Month: November 2014

Categories
Relaxation

Bungalow Beach Chair goes for that hammock feel, integrates towel and sun shade

Lounging at the beach is easily one of the most relaxing activities that summer has to offer. Unfortunately, lugging all the stuff you need to do so is one of the least relaxing activities. Muling this stuff to the beach also has the added perk of having to walk across sand to get to your spot.

The Bungalow Beach Chair hopes to make all of this easier by combining a few essential beach items in one. This takes a beach chair, towel, and shade and puts them all in an attached carrying bag for an easier time. The chair is designed with metal framing and the towel provides support for your body. According to the creators, sitting in the chair is much like sitting in a hammock, with your upper body suspended and your bottom and legs resting on the ground.

While the idea of an all-in-one beach chair is certainly useful, it’s a little annoying to have to either sit on your towel wet, or stand up while drying yourself off. Most beach goers will probably opt to take an extra towel with them if they plan to get wet. In addition, Bungalow could add some pockets to their product to store things like books, phones and sunscreen. Still, this is a convenient idea and the added perk of shade makes it stand apart from similar products. One will cost backers $60 for estimated delivery in March 2015. Bungalow Beach Chair hopes to raise $6,000 on Kickstarter.

Categories
Displays Video

Bleen promises to project 3-D images in midair

Plenty of science fiction novels, movies, and games have featured 3-D holographic imagery projected from a simple device. From Princess Leia’s plea for help in Star Wars to Cortana’s guidance throughout the Halo games, the transportable 3-D hologram projector is something humans have dreamed about for decades.

Bleen is almost identical to what many people would expect this technology to take form as. Appearing as a large egg or polyhedral rock, the Bleen projector opens up to display buttons and an upward-facing projector that can form a 3-D image over eight feet in the air above the device. With basic applications like movies and games, to interactive workouts and musical performances, Bleen is trying to give the hologram its place in the personal entertainment space.

Bleen has its own marketplace where developers and users can create their own content for download, recorded using the device’s hundreds of high resolution cameras and displayed with fast-pulse laser beams. Bleen is still in its concept phase and needs $225,000 to move forward. Donating $400 to the campaign ($225 now and $175 at the time of shipping) will get consumers a Bleen in the color and shape of their choice. The release date is not firm at this time, but is tentatively set for October 2015.

This is one of those science fiction-turned-reality kind of devices that is so exciting to imagine how it will work and become a part of daily life. As is usually the case, it may turn out to be pure novelty, but anyone wanting personal holograms will want to back Bleen. It may not be quite ready for the mass market, but holograms in the home and a background that dates to technology in the USSR should be enough for some.

Categories
Imaging Wearables

Get your GoPro extreme video on your wrist with the Removu P1

GoPro has established itself as the de-facto action camera brand on the market. As such, it is the first choice for many extreme sports enthusiasts. One of their most recent products, the GoPro LCD BacPac, gives users a touchscreen LCD that allows control and playback of photos and videos directly from the GoPro camera itself. The downside to this is that it isn’t happening on the fly, limiting how much control you have over the final product.

The Removu P1 addresses this problem by being a Wi-Fi mount for the GoPro BacPac, facilitating a live view from the GoPro to the device on your wrist. Since its display is also touch, it doubles as a remote control from the GoPro itself, giving you additional control over what your final video will look like. With a three hour video capacity, there’ll be a lot of decisions to make when it comes to editing, but luckily you can do so from the Removu P1 itself.

The product will no doubt be useful but those who would want something like this will probably be in the minority. The Removu P1 is currently $69 during their $30,000 campaign, with an estimated delivery date of January 2015.

Categories
Camping Food and Beverage

Rover remote control cooler delivers cold ones on your command

We’re all lazy. Most of us are only motivated to get up by the urge to use the bathroom or hunger. Rover caters to this type of attitude. This remote-controlled cooler has wheels that can travel on most types of terrain, including sand. Shaped like a little jeep, this cooler can hold up to 60 cans and has LED lights for use in the dark. It also has several cup holders making it useful as a table as well. Get the Rover with MLB or NFL sports decal, your favorite college’s logo or with no logo at all. A special offer letting you purchase Rover with your own logo is in the works.

Due to the unfortunate above-mentioned lazy nature of the human race, Rover makes a great addition to any camping party, picnic or beach outing. The remote is a little clunky, but that only makes it difficult to lose. If the remote does happen to get lost, Rover users will have to actually get up, tragically. In terms of convenience, Rover ups the ante from the Kreweser Cooler that lets you ride a cooler around. Rover is better for getting drinks around to lots of people, though it won’t tote you around too. One will cost backers $249 with estimated delivery in December 2014. Rover is looking to raise $45,000 on Kickstarter.

Categories
Lifestyle

Grocery Pal combines notepad, calculator and coupon holder for the smartphone-averse

The best way to avoid grocery store crowds, slow-moving elderly, the u-scan “impaired,” and people who seem to dawdle at the checkout with scads of coupons is to go between the hours of 1 am and 5 am. But when that’s just not practical, there’s Grocery Pal. This gadget puts the grocery list, coupons, and calculator all in one place for easy referencing, It also comes with a lanyard and magnet so as not to get lost while browsing the isles.

This might be a wonderful gadget for granny, but a smartphone works just as well for the majority of this. Some stores even offer electronic coupons that can be downloaded to a store loyalty card if customers will visit the store website, which eliminates the need for fidgeting with those paper coupons. This campaign seeks to raise $40,000 by December 8, 2014. For $20, backers get one product with an expected delivery of January 2015.

