Category: Television

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Features Television

Back Pedaled: Matchstick TV dongle goes up in flames but doesn’t burn backers

Some crowdfunded gadgets are famous for shaping the market while others are infamous for never making it to market. Sadly, this often leaves backers in the lurch. In Back Pedaled, we’ll look back on these projects and what went wrong. If you’ve been burned by a gadget project that’s incurred significant delays or didn’t make it to market, get in touch.

Google’s Chromecast, a small, inexpensive gadget that connected to the HDMI connector found in most TVs, popularized a new approach to getting content from mobile devices to the big screen. The Chromecast was not the first streaming stick, but form factor inspired products like the Amazon Fire TV Stick and the Microsoft Wireless Device Adapter. Its success has attracted a broad array of content services to use the Google Cast technology it uses.

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Smart Home Television

We are all just living in smart homes with TVs ruled by mighty Paigo

The Internet of Things is really just a mess of standards trying to operate with each other at this point, leaving the door wide open for in-home solutions to the problem.

The Paigo smart home system is a challenger in this regard, serving as the digital brain to someone’s connected life. The smart home system is a comprehensive solution to connected quandaries. For one, it offers users home automation capabilities with anything in the home that is Z-Wave enabled, along with anything that uses electricity — even if the campaign itself is slightly vague on how exactly it does that.

Home security is another key focus for Paigo, as the system connects itself to equipment such as motion sensors and IP cameras to keep the home safe. For times when the main goal is to relax, the Paigo set-top box can connect to a TV and be used as a media center, browser, or Skype tool. Users can use Paigo’s companion “air mouse” capable remote to facilitate all these actions from afar.

All of Paigo’s capabilities culminate in a product with which users can check in on their home at anytime with a smartphone, tablet, or PC no matter where they are. Scenes can be set to automate devices all at one, either automatically or with a tap of a button. The Paigo Smart Home system will be awarded to backers for $584, and the $107,752 campaign goal is promising the product in December of this year.

The Paigo’s scope is incredibly impressive, but only if its owner has all the necessary equipment to have it truly perform at its most optimal — a huge financial investment if not already set-up. All in all, the campaign is slightly misleading in what it offers, and even vague, at points. In comparison, products like RoomBox and xRemote are clear about the extent to which they can and cannot do things — something backers surely appreciate.

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Television

JB Flat Screen TV Stand gets your TV off the wall and moving around

For those who have an aversion to having their TV hanging around on the wall or using a bulky  and often size-limiting TV entertainment center, JB Flat Screen TV Stand offers an alternative. The telescopic stand can be adjusted from 43 inches up to 81 inches, and supports a TV that is anywhere from 27 – 65 inches. Its basic and simple black design also includes a small floor shelf for storing a few DVDs and perhaps some game accessories.

As for the creator’s claim of being the first telescopic stand, a quick search reveals that Displays2go and Chief PF are just a couple examples of others that are out there that may even be better. Backers interested in home entertainment products might want to check out the Ovoid HomePod, and Vibro Vest campaigns. This campaign seeks to raise $19,500 by February 8, 2015. For $200, backers get one product with an expected delivery of April 2015.

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Cell Phone Accessories Television

Andromium OS unlocks Android’s big screen potential

It’s truly a marvel just how powerful the smartphones in our pockets are. Contained within their impossibly slim frames is the type of power that only absurd amounts of money could’ve bought just ten years ago. This type of power has penetrated the world much faster than traditional computers have because of their low cost and small size. At the end of the day, though, a smartphone will be a smartphone. Sometimes, a larger screen is needed for work or play.

The Andromium OS was created to give Android handsets the opportunity to live not only in your palm, but on a separate monitor too. A lightweight, proprietary app along with an HDMI dock for the smartphone itself work together to create an environment where real work can get done with just a few taps. What users are offered is not just a reproduction of the smartphone’s screen, but also a totally separate, full desktop experience. This way, spreadsheets and presentations can be created alongside games in progress, all in their own windows like a traditional computer.

Regular Android apps will continue to run in the back without having to worry about the phone’s battery because the dock doubles as a charging station. The standard $29 package includes the HDMI docking station and a serial number for the Andromium app from the Google Play Store. The $35 Expended Edition also includes a dock, but this one works for other popular Android phones. The product is expected to ship in February 2015 and has a campaign goal of $100,000.

