There’s little that can put a stop to four wheeling fun faster than a flat. And then there’s the hassle of changing it! That is, unless the owner happens to have iGo-Air for their ATV or UTV. Not only does the kit offer the necessary items to repair or plug the hole in the tire, but it also has a hose with one end made to connect to the tire valve, and the other to the exhaust, which means that compressed air is instantly provided to put air back into the repaired tire. It typically takes 10 or 15 seconds to fill the tire if there isn’t significant additional weight on the ATV or UTV. Seems like a great idea with the only downside being that the tire probably still has to be removed to patch it. Nevertheless, maybe iGo will consider making something like this for cars! This campaign seeks to raise $50,000 by November 30, 2014. Backers get one product for $25, with an expected delivery of December 2014.
Month: November 2014
Drywall and hooks go together about as well as mixing oil and water. Anything that weighs more than about three pounds means that the hook is going to be pulled from the wall and some rather ugly damage will be left behind. That’s why the Hungstrong Hook Kit was created. This particular kit includes a hook designed to hold items that weigh as much as 40 pounds. So a coat, purse, backpack, shopping bag or other item that would normally be too heavy can be hung up to help minimize clutter. How is this possible? Because the hook is mounted to the wall by driving its pre-installed one inch Allen Anchor onto any drywall interior surface. The provided T-Handle tool makes this possible with very little effort. If installation isn’t too complicated, the Hungstrong Hook Kit would make a great addition to any kitchen, foyer, workshop or office. This campaign seeks to raise $7,500. For $40, backers get one kit with an expected delivery of January 2015.
Coffee enthusiasts know the best ways to make their favorite morning drink, but usually need different products to master each method. Brewover is a three-in-one, multifunctional brewing device that allows the user to choose between the slow brew drip, immersion, or pour over techniques for making specialty coffees. It has a very easy to use filter system, as well as a shut-off valve that allows a great deal of control as to how fast the water flows into the filter. Brewover can even function as a potential icebreaker when meeting up with new friends because the clear material allows people to actually watch the process take place. Coffee lovers who want to be able to enjoy their beverage on-the-go might want to check out the KoffeePress campaign. This campaign seeks to raise $65,000 AUD (~$56,000 USD) by December 2, 2014. For $65 AUD (~$56 USD), early bird backers get one product with an expected delivery of March 2015.
Any trained medical professional will agree on how very important it is to take essential medication on a timely and consistent basis. If it isn’t, there could be severe consequences for the person who needs it. With that as the central idea, the folks behind the Amiko have created a wearable device that acts as a personal medication assistant, connecting to a wide range of inhalers to help make sure medication is being taken correctly and on time.
The product comes as a small but attractive leaf-shaped attachment that clips on to a wide range of inhalers. Onboard MEM sensors are highly tuned to track when the inhaler is loaded, how it is positioned pre-delivery, and upon actual delivery. These values are all combined to create an accurate and thorough view of dosage trends and can even be used to create reports for physicians to use in their treatments.
Perhaps its most valuable capability, however, is the ability to be connected to smartphones and tablets to alert users and family about upcoming or missed doses, keeping everyone in the loop. If that person happens to be technologically averse, the company’s Amiko Hub ($79) allows non-smartphone users to still receive alerts from the product itself, family members, or caretakers. Amiko’s early bird special is currently going for $39 with a $10 premium on it when those supplies run out, with an expected delivery date of March 2015. The folks behind Amiko are looking for an infusion of $50,000.
Amiko is a very promising device not in just what it does, but in how it uses the cloud and the various connectivity options it has to make a process that can be potentially life-threatening so much less stressful. It extends wearables to a market that needs it beyond the fitness enthusiast.
As much as our smartphones can do and as versatile they can be, there are some instances where having a smartphone actually isn’t the best idea. Parents who want to stay in touch with their kids don’t necessarily want to buy them a smartphone as much as business travelers who need two phones don’t really enjoy carrying them around. For those situations where an expensive and most of the time bulky smartphone isn’t the best choice, there’s the Talkase.
Talkase is an iPhone 5s, 6, or 6 Plus case that also houses an extremely slim, standalone quad-band GSM phone. The company intends Talkase to be the ultimate secondary phone either by working with its own SIM card, or facilitating phone calls and syncing contact lists with other smartphones through Bluetooth. The case has a small compartment that holds a pin and micro-SIM adapter as well, ensuring users will always have the capability to always use the Talkase phone. Backers have the choice of one of four colors for $45 with an estimated ship date of December 2014 as the campaign has already achieved success with their $60,000 campaign.
The phone itself is incredibly thin, measuring in at 5.5mm and coming complete with an OLED screen on which you can text, a calculator mode, and a 200mAh battery that offers three hours of talk time with 100 hours of standby. One of the best things about Talkase is how much girth it doesn’t add to an iPhone, avoiding the problem of making it too ungainly. On the other hand, there aren’t cases available for the wide range of other smartphones on the market — ultimately a very narrow focus.
