Categories
Aquatics

AirBuddy makes diving experience a tankless job

The wonders below the surface of the sea are incredible sights, a glimpse to a world that is as unknown and alien as the galaxies that surround the planet. With so much to discover underneath the waves, the last thing anyone wants to do is spend time lugging around heavy scuba tanks and other equipment. Ultimately, more time is spent preparing for a dive than actually diving in most cases.

The team behind AirBuddy wants to make the entire diving experience more lightweight. To do this, its portable diving system ditches bulky tanks in favor of a surface-supplied diving approach (SSBA) reminiscent of old diving suit that used tubes to connect to boats that supplied oxygen. The AirBuddy concept is the same, but rather than deliver oxygen from a boat, it does so from an small air compressor that floats on the water’s surface.

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Connected Objects Health and Wellness Home

EcoQube Air desktop greenhouse clears the air while growing your plants

Growing plants in a home or office can be challenging due to several factors, including the need for adequate light and the messiness involved in using soil and water.

patent-claimedEcoQube Air is a desktop greenhouse that makes growing plants indoors much easier. As a bonus, it also has been designed to improve the user’s quality of life by purifying the air and providing smart light therapy to combat seasonal affective disorder.

The device uses hydroponics, which provides benefits that include low maintenance, a reduction of water usage by a whopping 90 percent, faster plant growth, and a drain spout for easy water change. Hydroponics is a method of agriculture that grows plants without the use of soil. Using this technique, plants can be grown with a fraction of the amount of resources (water, energy and space) required to grow plants the traditional way, in soil. Plants thrive by absorbing only as much nutrients and water they need.

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Connected Objects

Askey helps you remember if you locked the door

While a number of of sophisticated smart locks that one can control from around the world have made their debut, many folks just want a little help remembering whether they locked the door.

patent-claimedAskey is a device that easily attaches to a key and tracks when the key has been used via a motion sensor that accurately registers the key’s movement. The accessory is activated and starts to record the key’s movement when the user moves the key from its resting position. It comes in a choice of five colors and works in conjunction with a mobile device app, available now for Android only, but a port for iOS is coming also.

Askey uses Bluetooth 4.0 LE and ships in March at future pricing of about $60. But Kickstarter backers can get one at the early bird price of about $36. Its makers hope to raise $51,493 by May 30.

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Categories
Chargers/Batteries

PompAdapter brings faster charging to existing devices

It’s a common problem. A phone call must be made, but there is no power left on one’s smartphone. Attaching a charging cable is easy, but typically results in a long wait until there is enough juice to make a call.

patent-claimedPompAdapter is a universal power adapter that doubles the charging speed of any mobile device charging cable that a user already owns. The patent-pending (in China) accessory can be used with any laptop or notebook computer, and any Android or iOS smartphone or tablet. PompAdapter just needs to be plugged into any device charger. PompAdapter ships in August at future pricing of $39.99. But Indiegogo backers can get one for a pledge starting at $19 for early birds. Its makers are looking to raise $3,500 by June 2.

This device is a handy one for just about any consumers who own mobile devices –- especially when traveling. An additional plus is that PompAdapter won’t drain a device’s battery even if it remains connected all night long, its makers say.

Categories
Robots/Drones

WowWee’s simple Lumi drone aims to wow wee and large alike

The advent of drones over the past few years and their steady decline price has led to more and more people enjoying the fun of piloting one. So many, in fact, that even the FCC is more strictly regulating their use. Nevertheless, for all the attention paid to them and the progress they’ve made on ease of use, they can still be complicated to set up, pilot, and maintain over time — hardly a consumer-friendly device.

Developed by the company that produced one of the earliest robot toys, WowWee’s Lumi is an easy-to-use drone designed as a more palatable approach to the sometimes dizzying world of drones. It’s ready to go out of the box, with a simple setup consisting of the loading in of its battery, placement of its beacon, and activation of its app. Once done, its BeaconSense technology allows Lumi to interface with its companion beacon to always know where it is in space.

