Categories
Smartwatches/Bands

The Hot Band makes any watch – dumb or smart – even smarter

editors-choiceSmartwatches run the gamut from simpler fare like the Pebble Classic to more advanced options like the Moto 360 and the Apple Watch. But despite the wealth of options on the market, smartwatches are like Cinderella’s glass slipper after the ball: part of a hunt for the right owner.

Fur many of these folks, though, wristwear comes down to aesthetics that no digital face can countenance. The multi-faceted Hot Band tackles that objection by making any dumb watch smart, hitting even the most baller of watches with a dose of digital intelligence through the use of two easily swappable fobs that sit on the wrist.

Categories
Input Wearables

The NEEURO brain training headband offers tough mental workouts for better cognition

It’s sadly inevitable: cognitive resources dwindle as people age, making it harder to recall information, get around, and make decisions. Fortunately, neuroscience has proven that those who routinely work out their cognitive abilities slow the rate of loss for a more alert and vibrant later into life.

The NEEURO brain training wearable is positioned as an aid. The device combines an EEG-based headband with an iOS or Android smartphone companion app filled with games that focus on maintaining and improving memory, spatial awareness, and attention amongst others. NEEURO features six sensors for accuracy when tracking progress in these game over time.

Categories
Connected Objects Food and Beverage

The connected Teplo bottle does away with tepid tasting teas

Despite what most may think, properly brewing tea is an involved process requiring exact times and temperatures — and these figures change with every single type of tea. Any more or any less of any one variable and the tea in question won’t be as potent, losing the benefits that make it a healthy choice in the first place.

The Teplo smart bottle takes the guesswork out of brewing that perfect cup of tea. By combining an extremely simple design — a glass bottle with top and bottom bamboo caps — with a bit of smarts, company Load&Road LLC has designed a tea companion that guides drinkers through the brewing process using a companion smartphone app. With it, users can input the kind of tea being brewed and from there,

Categories
Personal Transportation

The One Wheel Motorcycle plays the heavy, won’t take on Harleys

When it comes to getting from point A to point B, the urban environment begs for experimentation. Results come in the form of increasingly inventive form factors that reimagine how getting around could look like.

Another one of these ideas is the One Wheel Motorcycle. It’s a self-balancing unicycle powered by a 1000w brushless motor that generates speeds of up to 13mph. While not remarkably fast, it will certainly get riders places: the company claims riders can squeeze out about 63 miles out of a full charge.

Categories
Connected Objects Sleep

Sleep Shepherd Blue turns the beat around to sleep

Avoiding caffeine after dinner and drinking a warm glass of milk before bedtime are the usual tips for those suffering from lack of or low-quality sleep. But in the day and age of self-driving cars and neural computing capable of conquering Go masters, these methods seem slightly out of date.

The Sleep Shepherd Blue is a billing itself as a truly modern solution to an ancient problem.
The lightweight, adjustable headband contains thin speakers and EEG sensors to facilitate a patent-pending biofeedback system using binaural beats, or pairs of tones at different frequencies, to get users into and out of sleep more quickly and easily.

Categories
Cell Phone Accessories Chargers/Batteries

Soso beats the so-so option of separate cases and chargers

Cases and chargers are must-have accessories for smartphones and tablets. Having one product that performs both functions, therefore, would be convenient for many consumers. In addition to eliminating the need to buy two separate products, it would eliminate the need to schlep around two separate products.

patent-claimedSoso provides exactly that solution. It’s both a patented device case and charger for mobile devices. Soso comes in multiple form factors to fit Apple devices, and looks like a standard case. But built into the back of the cover is a charging cable that easily peels off when needed and quickly folds back in place when not needed.

Soso ships in July at future pricing of $30 for a version that works with the iPhone 6 and 6 S, $35 for the 6 Plus and 6 S Plus, $39 for iPad mini, $49 for iPad Air, and $59 for iPad Pro. But early bird Indiegogo backers can get them for pledges of $15, $20, $25, $30 and $35, respectively. The cases for iPads also serve as tablet stands. Soso’s makers hope to raise $25,000 by April 8.

