Month: November 2015

Categories
Imaging

The might of Hercules makes it a mini motion control system for small cameras

There are already motion control systems on the market that provide photographers with motorized control of their cameras’ movements and the ability to shoot in time-lapse mode.

patent-claimedHercules is an affordable alternative — a patent-pending motion control camera system that works with smartphones, GoPro action cams and DSLR cameras up to 20 pounds. The device runs smoothly over flat surfaces, enabling it to work without a slider track. That allows users to get low-angle shots that aren’t limited by track length.

The device has a retail price of $150, but early bird backers can get one for $99 and it will start shipping to them in December. Its makers are looking to raise $25,000 by Nov. 27.

Alas, the Hercules is not mighty enough to conquer a lack of Bluetooth. There are likely many camera users who may find Hercules attractive given it comes in under the prices of other systems such as the fairly expensive, heavy and complex Axis360,

Categories
Smartwatches/Bands

Trivoly slips under your watch to make it a smarter partner

Although smartwatches offer all sorts of conveniences, the problem with them is that most people already own watches and most of the time, they like their own watches more than whatever Apple, Google, or Pebble is offering.

The team behind the Trivoly recognizes that watches are timeless and well-designed in and of themselves, so it decided to smarten them up rather than make a watch that tried to compete. The Trivoly is a thin disc that adds connected capabilities to any watch. It’s small enough to fit under pretty much any timepiece, offering users vibration alerts for notifications, fitness tracking capabilities, tap-controlled music control, a camera function, and a general interface with which to stay connected with apps like Uber.

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Categories
Imaging

Duo Mount lets you GoPro using multiple angles at once.

The popularity of GoPro has led to the development of a growing number of accessories specifically designed for that action camera, including the GoBall handle.

Duo Mountpatent-claimed is a mount for GoPro Hero cameras that enables users of those action cams to mount one or two cameras at the same time, creating the ability to capture two different angles at once. There are vertical and horizontal mounting holes, allowing it to be bolted in any direction, on the left or right, front or back and bottom or top. It works with all generations of GoPro Hero cameras, including the new Hero4 Session, according to its Kickstarter campaign.

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Categories
Smart Home

With a smart lock, Monkey lets one key replace all others

The biggest issue with the sea of smart locks on the market is their design. As they can only really be used by homeowners, a large population of apartment dwellers miss out on the convenience having a smart lock provides because they still need a physical key for the front door of the building.

Locumi Labs thought it was time for a solution, creating the Monkey keyless entry system. Instead of being a typical smart lock, the monkey takes the form of an extremely compact, Wi-Fi enabled chip that is easily installed in the intercom in an apartment or home. From that point, a companion iOS or Android app is able to open the building’s main entrance using an app command, time-restricted access, or smartphone proximity for hands-free access.

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Categories
Kids/Babies Wearables

Starling helps babies’ vocabularies shine bright

There have been several wearable devices for babies. But Starling is a newcomer with a twist –- a smart device that tracks the number of words that a baby says and hears each day.

patent-claimedStarling is shaped like a star and can be clipped onto a baby’s clothes or wherever he or she is sitting. The small, patent-pending device has been designed for parents who want to take advantage of research showing that early vocabulary development can impact a child’s success in life because a significant amount of brain development happens before the age of three, according to its Indiegogo campaign.

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Categories
Television

HUBI Stick marries Android and your TV for big-screen bliss

With all this talk of the new Apple TV, it’s easy to forget that he Android platform is blessed with an unending amount of content made specifically for its many variations. While sheer variety is always a good thing, it’s not the best for the device ecosystem.

The result is a fragmented experience that the team behind the HUBI Stick wants to address. The device is a small HDMI dongle that comes in 8GB and 16GB varieties. By plugging it into a supported television, it gives users access to the entirety of the Google Play store. So all manner of internet TV apps—smartphone or tablet versions—along with the dizzying number of games are all fair game. Any smartphone and their embedded sensors (even iPhones) open up the opportunity to have a Wii-like experience when playing video games.

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Categories
Maker/Development

Your kids will fill the brain of the creepy Ohbot2 robot head

Introducing young learners to concepts of coding and robotics are noble efforts, increasingly becoming more necessary as time passes with society’s growing dependency on technology.

Ohbot’s Ohbot2 is a robotic face with seven different servo motors that control parts such as its eyeballs and mouth. The creators envision its use a personable interface kids will instantly attach to and then program using Ohbot2’s simple, graphical programming interface. It may not be C+ or Python, but that’s not important: Ohbot2’s use in classrooms with young learners gives kids the fun, engaging opportunity to see how code affects real objects rather than regulating it to abstract environments.

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Categories
Connected Objects Health and Wellness

VV-Box is the voice of reason reminding loved ones to take pills

There have been a growing number of connected pill boxes in recent months that remind people to take their medications on time.

VV-Box is yet another medication-tracking pill box. But one thing that sets it apart from at least certain rivals, like Liif, is that VV-Box features a customized voice reminder. A personal greeting can be recorded, allowing people to remind their loved ones by voice to take their medicine.

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Categories
Fashion Technology

SizeGenie grants shoppers’ wishes when their clothing sizes are needed

It would be great to have a device on hand that could tell a consumer what their correct clothing size is – especially when ordering products online and there’s no tailor around to take measurements.

patent-claimedSizeGenie is a low-cost 3D body scanner that does exactly that and aims to put an end to buying ill-fitting clothes that must be returned. The device uses patent-pending scanning technology that combines infrared sensors and cameras to obtain a 3D form of the person using it. That form is then further refined to arrive at a series of precise measurements that are shown in inches and centimeters.

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