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Cell Phone Accessories Connected Objects

Bluewire Bluetooth headset recorder puts the “call” in “recall”

Recording conversations on a smartphone, tablet, or a computer can be an awkward process filled with all kinds of programs that need to be installed and run in a very specific way. While one method may indeed work well enough for one platform, it won’t always work for another. In this space, the need for a one-size-fits-all solution is apparent.

The Bluewire smartphone and VOIP recorder are looking to streamline the process of recording conversations with their Bluetooth-enabled headset from up to 33 feet away. With this device, a user can pair any Bluetooth device capable of making a call and have both sides of a conversation recorded and stored onto its 16GB internal memory. If a user has their own Bluetooth headset they’d rather use, Bluewire can be used as an intermediary instead.

A companion smartphone app unlocks even more functionality. For example, a quick double-tap on the headset or tap of the headset onto an NFC-enabled phone will instantly sync the conversation to the device and email the file. When synced, the app allows users to manage their recorded calls, enables a tracking feature for both keys and device, and activates the BlueGuard burglar alarm. When Bluewire isn’t being used, it supports wireless Qi charging. Early birds can score a Bluewire headset for $149, a significant portion off of its $269 retail price. The $40,000 Indiegogo campaign is looking to ship the product in July 2015.

Bluewire is a promising product that offers tons of functionality in an attractive package for professionals, journalists, and business types looking to make sure they never miss a single detail. It provides a great service for those who may have to keep detailed accounts of calls such as salespeople, interviewers and journalists. While apps exist that can record conversations on smartphones, they aren’t universal solutions like Bluewire, a trait that will ensure Bluewire’s success on the market.

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Maker/Development Smart Home

Personal Robot combines home automation with facial recognition, other technologies

editors-choiceHaving a device in the house that can function as a personal assistant, while also serving as a home automation system would come in handy. Especially when it combines far-field voice recognition with emotion, facial and object recognition. Introducing the Personal Robot, one such device, from the New York-based company Robotbase.

Personal Robot features a 3D depth camera and noise canceling microphone array technology, and it can communicate with the user’s connected devices via wireless Z-Wave Plus, Zigbee, BLE and Wi-Fi. The far-field voice recognition enables the device to hear the user’s commands all the way from the other side of the room. The user can ask Personal Robot for information including the local weather, news, sports scores and recipes, as the video on its Kickstarter campaign shows. The device can also be used to play music, schedule meetings, set alarms, and control the temperature in a home to save energy and money. Backers who pledge $995 will get one when it ships in December. Its maker set a goal of raising $50,000 on Kickstarter.

Other devices on the market have attempted some of the same functionality. But Personal Robot’s advanced software, which incorporates deep learning algorithms, give it an advantage over some competing products. Some consumers might find the computer-animated female character that is featured on the device’s screen a bit creepy, although the device’s maker says the user can change how she looks.

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Health and Wellness

P-flector makes training wee ones a dryer experience

One of the biggest parental challenges in life is helping little ones to become potty trained. The messy…um…adventure includes plenty of wet bathroom floors and extra laundry due to a highly annoying gap that often lurks between the toilet seat and bowl. P-flector was created by a dad who was inspired by his toddler son to find a solution to this messy reality.

The device attaches to the underside of the toilet seat and acts as a shield that keeps urine from escaping through the gap between seat and toilet bowl. This product is made of a flexible material that can conform to most commercial toilet seats.

Seems like this item has some potential, though it’s not entirely clear exactly how it attaches and stays in place without eventually falling into the bowl. This campaign seeks to raise $60,000 on Kickstarter. Backers get one P-flector for $10 with an expected delivery of June 2015.

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Music

Sugr Cube wireless speaker plays music, offers sweet touch functionality

There are many Wi-Fi speakers on the market, but other than doing away with wires, they tend to work very much like old-fashioned wired speakers.

The China-based creators of the Sugr Cube Wi-Fi speaker have designed their product to directly stream online music, while also offering intuitive touch control functionality. The user just has to tap the speaker to play or pause a song, tilt it left or right for the next or prior song, double tap it to share the current song with those who have paired their own Sugr Cubes, and touch it and leave the hand there to share the current song with Facebook friends

The companion iOS app enables easy Wi-Fi setup, multi-room control, sleeping mode and alarm, and the ability to keep updating the speaker with new features. Android and other unspecified devices will be supported soon. Sugr Cube, which comes in wooden housing, currently supports iTunes music, Pandora and BBC radio. Other services may be added later. Backers who pledge $119 will get the speaker when it ships in June as part of an early bird Kickstarter discount. Its maker is looking to raise $50,000.

The speaker has a lot of promise. Although there are other Wi-Fi speakers that offer some degree of touch control, like the Aether Cone, Sugr Cube uses the feature more extensively. But it faces the same problem as any other speaker sold online by a new company: There is no way to gauge how good it sounds without hearing it in person.

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Apparel Health and Wellness

Revive Tank shirt holds hot or cold pack where you need it most

Back pain can be a debilitating problem that really hinders one’s quality of life. Many people with back pain choose to see a chiropractor. But in between visits, it’s sometimes necessary to take steps to manage pain and swelling.

Revive Tank is a product that allows the user to use heat or ice therapy and continue moving around and going about their day. The tank shirt has slot for hot or ice pads making it easy to move about while getting relief. It works even if one is experiencing sciatica, which is pain that radiates from the back and down one or both legs, and chronic back pain.

Revive Tank is an interesting idea, albeit slightly awkward. Still, it holds promise for those with chronic pain who simply can’t lie around all day feeling badly. This campaign seeks to raise $30,000 on Kickstarter. Backers get one tank for $100 with an expected delivery of May 2015.

