Our smartphones are carriers of so much valuable information. So much, in fact, that much of it gets lost in the bowels of camera rolls, or in the depths of the rows and rows of apps. As useful as having that many photos and information may be, they’re worthless they can’t easily be accessed.
The Vikaura Screen is a 4″,6″, or 9.7″ E Ink display that’s capable of linking with multiple iPhones or Android smartphones at once. Once linked, information like photos, weather, or simply messages can be pushed to the device using Bluetooth LE technology. This enables situations where things like recipes can be displayed on the screen while running around in the kitchen, or messages can be pushed from a child’s smartphone to a screen to avoid a no cell policy at school.
At-a-glance information can be set up by subscribing to feeds on the Vikaura, always ensuring important information like news is available right by the bedside, for instance. An open API will make sure that more uses will continue to be developed too. Impressively enough, there aren’t any sort of wires as its internal, replaceable batteries support a vague “thousands” of screen updates; feasible given E-Ink’s low power requirements. Early birds can score the 4″ model for $99, the 6″ for $129, and the 9.7″ for $199, all sizable discounts on their eventual retail prices. The $125,000 campaign goal is looking to have the Vikaura Screen shipped by June 2015.
Second screen experiences are slowly becoming more and more popular, and given the wealth of information our devices contain, it makes sense. An E Ink styled display is a novel idea, and echoes the InkCase Plus in its use of E Ink. As energy saving as E Ink can be, though, it robs photos of their color, making a product like Fireside so much more attractive.