Parents dreams of that triumphant moment when their child learns how to ride a bicycle on their own, but sometimes ignore the consequences. By being able to bike themselves, children are now able to travel at faster speeds and in potentially dangerous traffic. The MiniBrake is a small, remote-controlled brake that attaches to a bike’s rear wheel and stops the bicycle when the parent chooses. With a range of 50 meters, parents don’t have to chase after children, and if the bike travels beyond that range, the brake automatically engages, urging the child to return to a safer location. Parents can get a MiniBrake for $80, available in June 2014.
Author: Michael Radon
Ask a cyclist and they’ll probably all say there’s no such thing as too much bike safety. For every ridiculously shaped helmet and strobe light, there’s still a dozen drivers on the road going too fast and not paying attention. Continuing the trend of shiny apparel accessories, Veglo’s Commuter X4 light is designed to create a brighter, more eye-level light that will keep traffic more aware of cyclists. With a design that fits over shoulders and backpacks alike, the bright fiber-optic light is customizable to blink or beam a constant red like the taillights of any motor vehicle. Urban biking enthusiasts can get a Commuter X4 for £25, complete with charger, in September 2014.
When the carabiner made the jump from mountain climbing tool to everyday accessory, it seemed like the garment clip industry had pretty much reached its zenith. Now comes the Qlipter, a small and mighty device that looks like a standard carabiner but is capable of so much more. Made out of aircraft-grade aluminum, the Qlipter has a rotating hook built into its design, meaning that anything clipped can be hung and allowed to swivel freely. The clip is also magnetized to help keep it securely shut for towing or hauling smaller items onto larger ones. Backers can get a Qlipter of their very own to hang onto for $20, delivered in August.
Wood paneling isn’t just for the 70s, especially when it’s done tastefully and aesthetically. The use of authentic, quality wood can really make a home or office pop with freshness. Wallure, a set of real wood panels that can be used to decorate any wall have arrived to make unique hardwood walls a simple reality. Made from walnut and oak, the surface and finish of the wood is customizable to create 12 different options designed to fit any design motif. The backs of the panels are polystyrene, making affixing these panels uniformly easy. Right now backers can pledge £50 to get a sample pack in May of one of each of the 12 varieties.
The Premise. Everyone’s had a moment where they meet someone new and everyone pulls their phones out and circles up to swap information and add a new contact or two. It’s more convenient than it used to be, but interrupts socializing for much longer than a simple pass of the business card used to do.
The Product. Looking to bring back that elegance and seamless networking is PIE (Personal Interactive Experience), a smart band that users wear on their wrist to interact with the world around them. PIE can take advantage of its proprietary protocol called FLEX to interact with other PIE devices. However,, for the foreseeable future, it will have to interact with other products using NFC and Bluetooth 4.0. PIE can be used to make purchases at any contactless terminal, trade information with other PIE users, and download any data from NFC hotspots. With a simple shake of the hand, potential employers can get a copy of a resume, or simply swap contact information.
The Pitch. In the extremely clever campaign video, we see a bearded PIE user go through his day, mostly through his eyes and perspective. While out and about, he does what people do: networks, enjoys company, meets new people, and engages in business, but does so with the assistance of the slim band on his wrist. Because the video is largely artistic in its narrative, the rest of the campaign goes over exactly what PIE does and how. PIE needs to raise $150,000 for pretty much the entire process, from materials and design to packaging and shipping.
The Perks. A PIE unit with all features, diary app, and charging base can be had by the end of this year for $110, plus $20 outside of Europe for shipping. A limited Indiegogo version is available for $165, a 2-pack for $200, and for those that can’t wait, a developer tier is available for $345 that will ship in August.
The Potential. The PIE is kind of a neat idea that’s just a little too late. Because it operates entirely on NFC and Bluetooth, there’s no reason that this kind of functionality can’t be employed on a smartphone or other smartwatch or band, either by hardware or by app. It doesn’t do enough to supplant any form of human interaction, and potentially could only be brought to its full potential by other PIE users, meaning early adopters will have a hard time getting the most out of the device, let alone explaining to a store clerk that they can just tap their wrist on a POS terminal to make a purchase. There’s more here in theory than there seems to be in practice, making the hopes of this product rather “PIE in the sky.”
Between their functionality and they’re minimalist modern design, iPads look at home anywhere shy of a log cabin. Juice, a new breed of charging dock for iPads takes that idea and runs with it. With hidden wiring, the Juice is a sleek, efficient on-wall dock that holds and stores an iPad 2-4 (with Air supported via stretch goal). The iPad is fully functional while charging and can be set up as a smart home control center or just a temporary photo frame. Of course, it’s up to you to figure out a way to get the juice to juice through the wall. With support for both Lightning and 30-pin connectors, Juice will be available in August to those who pledge at least £39.
