Author: Arthur Tufeau

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Cell Phone Accessories

Bevel works with your iPhone to capture 3D objects in true 3D

For decades, much of what movie and TV companies have referred to as 3D has really been stereoscopy, the illusion that parts of an image are at different levels of depth in front of your eyes. We’ve even seen a few products that can turn the iPhone into a 3D viewer. But true 3D images can be rotated in space and seen from multiple angles.  We’ve even seen a crowdfunded gadget to turn an iPhone or two into a stereoscopic image capture devices.

But Bevel is different. The iPhone add-on combines invisible lasers and the iPhone’s camera to create true 3D images of everything from adorable desserts to creepy floating heads that can be rotated once captured. That’s not too surprising given that the Bevel was developed by 3D scanning company Matter and Form. Captured 3D images can even be printed on a 3D printer although the campaign doesn’t show any examples of how that turns out.

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Categories
Chargers/Batteries

Batteriser promises to give your batteries up to eight lives

Remember batteries? They used to show up in things like pagers, digital cameras, voice recorders, flashlights and other things that smartphones replaced.  They’re still used in many toys, remote controls and relatively high-tech products such as cordless mice and keyboards as well as smart door locks. And when they run out of juice, they have to be replaced.

Rechargeables are one way to cut down on their consumption. But rechargeables aren’t recommend for all devices and recharging them can be inconvenient. This tends to lead to a lot of waste that could be cut significantly if batteries lasted longer, the goal of Batteriser. According to the campaign, we tap only about 20 percent of an alkaline battery’s energy before it gives up the ghost. The invention is an ultra-thin sleeve that greatly extends the life of the battery with a tiny amount of circuitry that regulates the battery’s voltage. One demonstration shows a flashlight maintaining its output for hours with Batteriser on its batteries while its brightness goes down significantly without it.

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Categories
Food and Beverage

Opal makes easily chewed crushed ice for when you chill out

Ice: the ingredients don’t vary much and neither does the recipe. It can be made into perfect spheres at home. However, those who frequent some of the finer concession sands may encounter  a form of crushed ice that’s easy on the teeth and soaks up the flavor of that which it cools.

That ice, as it turns out, is called “nugget ice” or “pellet ice” and a company called Scotsman claims to have invented it in 1981. Scotsman does make a home nugget ice maker, but it stands nearly three feet tall; most of the company’s focus is on large industrial systems. Enter the Opal, a countertop nugget ice maker that has the look of a modern stainless steel appliance and is almost a tenth of the price of the competition. Opal’s proposition is pretty straightforward. Pour in water and wait. The product makes up to a pound of ice per hour, which is faster than most freezers. its clear, LED-lit receptacle can store up to 3 lbs.

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Categories
Reviews Technology

Remix Ultratablet review

Review Score: 4 out of 5

Microsoft’s Surface has has seen a number of twists and turns in its young life, but two constants have been the presence of add-on magnetically attached keyboard covers and the unsurprising presence of Windows (and now, proper Windows in the Surface 3). Indeed, the Surface was always intended to be a showcase for Windows. But what if there was a Surface that didn’t run Windows?

That seems to be much of the idea behind the Remix Ultatablet, an Android tablet that has a strong resemblance to the Surface 2, such as an integrated multi-position kickstand (complete with microSD slot underneath) and a magnetically attaching keyboard cover. It’s missing a few niceties of the Surface 3. These include the ability for the top of the keyboard to magnetically attach to the base of the tablet, providing better stability and a kickstand that has a fluid range of angles. And while the Surface devices have a full-size USB port, the Ultratablet’s is a USB-on-the-Go connector requiring an adapter. On the other hand, Jide Tech includes the keyboard, which is a $129 add-on for the Surface. The tablet’s 11.6″ display lies between the current Surface 3 and Surface 3 Pro.

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Categories
Input Reviews

Jorno keyboard review

Review Score: 4 out of 5

The Jorno folding keyboard had a colorful history even before showing up on Kickstarter in late 2012. The most promising folding keyboard since the days of the Stowaway, it had been one of the more impressive startup products at CES, but was then cancelled before being raising over $100,000. Then Jorno missed its expected shipping date by about two years as other folding options came into the market. In light of production problems along the way that required design changes, backers received a different item than the one they signed up for, but most were probably delighted to receive anything at all given the long delay in which many had given up hope.

