Author: Ross Rubin

Categories
Automotive

Tail Gater Plus lets you attach stuff to your truck with one hitch

Everyone wants to be friends with the person who has the truck. Not only do trucks offer the convenience of being able to haul stuff from place to place, but the right attachment can provide seating at a tailgate party, or a quick and easy work station when building or camping.

The Tail Gater Plus is a hitch attachment that is working toward being a multi-functional item with the potential to include future attachments for a multitude of tasks and leisure activities. There isn’t a great deal of information about this product as of yet, and it seems that it is really still in progress.

Backers might also like to check out Alltera and Rapid Hut. This campaign seeks to raise $25,000 CAD (~$20,100 USD) by March 1 of this year. For $500 CAD (~$400 USD), backers bet the Tail Gater Plus Base Model with one seat, with an expected delivery in June.

Categories
Food and Beverage

Ican warms office grinch’s heart by keeping coffee warm or soda cold

While the product’s video doesn’t seem to have much of a point to it as it plays the Grinch song, the point of ican itself seems to be that it can function as a personal drink warmer or cooler. The hot coffee poured into one’s mug at the office can stay hot during that excruciatingly boring board meeting; or that cold can of soda can stay cool while crunching headache-inducing numbers.

The personal drink heating and cooling unit plugs into a standard outlet, and there are plans in the works for it to be able to plug into a car cigarette lighter and run off of the car battery for all of those road warriors out there.

Ican seems to be an interesting idea worth checking into further. Backers who like having their drinks delivered on demand might like to check out the Rover remote control cooler.This campaign seeks to raise $40,000 in funding. For $125, backers get one product with an expected delivery in July of this year.

Categories
Kids/Babies Luggage and Bags

Lugabug turns a rolling suitcase into a convenient seat for the little ones

Family vacations can be a lot of fun, and create some beautiful memories. But weary little legs can be taxing on the arms of mom or dad. Lugabug offers an innovative seating solution that fastens to a rolling suitcase with a couple of straps that clip together and slide over the suitcase handle. The child sits in the seat and can then be pulled along with the luggage through the airport, bus terminal, or train station.

There does not appear to be any type of seatbelt, but the seat seems to be fairly deep. Lugabug folds flat when not in use, and can double as an extra pocket that holds a couple magazines or a tablet. It’s recommended for children ages 2 or older, with a 70 pound weight limit.

This seems like a great idea for parents who like to do a lot of traveling with their little ones. Backers who love family vacations might also want to check out RuitBag and Share Foil. This campaign seeks to raise $25,000 in funding. Early bird backers get one product for $60, with an expected delivery in June.

Categories
Home

FanMaid keeps your ceiling fan from spreading its dust in the wind

Ceiling fans are one of the greatest ways to enhance the heating or cooling system in one’s home. Unfortunately, they are also dust magnets, and cleaning the blades is an absolute pain. FanMaid offers a tool for cleaning ceiling fans that clears the dust off of the top, bottom and even the edges, keeping it from falling all over.

The paint roller-looking gadget has a tensioning hinge that allows for an easy back and forth cleaning motion without having to get on a step ladder. The rollers are replaceable through FanMaid.

One thing that sets this product apart from something like Swiffer Dusters is the dual roller system. This feature seems like it would make FanMaid easier to use and possibly more effective for cleaning ceiling fans. Interested backers might also like to check out Multi-Surface Cleaning Robot and Power Tower. This campaign seeks to raise $50,000 in funding. For $10, backers get one refill pack of FanMaid with an expected delivery in August.

Categories
Home

RollPull lets you keep a convenient stash of toilet paper reserves

One of life’s essential bare necessities is toilet paper. Needing it and not having it absolutely causes a problem. In an effort to enable a reserve supply to be on hand, RollPull was created.

The plastic-looking pole attaches under a bathroom sink, and can hold up to four rolls of life-saving bathroom tissue. It can also be used to create a reserve supply of up to two rolls of paper towels by installing it in the kitchen. It doesn’t appear that any tools are needed to install the product, but it apparently has to be glued into place.

As long as one takes the time to keep an eye on the supply, this product may save its users from a lot of… awkward situations. It would be interesting if someone were to create an app that could somehow alert people to a low toilet paper supply—then no one would have to remember to put that item on the grocery list. That is, as long as they don’t forget their phone. This campaign seeks to raise $48,000 in funding. For $12, backers get one DIY kit with an expected delivery of June 2015.

Categories
Health and Wellness

Garppy offers the scoop on rinsing after you brush your teeth

Getting kids to brush their teeth is one of life’s bigger challenges. They find the activity tedious, boring, and then there’s the extra precious few seconds it takes to actually rinse.