One of the main issues with the latest trend of activity trackers is that users just might not have them on at all times. Everybody knows that they need to stay active to be healthy, but how active is active enough? SmartMove is a new kind of activity tracker that monitors all movement and exercise because its sensor is embedded in an insole for a shoe similar to the original Nike+ sensor that started the activity tracking renaissance, SmartMove can tell when a user is sitting or standing, and tracks movement and activity data to report fitness habits to its own proprietary app. Available for $99, SmartMove will keep users moving as soon as August 2014.
MacBook owners have either heard or been victims of the horror stories that befall the fragile yet necessary chargers. With their two prongs for winding the cable for storage, it seems like the perfect design, yet time after time the cable becomes frayed. The team at JuiceBoxx have come up with a snap-on case for the MacBook charger that fits snugly around it and provides enough extra width to keep the charger cable from breaking its insulation and fraying. While the solution is very low-tech, it does aim to solve a problem that can be several times more expensive to replace. MacBook owners living in fear of damaging their chargers can have a JuiceBoxx in one of four colors for $20 by November 2014.
The Premise. Getting kids to brush their teeth might as well be pulling teeth. Whether it’s because they just don’t want to or because of the association with an approaching bedtime, enforcing good dental hygiene often becomes an intense battle of wits and perseverance.
The Product. Parents can now rejoice with the arrival of the gaming toothbrush, or Grush. This children’s toothbrush is chock full of motion sensors and accelerometers, designed to work in tandem with any Android and iOS devices to turn brushing teeth into a fun game. With multiple games to choose from, young brushers can chase monsters out of their teeth, conduct an orchestra, or groom cute animals while really fighting the true enemy: plaque. The brush has replaceable heads so that money can be saved when it’s time to change out the toothbrush, and the Grush also records data on how children are brushing their teeth. That data can be used by parents to know how children are taking care of their chompers and to show to the family dentist so he or she has a clear picture of the child’s brushing habits as well.
The Pitch. Grush co-Founders Ethan Daniel Schur and Dr. Yong-Jing Wang give a quick demonstration of the Grush and what it can do for everyone in the family, including the dentist. Outside the video, Grush gives a solid breakdown of what to expect from the games and how the device works. Grush wants to raise $50,000 to develop both the platform’s software and hardware.
The Perks. Parents can get a Grush Brush with 2 replacement heads, access to all of the games and the cloud storage for brushing data for at the early discount of just $30. Parents with multiple children can get a double pack for $115, while developers who want to create new features for Grush can get a developer kit for $360. The Grush system is expected to launch in March 2015.
The Potential. The Grush isn’t about to make children stop asking for an Xbox One or a PlayStation 4, but really kids just want to interact with the world and have fun. These two principles are what the Grush is about from the user perspective, so kids won’t mind that they’re brushing their teeth at the same time. However, as with any new toothbrush, one concern is the availability of replacement brush heads. Pediatric dentists will probably keep a handful of these at the ready to deal with their most stubborn customers, while parents will gladly pay up just to not have to argue with kids on a nightly basis. However, as with any new toothbrush, one concern is the availability of replacement brush heads.
The Premise. Sharing photos is something almost everybody likes to do. Doing so should be easily and unintrusive, combining the excitement of receiving a social media notification with the surprise of an unexpected gift.
The Product. The Appnificent Eclipse is an addition to the smart photo frame market that integrates the features that users are used to applying to their photos when sharing them through social media. This way, using the Eclipse app, owners can take photos, doctor them to make them more attractive, add messages or emoticons, and then share them only to invited users via their Eclipse frames, Twitter, Facebook, and Dropbox. The frame itself connects to a home wi-fi network with a simple push of a button and can hold up to 2GB of photos for viewing as static images or part of a slideshow.
The Pitch. Appnificent Co-Founder Rod Spongberg introduces us to the Eclipse, showcasing how easy it is to connect the frame to both a wireless network and users of the Eclipse app. The rest of the campaign’s site goes over how to use each of the Eclipses features, from applying filters and sharing to adding emoticons and messaging. Appnificent wants to raise $75,000 to handle the tooling and production of the Eclipse. At $100,000 a stretch goal to double the frame’s storage from 2GB to 4GB will be unlocked.
The Perks. The Eclipse is available to backers who pledge $115 in either Charcoal Grey or Optic White. The device is also available with a custom protective travel case at the $165 level. All frames will be delivered In August of this year.
The Potential. There have several digital photo frames posted to crowdfunding sites in the past, and the most common “new” feature is the ability to wirelessly send photos securely. In that, the Appnificent Eclipse offers little in terms of innovation, but what makes it attractive is the large, high-quality display and the Instagram-like features that can be selected through the app before sending out the photo. The Eclipse is a strong choice for anyone in the market for a digital photo frame, but doesn’t quite offer enough to make consumers want to replace their existing frame.