Categories
Features Lighting

Out There: Slap It butt light lets you get a piece of that double without any trouble

Out There is a feature that highlights weird, wacky or woeful projects.

So many people see a big jiggly butt and just can’t help but slap it! It’s human nature. Unfortunately, society discourages this type of behavior citing “personal space” as something that must be respected.

Now, the wet blanket of society can suck it! Slap It is a light shaped like a butt. Mount it on the wall, step back, and marvel at its beauty. It’s made from some mystery material that produces a life-like jiggle. To turn on, simply, slap, squeeze or grab. The light comes in ten different colors and a dial lets the user choose which one they’d like to see.

This British-made product will surely find success donning the sound studios of many butt-obsessed rappers. Other than that, it’s actually not a particularly shapely or alluring butt. Still, backers can get their slap on for a donation of £195 (~$295) with estimated delivery set for June 2015. Slap It is hoping to raise £58,000 (~$87,800) in funding on Kickstarter.

Categories
Fitness Wearables

Stryd makes strides in measuring workout intensity

Most wearable fitness devices do a good job of measuring heart rate, pace and several other metrics. But they typically fail to gauge an extremely important metric for runners: workout intensity.

patent-claimedStryd was designed to accurately measure running power and efficiency while also offering most of the typical features that other fitness wearables and smartwatches provide. Stryd is a small clip-on device that users can attach to a piece of clothing during a workout. The device tracks data and uses Bluetooth Smart technology to subsequently connect with a wide variety of devices, including sports watches, smartphones (Android and iOS), tablets, and even computers. Notably, the device uses patent-pending sensing technologies developed by Princeton engineers. Each unit costs $149 and will ship in September. Its maker set a Kickstarter goal of reaching $50,000 by April 12.

Stryd holds a lot of promise for fitness enthusiasts, but there are far too many players in the fitness wearables market, including Tracky, to declare Stryd a sure thing.

Categories
Smartwatches/Bands

Comfortably watch video on your wrist with the Blu smartwatch/smartphone hybrid

Most smartwatches on the market look fairly similar, with screens typically too small to be used for viewing items like video or mapping directions.

patent-claimedThe makers of Blu have created a bendable and wearable smartphone/smartwatch that’s worn like a bangle around the wrist. The device features a flexible 5-inch by 2-inch HD OLED display capable of covering a user’s full wrist. With such a design, the device is able to incorporate an overlapping clasp that allows the Blu to fit users with wrist circumferences ranging from 5.5 inches to 8.5 inches.

The waterproof Blu also features an invisible 360-degree speaker system which emits sound from all around the wrist. Another notable feature of the device’s futuristic design is a light bar which can be incorporated into application functions for games, social media apps, and even standard mobile phone notifications. Adding a dash of customization, the light bar’s colors can be user-adjusted. Blu will cost $799 when it ships in May and its maker is hoping to raise $600,000 AUD (~$468,700 USD).

Blu has several unique features that separate it from the growing smartphone pack and its distinctive look will likely appeal to many consumers. That said, its industrial design may prove to be off-putting to many, especially those who don’t want something so large around their wrists.

Categories
Music Technology

Record high quality audio with ease with the RecorderPlugin

Given the vast capabilities of smartphones, it’s surprising that simply recording something can be much more difficult than need be. While there are many apps than can record live audio, the result is often a recording with less than stellar audio quality. Further, transforming a recording into an MP3 isn’t always straightforward.

The RecorderPlugin is a device which streamlines this entire process. The device can be plugged into anything with a headphone jack and can save recorded audio as MP3s on the fly. This means that most devices are fair game, from from smartphones and tablets to radios and TVs. The $75 base model comes with 16GB, but 32GB and 64GB options are both available as well. The $33,333 campaign is looking to ship the product in October 2015.

The RecorderPlugin is certainly useful, and the search for a practical solution for recording challenges is certainly real. Music buffs, business types, and even those in love with their own voice will be interested in the RecorderPlugin. That said, if users need something with much more polish, the Bluewire Bluetooth is probably a safer bet.

Categories
Imaging Input Virtual Reality

Ovrvision Oculus Rift attachment lets users create their own virtual reality

Since the Oculus Rift was introduced to the world, the dream of a fully immersive virtual reality experience has been closer than ever before. Some people, however, are not content with waiting for what the Oculus team has planned and have taken to personally shaping the type of virtual reality experience they desire. Ovrvision is one such example.

Ovrvision works by augmenting the current Oculus Rift experience. It accomplishes this by introducing a more immersive augmented reality experience through a dual 5MP camera system. This, in turn, allows users to do things like manipulate objects in 3D space through a combination of hand tracking, high viewing angles, and a smooth 60FPS frame rate. Additionally, the product is extremely scalable, having been demonstrated working on small robotics, for example. Ovrvision is also extremely developer friendly, supporting multiple programming languages and popular gaming engines. An Ovrvision device will set you back $284 and is slated to be shipped in November 2015.

