaign.
The Perks. For an early £20 or regular £25, backers can enjoy the basic cube kit which comes with six tiles. Different tiers offer different amounts of tiles. The Designers pack comes with 50 tiles of different colors for £50 early or £60 regularly. Higher tiers offer tiles that glow in the dark and change color. The highest tier of £500 give backers enough tiles to make a robot. All tiers have estimated delivery set in September 2014.
The Potential. The toy building market has seen numerous products looking for crowd funding recently. These products will either use three-dimensional blocks like CubeCraft and Snaak or will use a series of connectors, such as Strawbees. XYZ is unique in that it uses flat tiles which may not allow for the most elaborate of creations, but does allow for functional objects, such as the laptop stand. It also has potential for making larger structures, allowing children to really let their imaginations run wild in building forts for them to play inside of. All in all, this flatter product offers a new shape to the somewhat crowded toy building market.
Most people use their phones more for texting than phone calls, but depending on plans texting can be an expensive habit to have. MiRadio is a wireless text communicator that functions on radio waves and can operate for up to 1.6 miles. The device itself is no-frills, with a simple text-only display and a basic keyboard, so the battery will last for a long time. Because of the distance limitations and the single function of the device, it’s not likely to replace texting through phones for most consumers, and instead more resembles those pocket communicators that were marketed to kids in the 90s. If MiRadio sounds desirable, backers can get it for $200 in July.
The Premise. A smart home control hub is great for giving access to all the connected devices in a house or apartment, but why shouldn’t the hub be able to do more than just give access? Why can’t it give control to devices, usage, security, or any other important aspect of a home network?
The Product. Soap is a powerful Android tablet that also doubles as a smart home hub and a full wireless router. Designed to over complete control over all connected devices in the home and the people who use them, Soap is built with functionality, security, and complete control in mind.
The Pitch. Soap’s campaign video is a bit of an understatement when it comes to the kind of flexible power the device actually offers. The video shows the device mostly as a control for connected amenities and accessories, but downplays Soap’s qualities as a fully-featured Android tablet or its ability to work with other Soap devices, something that really sets this device apart from others. Soap is raising $42,500 to complete testing and begin production. The campaign is also implementing an incentive scheme that allows backers to accrue credits toward a free product by sharing links with a personal code.
The Perks. The basic Soap Solo is available to backers who pledge $240. For $5 more, the device will be delivered two months earlier. (December 2014 compared to February 2015) At $250, a beta Soap Solo will be sent out in October. The Soap Dual, with a dual core processor is available at $280 (beta at $350), the quad-core Soap Quad starts at $360, and the Soap 8.4 with a larger 8.4 inch display and a quad-core processor starts at $500, with the beta version at $550. Higher tiers include multiple devices for setting up a whole home or more, with the highest tier coming with a boggling 100 Soap units.
The Potential. Soap seems like a great way to really integrate the wireless router, smart home hub, and control center into one neat, portable package. What keeps Soap from being redundant in both the tablet and smart hub markets is that it fully functions as both, simultaneously even. The processing power and ability for Soap units to create a more powerful mesh network when used in tandem allow for something that works as a great in-home tablet for watching movies, listening to music, or being productive providing you don’t move it from its fixed location. However, it just as easily lets you move that content around across other devices while simultaneously allowing users to turn off lights, change the thermostat, or notify kids to get ready for bed without interrupting usage. Soap may just be blending two great technological tastes into one concoction, but it’s doing so with the necessary horsepower to not cut any corners.
The Premise. Every house or apartment feels more like a home when it includes houseplants. However, like any living thing, plants need to be cared for, fed, and watered. Needing to leave for business or vacation means finding a way to have plants cared for.
The Product. Aquarius is an adjustable watering system for plants that can be controlled while away from the home. The bland, cubic waterproof base holds the water needed for a potted plant that rests on top of the base. Then the adjustable nozzle points down into the pot and with the push of a smartphone touch screen or by assigning it to a schedule, the Aquarius gives plants the water they need automatically.
The Pitch. The sight of a woman sobbing after her plant dying and the phrase “ruin vacations” are both used in the campaign video in relation to plants withering from dehydration to great melodramatic effect. The product itself looks great as it waters plants of all sizes, and the app looks easy to use as well. The campaign combines attractive houseplants with the sleek design of the product itself. Aquarius inventor Gleb Kudryavtcev needs $30,000 to bring the Aquarius to the masses in terms of production and manufacturing. Stretch goals will be available after reaching the main goal for solar power, making it an entirely autonomous device.