Categories
Food and Beverage Wearables

BitBite tracks your chews to help you lose

It seems like for most, diets live in a perpetual revolving door. Most are started with the greatest of intentions, but it isn’t long before the rigors of daily life make it so that the easily accessible, unhealthy food is chosen every time. As such, maintaining a diet can be an extremely difficult test of willpower. A helpful companion, like the BitBite, can be a huge help in changing damaging habits.

Although other diet helpers like the HAPIfork or the Smart utensils have been introduced as ways to help you eat slower and better, the BitBite takes the technology and makes it a wearable that you place in your ear instead. The hybrid Bluetooth headset is compatible with iOS and Android, and is voice-activated so you can tell it what you’re about it to eat. When that’s done, the device tracks the number of bites you’ve taken along with the pace of your meals. By combining all of that information, your dietary habits are gleaned so as to improve it on the fly with real-time suggestions. Not getting enough calcium? It’ll suggest you eat a yogurt instead of that donut you’re craving.

Smart food suggestions are what make the BitBite a valuable ally in your overall goals. You won’t even have to carry an extra set of silverware everywhere you go. A BitBite can be had for $119 with an estimated delivery date of June 2015. The campaign is looking for a $60,000 infusion.

 

Categories
Connected Objects Food and Beverage

Arist connected coffee maker promises a bespoke brew

Once upon a time, it used to be enough for people just to have an old, red-handled, glass coffee pot filled with basic black brew. Now, there are more ways to customize a cup of joe than there are days in the year, and everyone has their personal favorite.

Arist is an all-in-one connected coffee maker like those already on the market that attempts to recreate the gourmet, barista-brewed coffee experience any time and every time. With storage for beans, an internal cooler to keep milk fresh, a temperature regulator, and self-cleaning functions, all that needs to be done to get a cup of perfect coffee is tap on the app.

What’s more, the same app can recommend new recipes based on what kinds of coffee beans are being used or purchased, download the latest recipes from renowned baristas, and be customized ever so slightly across nearly a dozen brew steps to get the coffee perfect every time. Arist needs $120,000 to start the day, and coffee lovers can grab theirs for $349 in July 2015.

Arist is the perfect gift for true coffee lovers, opening up a whole world of new coffees, or just the comfort of the perfect cup every time. This is sure to be a must-own on many holiday wishlists.

Categories
Cooking

Tim3 Machin3 cooks rice quickly, makes time to prepare other foods

Rice cooker on steroids: that’s what comes to mind when considering the multifaceted uses for Tim3 Machin3. The 900 watt heating element is 250 watts more than the average rice cooker, so it can cook faster. The inner pot is manufactured thicker than that average pot, and coated with a long-lasting non-stick spray so rice doesn’t stick to the bottom or burn. A detachable cord means easier storage, but may get lost amongst loads of other kitchen accessories. Besides rice, Tim3 Machin3 also cooks quinoa, oatmeal, yogurt, and can even multitask by cooking rice and steaming veggies and fish at the same time.

Perhaps the best feature of this product is that it can be programmed to cook oatmeal and other foods the night before so that they’re instantly ready to eat in the morning. This campaign seeks to raise $10,000 by December 10, 2014. Early bird backers get one product for $58, with an expected delivery of December 2014.

Categories
Imaging Tech Accessories

Infinity Arm offers a variety of ways to mount your GoPro or other camera

Small mountable cameras like the GoPro enabled action sports enthusiasts and other filmmakers to take the craft to brand new angles and locations. The Infinity Arm tackles two of the biggest problems that GoPro accessories have. First, the Infinity Arm is lightweight and easy to mount on virtually any sturdy surface, creating even more opportunities for creative filmmaking. Second, the arm is incredibly sturdy, not breaking apart while being shaken or put under even the harshest conditions.

To make this an even better product for filmmakers, Infinity Arm works equally well with DSLR and other professional movie cameras. What this creates is a tool that anyone shooting a movie from amateur to professional will want to have on hand at all times. Infinity Arm has interchangeable mounts that are quick and easy to swap out without compromising the structural durability of the arm itself. Made out of aluminum and steel, Infinity Arm is tough enough to handle any assignment and turn out great, eye-catching shots in any and all environments. Creators 27Notch are asking for $50,000 to finish off the last bit of necessary funding to bring their product to market. Interested consumers can grab an Infinity Arm for $179, with an estimated delivery in February 2015.

 

Categories
Tablet Accessories

Tab-Legs are the spindly appendages that chase us in nightmares

Tablets are amazingly convenient when on the go when people don’t want to be bothered with toting a bulky laptop. The one place they fall short, though, is that they lay flat without help. Tab-Legs offers a solution that makes those extended periods of usage for things like watching movies, browsing online and checking e-mail much more comfortable. The product’s flexible, spindly legs almost look like something out of a Disney movie, allowing a tablet to hang from sofas and chairs, or tuck the legs in between the cushions. It’s flexible enough to fold up and fit in any travel bag, and can hang from an upright table tray on the plane.

The campaign doesn’t make it clear what the product is made of or how long the legs are, but it comes with one renewable sticky pad to attach the legs, two magnetic disks, and one air caddy. Other tablet stands backers may want to check out include Dutchman and MUST. This campaign seeks to raise $500 by December 14, 2014. Early bird backers get one product for $29, with an expected delivery of March 2015.