As mentioned before, the Andromium OS is not solely focused on those who already have connected devices, but rather those who only have a smartphone. Another product that has tackled a similar approach is the TinyStic, but it doesn’t offer a full desktop like Andromium does. Both of these platforms, though, already need the type of income that can afford a decent screen, keyboard, and mouse, necessities that may hamper their success.

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Television Wearables

Google Glass-like Narwhal clips on to your glasses, works in the shower

High-tech wearables that can be worn over the eyes hold a special place in pop culture canon, and have largely stayed there over the years. Most attempts at a functional piece of technology that could be worn comfortably while still providing lots of compelling content easily have all pretty much crashed and burned. Why would merQ think they have solved these problems?

Their product is the Narwhal Clip-On, a wearable device that attaches to any pair of glasses and instantly upgrades them from merely pieces of glass to a capable digital accessory by adding a digital display and a compartment in which streaming sticks like the Chromecast or the Roku can be inserted. Listen to your favorite content with the retractable Bluetooth headphone, and control it with the trackpad mouse on the rear. The display is also waterproof so your showers can become the theater you always wanted it to be. The future’s cost of entry is $299 CAD (~$260 USD) and backers can start using it June 2015. MerQ’s campaign is aiming for a $85,000CAD (~$74,200) goal.

If the behemoth that is Google tried and spectacularly failed with Glass, I don’t see how the Narwhal really sets itself apart. It adds more computer elements to an interface that doesn’t need it and frankly shouldn’t have it, and it shows: the Narwhal is incredibly ungainly and bulky. Even if the company is looking to streamline it, their reliance on streaming sticks will limit it. High-tech glasses are ultimately limited by technology, and we just don’t have what we need yet to make a compelling, Star Trek-esque version quite yet. Let’s not jump the gun.

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Television

SkreensTV offers pictures-in-picture, turns big TV into many little ones

There’s so much content in the world to consume, but no matter how much there is, there will always just be just one screen in front of us to do it on. Even the largest screens, those 60-inch flat-screen television present across the United States, are guilty of being able to only support one input. It may support it beautifully, but truth be told it’s a horrible waste of screen real estate.

Until SkreensTV came along, there wasn’t much that could be done besides a lousy picture-in-picture interface. What SkreensTV offers is the ability to connect up to five different sources of content, whether it be an cable box, a game console, or an Apple TV, and have them all displayed simultaneously without any degradation in picture or sound. Although there will be one primary audio stream represented, other audio sources can be streamed through Wi-Fi, into smartphones and tablets, and out through headphones.

Everyone has different needs when it comes to content and would use all that space differently. Customizable layouts can be created with the use of the SkreensTV iOS/Android companion app based on user preference, easily confugurable whenever needed. So sports fans can load up three games, their fantasy football website, and ESPN all on one screen, or a games enthusiast can play a game while having tips displayed alongside a Skype call and a Twitch stream, all at 1080P. The 4GB version of SkreensTV can be had for $399 and, provided the campaign reaches its $200,000 goal, will ship the product out by December 2015.

The SkreensTV idea is outstanding, but in practice will probably not see as much use as it claims unless a family is that heavily connected and already have a ridiculously large TV to trult take advantage of it. The sports and gaming market are definite buys, but only if their marketing works out for them. Although sports fans are more mainstream and can be catered to, gamers are usually more tech-savvy and can achieve this same effect at probably a fraction of the cost. In any case, the platform will have an app store with an SDK which will no doubt evolve it in interesting ways.

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Television

GT TV promises Hollywood movies at home in best quality

The problem of movie distribution has become such a minefield. Execs sit in one corner wanting to keep their properties valuable, the general public wants an unlimited selection at a low price in another, and torrenters watch from the sides getting everything for free but without a proper selection. Although the problems may seem insurmountable, the GT TV attempts to satisfy everyone by being an expression of the compromise necessary.

The product is a slickly-designed set top device that acts a controller that allows users to navigate the GT TV catalogue of movies. Instead of using adaptive bit rate protocols like most other VOD services, the store is built upon what’s called the Secure Peer Assist technology. It blends the streaming capabilities of service providers with peer-to-peer technology to facilitate true HD quality content, all the time, without degradation. The GT TV campaign is looking for a whopping $1,807,019 AUD (~$1,500,000 USD) to make it a reality. $250 AUD (~$210 USD) will get backers a standard GT TV, $350 AUD (~$290 USD) will add a hard drive, and $750 AUD (~$630 USD) will add a solid state hard drive, all due out in July 2015.