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Categories
Smartwatches/Bands

The Henlen modular smartwatch switches things up

Making the jump to becoming a smartwatch owner is a tricky decision. On the one hand, the added utility of a smartwatch can make one’s day more organized and efficient. On the other, smartwatches are continually criticized over being more a nuisance than anything, ultimately taking space away from other dumb, but far more stylish, watches.

The team at Henlen Watches felt the same and is now trying to fund its Origin Series of interchangeable smartwatches. A Henlen watch is comprised of three parts: its strap, its body, and its Cell, where all the technology is stored. Each part, including the Cell, is interchangeable between the two models available: the Commdander and the Covert. The former is a more rugged watch (with black or silver body options along with black or tan leather straps), while the latter is a more casual version (with the option of a rose gold or black body along with a chocolate leather or red leather strap). In this way, wearers of the Origin Series needn’t sacrifice the flexibility of multiple styles for a more connected experience.

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Categories
Connected Objects Wallets

The Cashew Smart Wallet drives would-be thieves nuts

One of the worst feelings in the world is misplacing a wallet. Not only is money lost, but time too since all of the cards within need to be reported lost or stolen before waiting a week or two for replacements. In this day and age of connected goodie, Revol Inc. didn’t think all this hassle was necessary, creating the Cashew Smart Wallet as an answer.

The Cashew is a clamshell-like smart wallet made of a scratch and water-resistant polycarbonate that can hold up to eight cards and 30 types of currency. What make it special is that it sports a biometric fingerprint reader and smartphone connectivity, working together to keep its contents secure both from thieves and users themselves. To set it up, a user need simply to open up the companion iOS/Android app, sync the wallet via Bluetooth, and register their fingerprint on the app.

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Connected Objects

The Flcikerstip connected LED strip lets your imagination shine bright

Everyone could use more bright, colorful lights in their lives and, contrary to popular opinion, Christmas needn’t be the only time during the year for them. Julian Hartline, founder of HOhmBody, thought the same and created the Flickerstrip so that anyone could brighten up any environment however they’d like.

The Flickerstip is a strip of Wi-Fi connected, decorative LED lights that can be arranged in a variety of ways at home, at parties, or even for art installations. Its companion desktop or smartphone app gives users the option to either downloaded pre-made light configurations that run the gamut from simple, repeating patterns to complex, dazzling arrangements or just make their own.

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Categories
Chargers/Batteries Music

The Ripcord USB cable powers all your musical gadgets anywhere

For the roving musician, inspiration can strike anywhere. The good news is that there’s never been a better for this to happen, with a plethora of options — both digital and analog — for playing and recording music. The bad news is that all of this equipment, from guitar pedals, amps, synths and keyboards to mixers, MIDI recorders, and tuners, all need to be powered by batteries that are too expensive or power outlets that may not be compatible or not there at all.

The team behind the Ripcord believe that due to its ubiquity, USB power is the future. To take advantage of the fact that most people carry already carry with the USB chargers, power banks, laptops, and smartphones all with USB ports, the Ripcord was developed to be a plug-and-play power cord that allows the standard 5V output of USB ports to charge musical equipment requiring 9V.

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Categories
Health and Wellness Wearables

Fitti Guard smartwatch helps keep you fit and safe

There are many fitness trackers on the market, but they tend to offer limited functions, have a short battery life and lack a display. Smartwatches tend to offer more features, but don’t necessarily do a great job with any specific feature. The number of environment trackers is also growing, but those devices tend to offer no additional features.

Fitti Guard is a health-focused smartwatch that monitors fitness and environmental factors including UV exposure. It features a total of 10 sensors, including UV, noise, air quality, humidity and radioactivity. Users get immediate alerts and helpful advice if their individual levels or dose rates for polluted air, noise nuisance, sunlight or even radioactivity are exceeded.

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