Author: Nicholas Echevarria

Categories
Smart Home

Droplit drops a remote control for your entire home

The rash of smart home automation solutions all think having a proprietary app is a fantastic idea, because why wouldn’t you want to have quick and easy access to total control of different parts of your home? As well-intentioned a thought that is, it quickly becomes apparent that having 12 different apps for disparate parts of your home actually isn’t that useful after all and makes decidedly analog action of flicking on your light switch that much more attractive again.

Droplit is a smart home solution that allows you to control all of the different connected objects in your home through a single remote control or iOS, Android, or Windows phone app. The app will allow for quick and easy access to all of your homes connected objects using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth LE, or an optional z-wave attachment. Both the remote and the app have the capability to set timers and capture “scenes,” or pre-set lighting and device states, that can be recalled with a single button press, making that one perfect set-up for your home entertainment system easily accessible anytime. The Droplit system is available with a backing of $129 and can be expected in June of 2015. The campaign is looking for $50,000 to hone their Bluetooth implementation and put the product into production.

Droplit expands on what Apple is doing by employing their own cloud service as an intermediary so that devices can be controlled from anywhere in the world almost instantaneously. Bluetooth devices within the home will also benefit, too, being that Droplit doubles as an access point which extends their range of communication. The company confusingly recommends multiple remotes to get the most out of their system, but that kind of seems counterintuitive to what they’re trying to do. In any case, cloud implementation is a clever move and could be what separates them from the pack.

Categories
Smart Home

Point offers simple home security without putting sensors everywhere

The conception of home security in the connected age is one full of cameras and the complex systems that go along with them. Cloud storage and daily app interaction combine to make the use of these systems more tedious than it should be. The team over at Form Devices, Inc. believes that implementing security measures in your home should ease worries, not give you more to worry about. Their inaugural product, Point, is a representation of that thinking.

Point is a subtle, circular device that attaches to a wall in your home with design cues let it blend easily into most any aesthetic. Once installed, the device multi-tasks by listening for unusual sounds in your home and analyzing the air for disturbances. With the onboard Wi-Fi chip, Point can communicate a variety of information to your smart device, such as when a window breaks, guests arrive, when humidity levels are abnormal, or when there’s smoke present. In addition, Point uses a combination of lights and speakers to facilitate notifications to you or guests so that you can gently remind guests to keep it down when they party too hard. A Point can be had for $79 with an expected date of delivery in July 2015. Form Devices, Inc. is looking for $50,000 to complete manufacturing.

Unfortunately, Point’s most glaring lack is the inability to to detect carbon monoxide, something that should be standard at this point and is a severe oversight. In addition, it comes with a speaker but users can’t communicate through it which would be a nice touch. All in all, the Canary offers a much more robust feature set that includes the ability to sound a 90dB alarm to ward off intruders and respond to emergencies with a one-touch call to the appropriate authorities. Although Point emphasizes the removal of the camera in an effort to reclaim the feeling of one’s home, the capability for HD video most of the time is welcome. In any case, Point is a low-cost way to introduce some connected aspects to one’s home without going overboard.

Categories
Connected Objects Music

Skoog is a squishy cube that makes music with its app

The MPC board made famous by the decades of innovative rappers and producers has gotten a 21st century makeover with the Skoog. Originally designed for education, the Skoog is a squishy foam cube that acts as a controller for the two Skoog apps, Skoogmusic and Mogo. Everything together allows you to play any instrument and the sounds associated with it to musically express yourself without limits.

The product connects to supported iOS/Android tablets using Bluetooth LE and to desktops and laptops as well, providing the interface to be as expressive as your mind will allow you to. One of the Skoog’s defining features is its ability to employ ‘physical modelling’ when reproducing an instruments sound. This takes into account not only the instrument’s sound, but also the nuances of a stringed instrument, for example. This makes for exciting possibilities especially when combined with the Skoogmusic and Mogo software that allows you to customize every aspect of your experience.

In any case, Skoog is also compatible with other, leading music software like Ableton or Logic, so you can more deeply connect with your creations on software you are already familiar with. However, the device and the eco-system it creates may prove to be more of a novelty than anything else, and may fit education more than serious music making. Play bass lines and melodies, create your own sounds, and add effects on the fly for just £139 (~$218) by March 2015. Skoog is looking for £75,000 (~$117,600) to get their final production costs down.