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Smart Home

Neeo thinking remote is the one system that can control all devices in your home

editors-choiceHaving a smart automation system that can control all the devices in a home is something that a growing number of consumers are looking for. Neeo from the Cupertino, California, company of the same name combines some of the best features of a mobile app-based smart home automation system with those of a universal remote control. It also adds a few features that rival devices just don’t have, such as four antennas that integrate Bluetooth 4.0, Bluetooth LE, Wi-Fi, ZigBee and Z-Wave protocol functionality.

There are two main parts of the Neeo system: the “Brain,” a small hockey puck-shaped device made of solid aluminum and acrylic glass, that will command all of the user’s devices, including TVs and Blu-ray players; and the remote, which provides instant control of all those devices. Sensors in the attractive remote detect the user’s palm and matches it with that person’s profile. It then displays that person’s personal playlists, movies and favorites from connected devices instantly, the company claims. Also attractive is the remote’s 291 pixels per inch touch display.

If the user can’t find the remote, an SOS alarm function that is activated via an iOS or Android smartphone will help track it down. Neeo has a database of more than 30,000 devices that it can connect to and control, and is compatible with all major AV products made in the last 10 years. Kickstarter backers who pledge $148 will get one Brain in April and the free app. Those who pledge $219 will, in May, get the Brain and the remote in either the standard aluminum version or one of two limited edition SKUs, in black or white. The system’s maker is looking to raise $50,000 on Kickstarter.

As long as the Neeo remote is indeed compatible with as many devices as the company claims and the set-up process is as simple as it says, the system is among the most promising products to come along in the home automation and universal remote categories lately. It surpasses most similar devices including last year’s Droplit. As a universal remote, it also stands to be a major challenger to the popular Harmony remotes from Logitech.

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Arts

Modus measuring tool fits in wallet, keeps creativity close by

It would be nice if great ideas were somewhat predictable and actually hit a person’s brain when it’s convenient–or at least when the right tools are at one’s fingertips. But since that’s not the way that creativity typically happens, many artist-types tote little tools around that they can whip out when inspiration falls out of the sky and smacks them on the head. Modus is one such handy tool.

This aircraft-grade aluminum measuring tool is touted as being the same size as a credit card and fits easily into a wallet. The multi-option drawing aide helps users to keep their angles accurate, measurements exact, lines straight and circles round. Perhaps one of its most intriguing features is that it’s 6061 aluminum makeup means that it’s RFID resistant. And for those bookworms who still enjoy a hardcopy book with old fashioned paper pages and ink, it also works great as a bookmark.

Seems like an interesting item worth checking out further for those who like to draw on a whim. Interested backers might also want to check out Vox, My Task, and Hangman. This campaign seeks to raise $1,400 on Kickstarter. Backers get one Modus for $18 with expected delivery in March 2015.

Categories
Virtual Reality

PRO3D virtual reality headset aims to bring stereoscopic 3D to the masses

Virtual reality has become one of the hotter technologies of the past couple of years. But the Oculus Rift and others of its ilk have yet to become available to consumers and, when they do, aren’t expected to be cheap.

The Long Beach, California, maker of the PRO3D stereoscopic 3D and virtual reality viewer is aiming to bring similar technology to the masses with an inexpensive attachment for the iPhone 6 Plus. Their model won’t be anywhere near as bulky as the Oculus Rift and other similar devices. Backers who pledge $29 will get a bare bones version of the attachment when it ships in June. Those who pledge $47 or $86 will get more elaborately designed versions of the product. Its maker is looking to raise $39,700 on Kickstarter.

This isn’t the first cheap virtual reality product for smartphones, following on the heels of devices including ShareVR. PRO3D’s focus on only one smartphone model stands to limit its appeal significantly. If the effect it provides–the quality of which is impossible to tell from its Kickstarter campaign video–is mediocre or worse, that will cut down on its chances even further.

Categories
Food and Beverage

Brewski lets you create signature beer, wine or cider at home

Creating one’s own drinks can make for a great conversation starter at a party or when entertaining at home. And Brewski allows those who enjoy exercising their creative muscles in this area the opportunity to make beer, wine or cider and flavor it to personal tastes.

The drink creation station makes about 2.5 gallons at a time (or 30 standard beer bottles) and stores easily on a shelf or convenient counter space. Brewski offers video tutorials that explain how to create beer using the product and included brewing kit, or it is compatible with other brewing kits. Beer bottles with non-twist tops can be washed, refilled and recapped with the bottle capper.

Interested backers might also want to check out Brewie, a similar home-brewing product, but one that doesn’t offer wine and cider like the Brewski does. This campaign seeks to raise $150,000 NZD (~$112,000 USD) on Kickstarter. Early bird backers get one product for $369 (~$275 USD) with an expected delivery of July 2015.

Categories
Health and Wellness

Remix lets you enjoy your shake without cup-cleaning hassle

Staying hydrated during exercise is one of the best ways to keep one’s energy level up and eliminate impurities. And those who are fitness enthusiasts often like to include protein drinks and supplements to their diet. But cleaning a water bottle or shaker bottle can be a real hassle, especially when on the road.

So Remix is offering a single-use alternative. It’s made of recyclable plastic, so the 20oz cup doesn’t have to be washed, which makes it convenient when traveling. Remix comes with a lid, strainer and cap for easy mixing of ingredients and blending via shaking.Options are available to backers who would like to have their company logo placed on the bottle.

While Remix is an interesting idea, many people would opt for a more reusable option. Disposable is so last year. Interested backers may also want to check out Go-Shake, Square, TRIMR, and Cirkul. This campaign seeks to raise $78,000 by February 11, 2015. For $13, backers get one pack of 26 cups with an expected delivery of June 2015.