Month: November 2014

Categories
Smartwatches/Bands

STAR blends fitness, safety tracking

At this point, a wearable activity tracker is hardly the way to make a splash in the tech marketplace. It takes more than just calorie counting to make wearable tech worth purchasing.

The STAR by SenseGiz handles activity tracking just fine, but serves a more utilitarian purpose by enhancing the functionality of a phone as well. Offering gesture control, call notifications, sleep monitoring, workout reminders, and more, wearing a STAR either by strap or clip keeps information easier to access than by fishing a phone out of a pocket. Additionally, STAR offers a number of safety features including crash monitoring, panic buttons, and emergency notifications to local response services or friends and family. SenseGiz needs $30,000 to release the STAR, while buyers can clip one on for as little as $89, shipping out at the end of this year.

STAR is essentially trying to take the best features of several wearable devices and combine them into one easy to use package. The screen is well designed, but doesn’t have the technical punch of a smartwatch or high-end dedicated activity tracker. For those looking for just one device to handle as much as possible, STAR is worth a look.

Categories
Automotive

ArmRestor tackles distracted driving by keeping essentials close

We spend a lot of time in cars, but they’re not well designed for comfort. ArmRestor tries to change that by providing utility and relaxation. The product affixes to an attachment that slides in between the window and weather stripping on the driver’s door. Coming in both beige and black, ArmRestor features a coin slot, space for general car accoutrements, a tissue dispenser and cup holder. For ease of use, the cup holder moves around and is even detachable so it’s not in the way. The top is lined with foam-filled leather for maximum comfort for your arm.

In the campaign, the creators even claim that the rest is out of your line of sight so it won’t distract your from driving. Provided that the ArmRestor fits into your car, it doesn’t really seem to follow that someone would want to rest their left arm while driving. Usually, the right arm is reaching for stuff and adjusting the music so the left is always on the wheel. In addition, the window sill is usually a sufficient place to rest your arm. Still, interested backers can donate $36 for one by April 2015. This product is looking to raise $20,000 on Kickstarter.

Categories
Tech Accessories

D-Tangle wraps up a quest to manage cord tangling

The mystery of how to keep earbuds from tangling is one that many an inventor sleuth has tried to solve. D-Tangle is one of the newest products dedicated to investigating this common conundrum that riddles the good gadget lovers of the 21st century. The design its creator has invented to solve this precarious puzzle revolves around a proprietary spring and drum system. The user pops the top on a square gadget and places earphone wires inside of the specially designed D-Tangle unit. This allows them to work within a retractable system that rolls them up with the press of a button, or it appears that a gentle tug releases them for use at the user’s will. While fixing the earbud problem may have some merit, there has yet to be anything that is truly effective. Other recent attempts to wrestle with this illusive enigma include MagClip, Tiny Earin, Nunchuk, and Nearbuds and Nearbuddy. This campaign seeks to raise $20,000 by January 2015. For $15, backers get one product in their choice of white, black, blue, red or yellow.

Categories
Connected Objects Cooking

MAID smart oven trades in a cookbook for digital display and an app

Burnt brownies? Melted macaroni? Catastrophic couscous? Fear not, intrepid culinary explorer, as the MAID Oven is here to guide you towards gastronomic glory. Let the smart oven be your personal kitchen assistant with its touchscreen display and ability to recognize both gestures and voice to tell you exactly what ingredients to use and how to prepare a dish from a database of crowdsourced recipes.

Don your apron with pride when you expand your talents by discovering little-known recipes from around the world, and share yours with the world when you feel experimental. Don’t get lazy though, and make sure that apron continues to fit with the dietary and exercise suggestions provided by the companion iOS/Android app which interfaces with your smartphone to track your activity during the day and suggests appropriate foods. These recommendations are tailored to your culinary habits and caloric needs over time, factoring in the adjustments you personally make to recipes as well to make them all your own. Throughout all of this, you still retain control over every part of the process , but when the MAID Oven can automatically set time and temperature during cooking, why would you care? The MAID Oven can be had for a donation of $449 for delivery in November 2015. The campaign is seeking to raise $50,000.

Having been in production for about two and half years now, the time and effort put into this product shines through. It’s incredibly robust and fully featured, offering a full oven that can make sizable amounts of food. Here’s hoping the build quality is something that will last. The box is mighty big, too, and finding space for it in smaller places might pose a challenge. To be honest, the only thing the MAID Oven is missing a 3D printer capable of creating the food itself, but we’ll wait around to see where subsequent versions lead before getting ahead of ourselves.

 

Categories
Sports

Fan-Hand takes on the sticky with mini-dry erase boards

Here’s an item for sports enthusiasts who want more than just to be seen. They want to have their words seen too. Fan-Hand is a dry erase board that has a Velcro strip attached so that the user can wear it on their hand and hold their message high for all to see. There are also slots for dry erase markers so that the message can be changed during commercial breaks. So comments like, “The umpire is blind,” or “My grandma can throw a football better than you,” can be adequately displayed. Of course, this could also be used at rock concerts by surly fans: “You messed up the third chord in the second line of your song and we all heard it.” Or maybe college students in a large lecture hall: “Hey Prof, your delivery is dry, dull and dusty. Please do us all a favor and step down.” This campaign seeks to raise $27,000 by December 13, 2014. Early bird backers get one 8×10 size Fan-Hand for $20 with an expected delivery of January 2015.

