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Connected Objects

The Sound Reactive Fire Pit dances the night away with you

The idea of a Ruben’s tube dates back to 1905, the year German physicist Heinrich Rubens invented. Flash forward 116 years, and the idea is experiencing a radical overhaul in the Sound-Reactive Fire Pit currently funding on Kickstarter.

Instead of being just an antique tool and cool conversation piece, Music Fire City Company’s invention is the first fire pit of its kind to add music to the mix. The result is a fire pit that reacts in real time to music played through its integrated, Bluetooth-connected 2.1 channel speaker system — and a fascinating addition to any home. Of course, it can engage other modes that are less intensive: a fire-and-music mode for a more relaxed environment, a music-only mode, and a fire-only mode. In addition, multiple Sound Reactive Fire Pits can be synced up for a grander experience.

Categories
Connected Objects Sleep

Snore Circle could end the cycle of endless snoring

Snoring is a problem that many people suffer with for several years — often without realizing how much of a toll it’s taking on both their sleeping and overall health, as well as the sleeping and overall health of their loved ones.

Snore Circle is a device made up of a control unit and earplugs that works in conjunction with a mobile app for Android 4.3 or later smartphones and iPhones (4S and later) to detect snoring. It’s able to precisely identify snoring sounds using bone conduction and sound recognition technologies, and then intervenes physically with micro sounds and micro vibrations at 54 levels to stop snoring and allow the user to sleep better.

Categories
Imaging

Lomo’Instant Automat camera makes film creativity easy  

Automatic cameras have often provided photographers with convenience at the expense of creative shooting capabilities.

The Lomo’Instant Automat, however, is an instant camera that combines automatic settings with a wide variety of creative features. Aperture, shutter speed and flash output adjust automatically to make sure that the user’s shots are perfectly lit — foreground and background — in each and every shooting situation.

Users can take quick and easy snapshots or create surreal works of art with the camera, its makers say.  Bulb Mode, for example, lets users shoot long exposures of up to 30 seconds, and is ideal for low-light shooting.

Categories
Cell Phone Accessories

MovieMask provides cinema-like movie experience wherever you are

The displays on smartphones keep getting better all the time. But the one thing that none of them provide is an immersive cinema-like experience when watching a movie.

MovieMask is headwear that encases a smartphone and provides a 2D cinematic viewing experience by blocking out everything surrounding the video one is watching and surrounding it with blank space much like a screen does in a theater. The device can be used virtually anywhere, including on an airplane.

The device ships in December. Future pricing isn’t provided, but Kickstarter backers can get one for a pledge starting at about $54 for early birds. Its makers are out to raise $12,525 by Oct. 6.

Categories
Smart Home

L.U.C.Y! brings digital assistants to the big screen

The effect of Amazon Echo’s voice-controlled versatility on the industry has led to consumers expecting competing products to offer as smooth of an experience — if not better. Creating that better experience is a tall order with how much the Echo can learn and do, but that’s not stopping the team behind L.U.C.Y. from trying.

While L.U.C.Y. is a digital assistant in the same vein as something like Amazon’s smart canister, the first and most obvious difference lies in its design: L.U.C.Y. boasts a large 17″ to 24″, tablet-like form factor with a Full HD, IPS-equipped display that sports a 1920 x 1080 resolution, an HD camera, a microphone, and facial recognition for different users.

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Kids/Babies Smartwatches/Bands

The BRILLAR kid’s watch gamifies the real world

The sedentary nature of today’s youth is well-documented, leading many to deride the role screen time contributes to the problem. With applications like Pokemon GO leading a change in mainstream attitudes about how screens can be a benefit rather than a nuisance, BRILLAR looks to capitalize on this renewed awareness with its own twist.

BRILLAR is a chimera of a kid’s smartwatch. It not only tells time but also boasts a micro-SIM slot for its phone function, the ability to store 11 pre-set contacts, a walkie-talkie, a GPS unit, and a pedometer. This forms the basis for the Roodymentary application, a challenge-based gaming experience that offers children real-life challenges that get them up and moving by completing scavenger hunts to workouts for digital rewards they can show off to friends.

Categories
Connected Objects Cycling

The BEAKOR bike system outfits your ride with a little of everything

Urban areas in the United States are experiencing an uptick in the amount of cyclists roaming the streets. While this is great for individual fitness and the environment, more bikes on the road means more accidents. This makes products like BEAKOR even more valuable.

Put simply, BEAKOR is the swiss army knife of cycling devices, combining a staggering array of functionality into one system. It consists of front and back equipment that interface with a companion iOS/Android smartphone application. Together, the system combines strong front and back illumination and turn signaling with features like live front and rear HD video recording and streaming, automated accident alert messages with GPS coordinates in the case of an accident, and metrics tracking.

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Uncategorized

The DOT lets your phone more easily connect the dots

There’s an issue inherent with the idea of a smartphone with apps: it constantly needs to be fiddled with in order to access the appropriate app at the right time. DOT tries to alleviate that problem.

DOT is a small, LED-equipped device that acts as a beacon. With it, users can use it to better contextualize an environment and program a smartphone or tablet to adjust accordingly. For instance, should someone be reading a book on a tablet, sitting down on the couch will prompt the nearby DOT to launch the app with book being read to the page they left off.

Categories
Smartwatches/Bands

Lose the dorky Bluetooth headset with the Sgnl smart strap

At one point in time, it seemed like the smartwatch was all but dead in the water: most of them boasted sluggish performance and lack of truly must-have features that prevented them from becoming anything more than just a novelty. The deluge of them over the past recent years didn’t help matters, either.

Now, though, seems to be a sort of renaissance for the much-heralded smartwatch with the impending releases of products like the Apple Watch Series 2 and Samsung Gear S3 — at least if the renaissance means they’re finally becoming what they should have been in the first place. Alongside these fresh releases is the Sgnl, Innomdle Lab’s Bluetooth-enabled smart strap that functions by itself or as a companion to a smartwatch to let users conduct phone calls with just the tip of their finger.

Categories
Camping

Always be cool with the Zero Breeze portable air conditioner

In certain places and situations, it’s usually not possible to enjoy the luxury of cooled air. And while portable air conditioners do exist, they’re usually very bulky and need to use ice or water when being operated.

The Zero Breeze remedies this problem by reducing the size of a portable air conditioner down to just 14 pounds and having it operated using either an outlet or a 40 mAH battery that can be charged in just three to five hours. It has a rotary compression system within that uses an environmentally-friendly coolant that can cool a 50 square foot space down to 44°, perfect for a small home, office, tent, RV, college dorm, or even the beach. (If indoors, a hose can be extended from the device outdoors to expel warm air.)