Unlike other keyboards that fold in half with a single centered hinge, the Jorno has two hinges. The left one falls just to the left of the R, D and C keys while he right one lies just to the right of the P, ; and > keys. The keyboard tuns on automatically when opened and turns off when folded. Between the sturdy hinges and underneath the keyboard is an unsightly bulge that likely houses the battery and contains the microUSB charging connector.

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Categories
Reviews Smartwatches/Bands

Pebble Time review

Backerjack is delighted to start off its hands-on reviews with a product that set the Kickstarter record for funding, the Pebble Time.

Review Score: 3 of 5

The original Pebble watch was notable for two reasons. It was one of the first smartwatches to work with both iOS in addition to Android and it was one of the few to have a grayscale e-paper display that offered long battery life and great outdoor readability. Handling smartwatch basics such as phone call notification, step counting and music playback control, the Pebble attracted thousands of watchfaces and apps. However, the watch looked plastic and chunky (a fault somewhat rectified by the Pebble Steel) and its interface often  required an extended number of button presses given its lack of a touchscreen.

The Pebble Time addresses some of the shortcomings of the original. it has a sleeker, more attractive two-tone design that drops the body extensions to accommodate the strap. Pebble has also gone with a color e-ink display, one of the first to be used in a consumer product. Pebble has also moved its power connector from the side of the device to the back and seems to have strengthened the magnets; the connection is more secure and Pebble now ships a long flat cable. And while the power connector also supports watch straps that add functionality (a promising one the subject of a recent crowdfunding campaign), they’ve not appeared in the market yet. Like its predecessor, the Pebble Time is water-resistant.

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Categories
Tech Accessories

Cusby releases the potential of USB-C, one module at a time

One day, USB-C — the reversible connector that represents the first change the USB “A” port since its inception — will be everywhere. In addition to everything older USB connectors can do, it can accommodate video connections and power. However, in their eagerness to take advantage of the port’s great versatility, laptop purveyors such as Apple (with its new MacBook) and Google (with the Chromebook Pixel 2) have  offered a limited number of ports with few choices for adapters.

Cusby takes a modular approach to releasing the potential of the USB-C connector. It consists of a number of modular components that allow those with USB-C ports to break out dedicated connectors with tile-like units that are about 1.6″ square. These include the more traditional USB-A, HDMI, and one (or more) USB-C ports.

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Categories
Connected Objects Nutrition/Hydration

Nourish health shake fabricator mixes your personalized wellness potion at the touch of a button

The Keurig pod coffee maker has become a cultural touchstone for choice and convenience that hasn’t been lost on crowdfunders. Alas, products dispensing helpings of caffeine, sugary soda or booze don’t tend to contribute to a healthy lifestyle.

Nourish has applied the idea of customized countertop concoctions to the protein supplement market. The device, which features a full display touchscreen front, accommodates 16 pods/”seeds’ that dock into the top of the device and which are surrounded by disco-like rings of light when being tapped. The seeds contain multiple nutrients that Nourish can  combine to produce a mixture that is optimized to one’s nutritional needs as determined by an app-driven assessment. There’s also a companion Apple Watch app to check in and remind when it’s time to guzzle down more nutrients.

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Categories
Displays

Slidenjoy gives your laptop multiple slide-out screens

Today, laptops can do just about everything that a desktop computer was once able to to do. But there are still a few differences. For one, monitors on desktop computers tend to be larger, offering more space to work. And advanced users often connect two or even three monitors to extend their work space even further.

That’s not something that’s been practical on laptop monitors despite the availability of many portable displays. However, Slidenjoy is hoping to ease the task. The product sits behind a laptop screen and makes one or two extra HD displays available, allowing up to three including the one built into the laptop. They are connected via USB using a standard called DisplayLink.

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Technology

Ubik Uno smartphone was made for you and me

These days, using a smartphone may seem easy to many of us, but making them is tough. There are a lot of tradeoffs that companies must make — the better the specs, the pricier the device.

Ubik Mobile hopes to become a more responsive player in the crowded Android market by tapping into the power of the people in a number of ways. First, by bypassing carriers and other retailers, it can cut out middlemen and the piece of the pie they command. Second, by launching the Ubik Uno,  its first phone on Kickstarter, it gets the benefit of getting case before fulfilling preorders. The Ubik includes many leading-edge components, including a  horizontally bezel-free display, an eight-core MediaTek processor and a 20 MP/4K camera with Sony sensor, at the price of a mid-tier device.

But the third way may be the most novel. The company plans to create a community that will vote on features for subsequent Ubik devices. Ubik seeks $200,000 by August 15th and the price of the smartphone, which is due to ship in September, is $345.

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