The Perks. A single Aquarius will cost backers $65. The Aquarius Duo, which will allow owners to connect the devices together and water two plants, is available for $85. The Aquarius Quatro, which one can easily deduce will water four plants, can be had for $100. Eight- and 16-plant sets are also available, with each set of four able to exist in a different location. All watering devices will ship out in February 2015.
The Potential. While there are already plenty of ways to ration water to plants while on vacation, this may be one of the first that can be controlled using a phone or tablet. The design is more concerned with function over form, and seems to work great, while leaving a little something wanting in the looks department. At the end of the day, for people who want to keep their plants happy and healthy, the Aquarius is a great option to consider. Others who may not be as prone to breaking out into tears at the possibility of a dead houseplant may not be so compelled to pull the trigger on this product.
With every device consumers add to their daily routine, the need for more electricity is added. Phones, tablets, laptops, e-readers: if it’s electronic, it needs to be charged. Rather than carry around a bag full of chargers, now there’s ChargeAll, a pocket-sized power outlet that’s only slightly larger than current phones. With fast charge technology, ChargeAll charges quickly and still holds enough juice to recharge a smartphone seven times or a laptop twice. With USB ports and standard outlet sockets, almost anything on the more portable side of a laptop can be powered by ChargeAll. ChargeAll launches in August and the basic model will be available for those that pledge $99.
The Premise. Every smart home needs a hub to control everything, right? It feels like there are getting to be as many varieties of smart home controllers as there are homes themselves, but that isn’t keeping the market from deviating one way or another.
The Product. Sentri is a device capable of controlling a home either locally or through a smartphone app. From climate control to locking doors, if the components are compatible, Sentri can handle it. What makes Sentri unique is the addition of a camera that allows users to view their home live in real-time but also interact via video call with people in the home, which can be great for short updates, changing plans, or just easily letting the family know to get ready to head out to dinner upon arriving in the neighborhood.
The Pitch. In all aspects of the campaign, Sentri pitches its product through two key ideas: Sentri connects users to their home more directly than any other product through its camera, and it’s easy to set up because it only requires to be turned on and connected to a Wi-Fi network. Sentri wants to raise $200,000 to move the device into the tooling and production phases for mass distribution.
The Perks. A Sentri system can be picked up for $199 and will be delivered in May 2015. Differently colored models start at $269, with engraving as an option at $299. The tiers include several options for further customization of both style and quantity, with the next unique option coming in at the $2,000 level, where backers can sign up to be an alpha user and receive a PVT version of Sentri, also expected to ship in May 2015.
The Potential. At the rate these devices are being proposed and marketed, it seems like the safest bet might be to wait until competitors are done layering features on top of one another. What makes the Sentri unique is the use of a camera that can be used for communication or security monitoring, which is a pretty great idea for making last-minute changes to the shopping list or checking in on pets, children, or anyone else. As that seems to be the only difference between Sentri and other smart home units, it isn’t so farfetched to see this unique quality become standard among all the others in a matter of months, if not weeks. It’s a great-looking device, but the market is becoming so saturated at this point that something has to give.
This item may very well be the perfect wedding present. Why? Because it always makes sure that the lid is down – as long as he remembers to actually flush the toilet. It’s also highly unlikely that Marriage Saver is going to be a duplicate gift – until it hits the mainstream marketplace. Since the automatic lid closing device is removable, it can even be installed in the honeymoon sweet bathroom and taken home for reinstallation. And when it’s vacation time, the family won’t ever have to leave home without it. For $46, wives and sensitive husbands can take the first step in revolutionizing their homes and vacation plans. Expected delivery is December 2014.
Kids need to play and build with toys in order to learn some important spatial basics about the world around them. Many toys provide these lessons, but do so on a mini scale. Assembly allows children to build with tools that are life-size. It comprises of long wooden sticks that attach with special connectors, giving kids the chance to build structures, forts, or even time capsules in large sizes. For $149, backers will receive 26 connectors and 65 red oak sticks for delivery in November 2014. Assembly hopes to raise $60,000 in a 35-day Kickstarter campaign.