Categories
Automotive

Snow Guard wraps around side mirrors for windshield snow protection

One of the things that makes winter detestable is the fact that the car has to be unburied and scraped when left outside. Snow Guard offers some freedom from all of that hassle. It is touted as being able to protect against snow, ice, frost and freezing rain. It’s made of a duel layer nylon coated material and a wireframe inner structure that creates easy installation, even in windy conditions. The side gloves protect side view mirrors from snow and ice. They also allow for automatic positioning on the windshield.

The quick installation and removal only takes about 30 seconds – way better than the 30 minutes or more that it can take to scrape off the ice from an ice storm. The similar iceScreen uses the same idea, covering a car using magnets, but has the added benefit of a reflective side for summertime. This is something the folks at Snow Guard would do well to consider adding to their own product. This campaign seeks to raise $50,000 by December 17, 2014. Early bird backers get one product for $55 with an expected delivery of April 2015.

Categories
Cell Phone Accessories Wallets

Voye clutch is the handbag for women who like peeking at their iPhone

As we use our phones for more and more things, we need it to be readily accessible for all functions. Since cellphone belt holders are so 2002, there needs to be a better way to grab your phone quickly. For ladies, the Canadian-made Voye is the way to go. This small clutch purse also serves as an iPhone holder, letting you access your phone easily. Flip up the front flap, and your phone is right there to let you check your calendar, read messages and text whoever you want. The purse also folds out in a special way so that you can easily take a photo or video while the phone is still inserted in the bag. This fashionable black leather purse with gold accents can either be worn over the shoulder with a strap, held as a clutch or used as a wallet. Currently the product is only compatible with iPhone 5/5s which will limit its customer base. Still, the design is clever and the purse fashionable, but still basic making it aesthetically appealing to many. One will cost $139 CAD (~$123 US) for delivery in February 2015. Vote hopes to raise $150,000 CAD (~$132,200 USD) on Kickstarter.

Categories
Connected Objects Imaging

Fireside seeks to rekindle interest in the digital photo frame

With smartphones, tablets, and all of our other devices containing cameras both portable and capable enough to take quality photos and video anywhere we’d like, we’ve amassed a glut of media that we may enjoy having, but unfortunately don’t get to enjoy. As much as we’d like to go down memory lane more often than we do, finding, organizing, and displaying all of our media is a time-consuming process. Digital picture frames do exist, but they’re usually of shoddy construction and the user still has to upload everything manually.

Fireside combines smarts and beauty in order to organize, curate, and display all of your photos from disparate devices all on one slickly-designed, HD frame. The product does this by backing up photos and videos taken normally on any iOS or Android device connected with the Fireside app. Once cloud-side, they are made searchable with auto-tagging and filtering based on criteria like time, date, and age. After, algorithms and personal input are applied to show users contextually relevant content, like the birthday of a friend or family member.

Celebrating a holiday? Fireside will display previous holiday festivities.) Similar to Pandora, users can create stations based on keywords to add an element of pleasant unpredictability, giving all your content the chance to be enjoyed. Constructed from materials like chrome and glass, its minimal design can be mounted on a wall and multiples can be kept at other people’s homes to easily keep them up-to-date with users and their families. A black or white Fireside is going for $399 and includes one year of cloud service. It has an expected delivery date of June 2015 provided it hits its funding goal of $100,000.

The Fireside really backs other digital photo frames on the market into a corner. If the intelligent cloud service that supports the product doesn’t turn out to be a bust, then the Fireside will have a leg up against other frames like the Flink, Famatic, and most notably the Nixplay. Although the Nixplay can interface with every social network and also receive emails of photos from friends and family, its still manual at its core. Ultimately, the Fireside’s automation claims along with its sleek design will be impossible to ignore.

Categories
Connected Objects Music

Bullet-like Archt One wireless speaker system spreads sound around consistently

When it comes to home audio, gone are the days of complex stereo equipment, speakers mounted and positioned just so all over the room, and the treaded jungle known as “the A/V closet.” Now, people want a simple, aesthetic, solitary device to handle it all.

The ARCHT One offers just that. Despite looking more like a coffee brewer or a lava lamp, the ARCHT One delivers room-filling stereo sound despite being a single device. With compact, omnidirectional surround sound speakers, a proprietary digital signal processor and digital analog converter, and intuitive one-touch controls, the ARCHT One just needs to go where it looks best, and the speakers take care of the rest. With support for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, AirPlay, USB, and auxiliary cables, the ARCHT One is perfect for any situation. ARCHT Audio’s fundraising goal is set at $70,000 to handle production and shipping, and those who want one can get an ARCHT One for $349, delivered in February 2015.

With a sense of style all its own and enough power to handle all but the most demanding home audio needs, the ARCHT One is great for entertaining guests, removing cluttering audio devices and speakers, or just enjoying sound from anywhere in the house.

Categories
Fashion

Maii folds up reading glasses into a slick pocketable package

Once you gets to the point where you’re willing to admit that reading glasses are necessary, you then must face the issue of how inconvenient they are and how frequently they end up getting lost. Maii is attempting to take the “old” stigma (but not the astigmatism) out of needing reading glasses by attempting to make them not only somewhat trendy, but also fold up in such a way so that a case is no longer necessary. The titanium frames will certainly last if they don’t get lost. While these glasses can be worn like a necklace, so can standard reading glasses. However, the average person usually doesn’t have the desire to do that. Nowadays, there are many styles of reading glasses available in many different stores, and they are very inexpensive, but admittedly, the frames are not made of titanium and are not flexible. This campaign seeks to raise €100,000 (~$124, 600 USD) by December 20, 2014. Early bird backer get one product for €299 (~$373 USD), with expected delivery in June 2015.