Categories
Imaging Tech Accessories

Photography turntable offers PC-connected 360-degree photos

In the artistic world, 360° photography is really taking off for photographers, and companies like PanoCam 3D and Ricoh are offering both professionals and casual users options to take advantage. Companies who want to fully want to display their products and make all angles available to consumers are out of luck, often having to fork over at least $2,000 for 360° photography solutions. Lower-end solutions are just out of the question with their lackluster quality.

IconasSys’ 360 Product Photography Turntable and Software is a middle-priced option compatible with major DSLRs, and offers companies the most bang for their buck. The system is easy to use, and the software allows for on-the-fly adjustments to camera parameters. When users are done, the software is able to stitch together a full 360° of the product to increase online engagement and convert that engagement to sales.

Other options take panoramic pictures of the world outside and cost a fortune to do so, so the IconaSys system doing so for products and being available for just $409 is a big deal. The campaign is looking for $12,500 to introduce this product to market by February 2015.

Categories
Technology

Dark-Ingress Wi-Fi adapter keeps you anonymous online

We unfortunately live in a world where every single activity we engage in on the Internet is surveilled, recorded, and stored without restriction. As much domestic and international outrage this behavior stokes, no amount of it will affect what has been the norm for decades, especially when any new opportunity to augment its scale is immediately enacted without checks.

The Dark-Ingress is a portable Tor Wi-Fi adapter that allows anyone, anywhere to encrypt and anonymize the data coming in and out of their hardware over Wi-Fi. The adapter uses Tor, an Internet communication method to enable anonymity online, to change your IP address every five minutes. In addition, it is automatically configured never to use an exit address in one of the Five Eyes nations or Germany, a group of countries with an agreement between them to cooperatively spy on each other to get around strict domestic spying laws.

The open source software itself isn’t particularly user-friendly, but casual users need not install or configure anything themselves. This gives users the ability to bypass portals like those at coffee shops and airports, and access the Deep Web in confidence. In addition, the hardware-based design is USB powered and offers more security versus being strictly software-based. The Dark-Ingress is slated to be delivered by February 2015 for $120. The campaign is looking for $25,000 to help users stay hidden.

Most Tor hardware, like the recently covered anonabox, work by connecting themselves to a router directly, which eliminates portability. The Dark-Ingress is a lightweight, powerful solution that lets you take your digital safety blanket no matter where you go. There will always be an arms race for privacy on one side and complete surveillance on the other, but it doesn’t hurt to make it harder for them, does it?

Categories
Lifestyle

Wrap turns desks into dry-erase surfaces for lateral thinking

Our workspaces are chock full of all kinds of clutter which doesn’t do much to help inspire us to be creative. This is most likely the case at home as much as it is at work as well, but no one is saying that it has to be like that. Inventor Brandon Saw is questioning our use of space, urging us to reconsider what it can do for us with his product Wrap.

The product is a removable flexible film with an adhesive backing that can attach to pretty much anything without damaging what’s underneath. When applied, it makes any surface dry-erasable, multiplying the space available to brainstorm, doodle, take notes, or do whatever else without wasting tons of paper in the form of scrap paper and sticky notes in the process. The product also features air channels that transforms the process of getting rid of air bubbles from a chore to a delight.

Wrap is an extremely simple idea that makes a lot of sense. With many large and successful companies instituting dry-erase boards as canvasses for creativity, it’s only right to reclaim the space we have so we can be similarly expressive. Custom cut Wrap can be purchased for $29, while a package of custom cut Wrap along with markers and erasers is going for $44. The campaign is looking for $40,000 for manufacturing.

Categories
Personal Transportation

Impossible folding e-bike perfects the art of origami transportation

For the most part, electric bikes look like something out of Mad Max. In some cases, you’ll come across something that is a bit sleeker than others, but at the end of the day it’ll still weigh a ton. These characteristics don’t really make e-bikes the best solution for last mile transportation, especially because fitting a bike onto a train during rush hour simply can’t happen.

With their Impossible folding electric bike, Impossible Technology is offering an answer to those who truly want a portable solution to their transportation needs. The bike’s extreme minimalism allows it to fold up into its own 17 inch seat, allowing users to easily transport it in a duffel or book bag and making it the first bike to be so extremely portable. Don’t let its flexibility fool you: the bike can carry up to 180 pounds and since it’s electric, it can be charged anywhere there is an outlet. Its ten 2900mAh batteries can be charged in one and a half hours, and supports a top speed of 12.4mph for 45 minutes. Despite its name, it isn’t so hard to get one of your own. An Impossible bike is going for $530 CAD (~$467 USD) with an estimated delivery date of August 2015. The campaign’s funding goal is $55,000 CAD (~$44,060 USD).