For those who have gotten bored with using a traditional cup, Garppy offers an alternative. The scoop-like gadget attaches to a tooth brush so that a cup doesn’t have to be used, creating something new and different for a week or so. The scoop and strap are made of food-grade silicone and are touted as packing and traveling well, especially for those long flights when one wants to be able to brush one’s teeth on the plane.

While this new thing might keep the kids engaged in brushing their teeth at home for a short time, adults looking for some quick convenience would be just as well off to use paper cups. This campaign seeks to raise $1,600 by February 28, 2015. Early bird backers get one product for $2 with an expected delivery of March 2015.

Categories
Podcasts

The Backerjack Podcast, Episode 5, with Ross Rubin and Steve Sande

As Steve has been busy launching something for today that launched yesterday, we’ve been remiss in posting about what he and Ross, your two favorite crowdfunding connoisseurs, did a while back — focus on three fresh products in Episode 5 of The Backerjack Podcast. We discussed a lot in 26 minutes before entering the time warp:

  • For those who want to ensure that they never miss a word in a phone call, there’s the useful and multifaceted Bluewire call-recording headset.
  • Those who wish to explore the Internet of sleepy things while keeping their cool in bed will want to check out the sleek Luna smart bed cover.
  • And those who want to plug, play and print photos on the spot will want to see how things develop with the Zink-based Prynt .

Steve and Ross also shared experiences trying out the original Narrative Clip (good times) and chatted up the changes coming with its imminent but not crowdfunded sequel, the unsurprisingly named Clip 2.

All the campaigns and preorder pages are still active so check out our thoughts before signing up to back them. Subscribe via iTunes or RSS, download the podcast by saving this link, or listen to it with the player below:

Categories
Accents Tech Accessories

Portable Lap Desk offers space-challenged offices a small landing pad

It seems that the workplace is constantly requiring more mobility and interconnectedness. And when one is working on the road, or just works in an office space with limited seating, a portable desk can be great item to have around. Portable Lap Desk was invented with the space-challenged office in mind.

The bamboo plank balances on two metal brackets, which are attached to the wall. While the piece of wood is portable, the rest isn’t. The desk can be set up either at a standing height or sitting height.

It seems that a trip to a home supplies store or hardware store would offer the same materials and “freedom” that this product boasts. That being said, the Alden Lap Desk might prove to be even more convenient and be a better product. Interested backers might also like to check out ZestDesk, The BU Desk, and Lappito. This campaign seeks to raise £3,000 (~$4,600 USD) on Kickstarter. For £60 (~$91 USD), backers get one product with an expected delivery of June 2015.

Categories
Home

PackagePal holds your parcels close, hides them from bad weather and bad guys

Mail order items can be some of the easiest and best money-saving ways to purchase items for one’s home, vehicle or for home entertainment. The problem is that these items usually arrive when the person who ordered them is at work. So in an effort to take the weather worries and theft concerns out of the mail order scenario, PackagePal was created.

No tools are required for what is touted as easy installation, and it keeps packages out of plain sight. The package gets inserted into the giant bag-looking device attached to the door, and then the user writes a message and Mr. or Ms. Postman will just pick up the package.

It’s questionable, however, as to whether either one would leave a delivery in the attachment. Also questionable is whether the package is truly out of plain sight when the gadget itself still seems to be fairly visible. Still, it’s a pretty decent alternative to services like Doorman.co. Interested backers might like to check out Postifier. This campaign seeks to raise $20,000 in funding. For $29, backers get one product with an expected delivery of December 2015.

Categories
Kids/Babies Nutrition/Hydration

Milk Nanny lets you make baby’s formula from your mobile device

Most new parents find themselves worrying about whether their baby is growing properly and getting the right nutrition. The “well baby visits” to the doctor often help to calm these concerns, but for those in between times, Milk Nanny can help to fill in some gaps.

The baby formula making machine mixes baby formula perfectly and dispenses it into the bottle at the press of a button. It also offers a mobile app that will allow formula to be made right from the user’s mobile device. There is an interesting long-term plan for this product to offer what they are calling “Hospital in a Cloud” that can offer professional medical advice to new parents for monitoring baby’s growth and health. Hopefully, that cloud will have some sort of security fire-wall to help prevent hacking and illegitimate access to medical records.

Nevertheless, seems like an interesting product that is worth watching develop. Backers might also like to check out Moozi formula pod and NapTime. This campaign seeks to raise $100,000 in funding. Backers get one product for $199 with an expected deliver of May 2015.