The good thing about GT TV is that the content downloaded comes with fair rights use, so users can take it anywhere with them, and there are no subscriptions fees to use the service as well. However, the device and service only works in New Zealand and Australia, so most of the biggest markets are out of luck for now.

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Television

AirTame lets you get your mobile device onto the big screen

Streaming content from a laptop or a computer to a TV is a great way to share presentations at work or photos and video with family. Unfortunately, for many people, setting it up is still as complicated as it was to set up a projector slideshow or hook a camcorder to the TV decades ago.

AirTame takes advantage of modern technology to remove this headache quickly and easily. By simply plugging the device into a monitor’s HDMI port and using the USB cable to power it up, any computer or smartphone with the Airtame app installed can quickly stream its display to any configured Airtames nearby. This creates a combination hardware/software solution to streaming video that takes only seconds to achieve once it has been set up.

Airtame is flexible as well, in that it does not simply mirror the display, it can also be used to extend it, creating a multiple display setup in any location without installing drivers or pulling out and connecting cables. The Airtame functions over standard Wi-Fi, and works on Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, and Windows phones, so there are no complex network or compatibility issues to resolve either. It’s going to take $160,000 to make Airtame a reality, and anyone that can use one can grab one for $134 in January 2015.

Airtame takes a process that should be as simple as plug-and-play and makes it just that. As long as there is a monitor with a free HDMI port and an Airtame available, using that display to share, present, or collaborate on content is a snap. This is certainly a handy tool to keep on hand no matter where it could be used.

 

Categories
Television

MaxMyTV puts everything on your TV that isn’t TV

Even with smart TVs, the use of applications often requires navigating menus, creating tiny picture-in-picture windows, or navigating away from programming completely. Not only do smart TVs need to become smarter to adapt with the change in technology, they need to become more intuitive.

MaxMyTV is a simple smart hub that does both of these things by using overlays and a remote designed for calling up functions without interrupting TV watching. Connecting via HDMI as a bridge between the existing cable or satellite set-top box and the TV and communicating with other devices through open source ZigBee, MaxMyTV then functions with a host of accessories including a sensor, an IP camera, a smart outlet, and more.

This allows MaxMyTV to function as a social media hub for live-tweeting popular shows, a front door camera, and much more. The included remote offers buttons that directly pull up sidebars offering email accounts, sports scores, social networks, and smart home sensors for temperature, lights, or security. The basic system includes a MaxMyTV Smart Hub and the remote control, and goes out to backers who pledge $149 in March 2015. MaxMyTV is hoping to generate $250,000 worth of support to improve the product, get certified, and also pay for tooling, production, and shipment.

Adding more features and a better interface to smart TV functions is a great idea that is easy to get behind. As to whether MaxMyTV offers the best features, the sharpest interface, and the best way to go about expanding the smart TV/home experience, that’s a bit harder to call. The overlays look like they still take up a good deal of screen space, and, since it’s an additional device, it doesn’t appear to shrink down the display to account for this. Ultimately, MaxMyTV just looks like a stopgap to tide consumers over until something better comes along.

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Connected Objects Television

Puck plucks all your remote controls, controls your TV setup with your smartphone

Remote controls should be considered litter with the way so many of them end up all over our living rooms. Constantly evolving home entertainment setups force us to have three to five different ones, confusing us every time we just want to turn on the TV or pop in a Blu-Ray. Since when did merely entertaining ourselves become so confusing?

That’s the question the people behind the PUCK have asked, and their solution comes in the form of a tiny attachment that acts a bridge between any component of an entertainment system and a smartphone or tablet. Once attached, its companion app will allow you to control every aspect of your entertainment system from up to 100 feet away and through walls, thanks to Bluetooth LE. Create shortcuts and make turning on your TV, lowering the volume, and starting up your Blu-Ray player a one tap process. Puck also makes channel listings searchable, and learns which ones are your favorite for easier access and with a three year battery life, there’ll be a lot to learn. The campaign is currently going for $50,000. It should attract a fair amount of attention with its lean $25 price.

Similar products now on the market have been introduced without much fanfare, probably because of the inflated price point for what essentially is simple tech. Logitech’s $99 Harmony Hub does everything a Puck can do with the addition of Wi-Fi functionality too, but does so without Harmony Smart Remote Compatibility. Another one on the market is the Griffin Beacon which rings up at a paltry $10, but the price reflects its quality: it runs on batteries, constantly needs to be coupled with your smartphone, and the software has been reviewed to be a joke. If Puck’s software can be consistent and smooth, it’ll be able to undercut competition without much issue.