Enjoying favorite tunes on the iPod while exercising or doing random chores around the house is a nice way to brighten up otherwise dull tasks. The challenge is keeping earbuds in one’s ears when doing a lot of moving around. That’s why MagClip was created. This product is a magnetic system that attaches to headphone cords, and then the cords attach to the user’s shirt. And when the user needs to take the earbuds out of their ears, the wires are still held in place because of the magnets. Good positioning is necessary to make sure the shirt doesn’t tug on the wires. Still, it helps prevent tangling when it’s time to put earbuds away. MagClip compatible with most earbud wires. Nunchuk, Nearbuds and Nearbuddy are other magnetic options, or for backers who’d like to go wireless with their earbuds, check out the Earin campaign. This campaign seeks to raise $5000 by November 28, 2014. For $7, early bird backers get one product with an expected delivery of February 2015.
Sometimes it’s the little things in life that help to make life flow and roll along. For example, without car keys, things get pretty stationary. Having other important little things organized and gathered into one convenient spot, like your wallet, phone and other small essentials also plays into this. For those who seem to have too many loose ends to easily tie up, here is a product that can lengthen the rope. Kangeaux is a universal carrying apparatus for small items. How this is much of an improvement on something like a fanny pack or backpack (rucksack) isn’t entirely clear. However, if backers are looking for a way to simplify, it might be worthwhile to check out the Ruitbag, Funnell, and Jayster campaigns. This campaign seeks to raise $10,000 by December 1, 2014. Early bird backers get one product in their color choice of blue or pastel for $18, with an expected delivery of January 2015.
Picnics and camping can be a lot of fun, except for the heavy stuff that often has to be toted to the site. So rather than carrying gear, why not roll it along? That’s the idea behind Parkset. The unit includes two chairs, two insulated bottle bags, and a fold up table that holds it all together. The handle and wheels make for relatively easy mobility to the perfect outdoor spot, whether rekindling romance or lounging lazily. This might be ideal for an afternoon getaway, but picnics usually mean food, too. So backers might also want to consider wheeled coolers such as KruzieCooler, BoomBox Cooler, or Coolest Cooler to compliment Parkset. Otherwise, Parkset is great for some day drinking in the park, but not necessarily a big meal. This campaign seeks to raise $22,000 (~$19,000 USD) AUD by November 28, 2014. Early bird backers get snag one for $135 AUD ($116 USD), which is 40% off the anticipated retail. Expected delivery is September 2015.
Having a child is a life-altering event, full of contradictions. The intense joy and excitement one feels at the child’s birth quickly becomes inundated with the worry that comes along with taking care of that new life. Is the baby sleeping ok? Throwing up? Crying? Breathing alright? And on and on — all parents would attest that it can quickly become exhausting to worry so much.
The creators behind the Monbaby know exactly what this mess of emotions feels like as they’ve had the experience themselves, which led them to create their their version of the baby monitor. Shaped like a small button, the Monbaby clips on to any article of clothing and sends a variety of information every five seconds to your smartphone, including a baby’s breathing, sleeping patterns, and the position the baby is in while it sleeps. This vigilance is a extraordinary relief to parents especially because customizable alerts are available through the iOS or Android app, lifting all sorts of worry from their shoulders so they can more easily relax.
Monbaby’s applications are not only limited to babies: the company sees their device working for toddlers and even the elderly as well. That said, while it uses Bluetooth Low Energy to facilitate these features, it stands to reason many parents wouldn’t want a wireless device so intimately close to their newborn child. Ultimately, though, this may be a case where peace of mind ultimately trumps fear. The Monbaby baby monitor is going for $109 with an estimated delivery date of December 2014. The company has already achieved their funding goal of $15,000.
The holy grail of technology is the facilitation of communication across any and all languages. While we’re a far, far away from some magical device capable of that, there are some companies trying their best to attempt a solution. MotionSavvy presents one such attempt in their debut product, the UNI.
UNI is a communication tool for deaf people that allows them transform their signing to speech in real time. Others will be able to respond and the tablet can transform speech to text for the deaf party to read; speech directly to sign language is a feature they’re working on but is still not yet available. The device itself is comprised of a case that houses a Leap Motion to enable accurate sign recognition, but unfortunately only supports the Dell Venue Pro 8 for now, although MotionSavvy is working on iOS and Android versions.
The UNI’s additional features really make the platform shine. Users can describe and record new signs that are saved in a dictionary, periodically updating for all users — a crowd created dictionary of sorts. In addition, the product can also teach sign language, too. The company’s most impressive accomplishment, though, is having access to all of the signing and recognition capabilities without an Internet connection; anything otherwise would have pretty much killed this product. MotionSavvy is looking for $40,000 to continue testing and refining the product to have in hands by the end of 2015. Interested backers can pay $99 now and $99 at the time of shipping in order to get a hold of one.