The Impossible is a marvel. Its level of portability is unlike anything really done before, and marks a true shift in what is possible with transportation. This advance comes with a caveat in that there are no pedals to manually move around if the battery were to die, so be ready to tack on some more battery anxiety along with our other devices. Indeed, there are obvious trade-offs to an invention like this, but ultimately they’re necessary. If manufacturing goes as smoothly as Impossible Technology hopes, you’ll no doubt see a lot of these in many big cities.

Categories
Imaging Wearables

Get your GoPro extreme video on your wrist with the Removu P1

GoPro has established itself as the de-facto action camera brand on the market. As such, it is the first choice for many extreme sports enthusiasts. One of their most recent products, the GoPro LCD BacPac, gives users a touchscreen LCD that allows control and playback of photos and videos directly from the GoPro camera itself. The downside to this is that it isn’t happening on the fly, limiting how much control you have over the final product.

The Removu P1 addresses this problem by being a Wi-Fi mount for the GoPro BacPac, facilitating a live view from the GoPro to the device on your wrist. Since its display is also touch, it doubles as a remote control from the GoPro itself, giving you additional control over what your final video will look like. With a three hour video capacity, there’ll be a lot of decisions to make when it comes to editing, but luckily you can do so from the Removu P1 itself.

The product will no doubt be useful but those who would want something like this will probably be in the minority. The Removu P1 is currently $69 during their $30,000 campaign, with an estimated delivery date of January 2015.

Categories
Food and Beverage Wearables

BitBite tracks your chews to help you lose

It seems like for most, diets live in a perpetual revolving door. Most are started with the greatest of intentions, but it isn’t long before the rigors of daily life make it so that the easily accessible, unhealthy food is chosen every time. As such, maintaining a diet can be an extremely difficult test of willpower. A helpful companion, like the BitBite, can be a huge help in changing damaging habits.

Although other diet helpers like the HAPIfork or the Smart utensils have been introduced as ways to help you eat slower and better, the BitBite takes the technology and makes it a wearable that you place in your ear instead. The hybrid Bluetooth headset is compatible with iOS and Android, and is voice-activated so you can tell it what you’re about it to eat. When that’s done, the device tracks the number of bites you’ve taken along with the pace of your meals. By combining all of that information, your dietary habits are gleaned so as to improve it on the fly with real-time suggestions. Not getting enough calcium? It’ll suggest you eat a yogurt instead of that donut you’re craving.

Smart food suggestions are what make the BitBite a valuable ally in your overall goals. You won’t even have to carry an extra set of silverware everywhere you go. A BitBite can be had for $119 with an estimated delivery date of June 2015. The campaign is looking for a $60,000 infusion.

 

Categories
Health and Wellness Music

RealLoud heaphones protect your ear from cranked-up tunes

Our parents always warned us about listening to our music too loudly, but the rebels within all of us never listened, preferring to instead crank it up to the max to enjoy our music. Loud music that crackles in your ear and almost hurts is good after all, right? Well, as much as we might have enjoyed the albums of yesteryear, the increased use of earphones due to the MP3 revolution has clearly shown the auditory consequences of these practices. Unfortunately, the headphone industry has responded to this criticism with larger, louder, and bassier headphones that compound the problem.

The increasing number of both teens and adults with mild to severe hearing loss caught audio legend Stephen D. Ambrose’s attention and he, along with his company Asius Technologies, has created RealLoud Technology as a result. The product reduces harmful pressure experienced by wearing ordinary headphones using bio-mimicry, or the imitation of nature through technology, to include a built-in secondary eardrum to absorb them for you. As a result, louder, more complete sound is produced by eliminating the pressures associated with unnecessary noise, even if actual volume is technically quieter overall. This is the crux of the RealLoud Technology, and the key behind the entire series of 1964|Adel headphones.

Three lines of headphones incorporate the RealLoud Technology. The Ambient line is for casual audiophiles and features up to 12 drivers, the U-Series is an over-the-ear headphone with up to eight drivers, and the A-Series feature up to 12 drivers and are custom to your own ear impressions. With price points ranging from $100 to $1,600, there are options for everyone, all estimated to be delivered between February and May of 2015. The campaign has a funding goal of $200,000.

It’s about time solutions are created for the problems caused by the consumer market itself, and although the 1964|Adel headphones have a pretty high cost of entry, their development is a sign that the technology is being thought about. Soon, they’ll trickle down and hopefully become standard across the board. The cheek is too often turned in the name of profits, and although here profits are still had, at least it’s propped up by actual innovation.