This is a handy device for iOS device owners. Support for Android devices would obviously open it up to a much wider audience.

 

Categories
Cell Phone Accessories Connected Objects Displays

The popSLATE 2’s E-Ink screen displays iPhone notifications and content with less power

The original popSLATE promised to ween smartphone users off the compulsion of checking their home screen for updates. To do so, the popSLATE’s E-Ink screen was built into an iPhone case, connecting via Bluetooth to act as a lower power second screen. In the end, the case proved to be less than useful and its 115 dpi screen managed to be an eyesore that got in the way of it truly being practical.

This year, the popSLATE team is back with the popSLATE 2, the sequel to the original second screen E-Ink case. This time, the case uses a Lightning connector to interface with an iPhone 6, 6S, 6+, and 6S+. This not only allows the popSLATE 2 to charge more easily (the last one used a micro-USB cable) but talk directly with the apps on the phone for greater functionality. Through its upgraded 200 dpi E-Ink screen, the popSLATE 2 facilitates everything from news updates and weather notifications to social feeds and loyalty cards, all of which are easily visible on customizable dashboards no matter how bright it is outside due to E-Ink’s naturally anti-glare properties.

Categories
Connected Objects Pets

Flipaw makes you and your pooch Facebook friends

Many would unequivocally agree: dogs should speak. Unfortunately they don’t, but that doesn’t stop people from trying to help them do so. While truly useful versions of this technology is are still a long way off (even the NoMoreWoof is only a working prototype), it doesn’t mean there isn’t some fun to be had.

Give your dog a digital voice and keep up with their daily movements with the Flipaw smart collar, an accessory that sends SMS messages, posts Facebook statuses, and tweets all about a dog’s daily activities in a fun way. During setup, owners complete a short personality profile for their pooch that determine the kind of messages generated when the Flipaw triggers sensors placed around the home. Combined with variables like the location of the sensor, weather, dates, and crowdsourced data, some pretty snarky and genuinely funny messages can be generated. 2000 stories have already been drafted with many more on the way when doggy data is dished out.

Categories
Connected Objects Music

Create raucous riffs anywhere with the Remidi T8 wearable instrument

Imagine the process of making dope beats, and an array of MIDI controllers and computers with complex user interfaces immediately spring to mind. All that choice and functionality is certainly but make no mistake: all that stuff takes years to really master, ultimately turning many newbies off to the experience.

At its core, the Remidi T8 wearable instrument is a MIDI controller made to get folks jamming instantly. Designed as a thin but durable glove made of Ultra Spandex, the Remidi T8 sports eight pressure sensitive sensors in the fingers and palms. Each sensor’s sound is completely customizable, so aspiring producers can create brand new sounds or remix existing ones. Gesture controls are also present so that different movements up and down or wrist twists will further distort programmed sounds.

Categories
Smart Home

The Sense smart home hub uses common sense to securely monitor and control your home

editors-choiceOne of the biggest worries when it comes to using any Internet of Things platform revolves around security. With most technology out in the world vulnerable in a million different ways, the last thing anyone wants to do is introduce even more vulnerabilities to the most sensitive parts of one’s life.

To combat this, former members of Mozilla Firefox and Qualcomm have joined forces to create the Sense smart home platform. The elegantly styled glass device acts as an intelligent camera and hub for the home by leveraging the use of a wide-angle 1080p camera with infrared capabilities along with a microphone. By itself, it can recognize who’s home and send meaningful notifications about unusual sound and movement. Together with other popular IoT devices, it can automatically control devices like Nest thermostats, speakers, and televisions based on whatever preferences it learns from each owner — cutting out clunky smartphone use in the process by instead using voice and gesture control.