Interested tinkerers and developers will undoubtedly love the chance to play around with something like Ovrvision. The use cases are endless and can potentially cover applications as far ranging as gaming and medicine. While Microsoft’s recently announced Holo Lens certainly presents a sizable challenge to Ovrvision, this product may still have some legs for those who have long dreamt of a virtual reality filled future.

Categories
Input

Type on the go with ease with Qii’s full-sized, rollable, and extremely portable Bluetooth keyboard

The big problem with most smartphone and tablet keyboards is that they are too difficult to type on for very long. Ultimately, a Bluetooth keyboard is required for writing anything substantive in length. Unfortunately, though, many Bluetooth keyboards are poorly designed and not very portable.

Qii solves that dilemma with a clever solution. Qii is a full-sized QWERTY keyboard that can be rolled up and stored in a user’s pocket. The keyboard is versatile insofar as its compatible with Apple, Android, Blackberry, Windows and Palm mobile devices. The keyboard was designed using nanotechnology and organic electronics, according to its Indiegogo campaign video. It costs $99 and is scheduled to ship in October. Its maker is hoping to raise $890,000 by April 3.

Qii could be appealing to many consumers thanks to its portability and compatibility with multiple mobile device operating systems. Its rollaway design makes it a superior portable solution than other foldable keyboards such as the Flyshark or TextBlade. Still, it’s a bit hard to tell from the video how easy Qii will be on users’ fingers.

 

Categories
Food and Beverage Interviews

The Backerjack Interview: SYNEK’s Eric Stoddard on tapping into the countertop beer market

Having raised nearly $650,000 and netting a Backerjack Editor’s Choice Award, the SYNEK countertop beer dispenser has been dubbed, somewhat misleadingly, “the Keurig of beers.” Backerjack caught up with Synek’s director of customer engagement Eric Stoddard, to trade drinking stories about how company came back from a slow campaign start and was accepted into the camaraderie of small, local brewers

Backerjack: Could you talk a little bit about what SYNEK is?

Stoddard: Sure. It’s a countertop beer dispenser that gives you access to any beer at home on draft at very high quality. The bag holds up to 30 psi, and you can get it from any tap anywhere — whether it be your local brewery or wherever it may be — and you can take that home and you get a shelf life of 30 days.

Backerjack: So, unlike Keurig where you can buy a K-Cup, this is more like a storage method where it stores already brewed beer?

Stratter: Yeah, we’re sort of packaging company, a social packaging company because of how ingrained we are with breweries and helping them connect with their customers. There’s a lot of big issues in this industry, and how we came about as an idea was by considering the problems affecting lots of breweries. Smaller guys can’t afford to buy equipment because it’s a huge fixed investment upfront, so they have no way to get beer unless they use growlers.

The bad thing with growlers is that the beer only lasts for two days, three days if you’re lucky, once opened. It isn’t the most feasible option for most people. We’re trying to expand on that where now we offer this gallon size bag that’s able to be filled up the exact same way you would a growler and it’s available to a larger group of people. Now, these smaller breweries have a way to get higher quality beer out of the brewery.

Continue reading “The Backerjack Interview: SYNEK’s Eric Stoddard on tapping into the countertop beer market”
Categories
Arts

Pika portable tattoo device gets ink done on the run

Tattoo artists are only as good as their tools. For them, the vibrating needles they use to infuse ink into skin must be sound, clean and accurate in order to deliver the best results.

Pika takes the traditional tattoo gun and adds portability. This battery-powered device allows artists to give tattoos wherever they’d like. It’s also a great way for artists to switch between colors more easily. The cordless unit allows the artist the ability to adjust the speed, throw, and depth of their needles. Pika offers customizable plate design too, so that the artist’s personal taste can shine through their tool.

While Pika isn’t the first of its kind, it does offer the type of convenience a freelance tattoo artist may crave. Unfortunately, the offered customizable plates are fairly lame. Still, backers can have one of their own for a donation of £65 (~$98) by April 2015. Pika is looking to raise £5,000 (~$7,600) on Kickstarter by March 25.

Categories
Connected Objects Food and Beverage

Neo Smart Jar puts a lid on foods, whips up recipes for whatever’s around

If the crowdfunding world has taught us anything, it’s that everything deserves Bluetooth. The Neo Smart Jar demonstrates how even an everyday object can be completely transformed with Bluetooth connectivity.

Pantries everywhere are filled with foods and ingredients whose quantity and freshness are easily and quickly forgotten. The Neo Smart Jar steps in to help by using Bluetooth to communicate pertinent food information to a companion iOS or Android app. The Neo Smart Jar not only keeps track of food quantity and nutrition in real time, but it can also sync that information with paired fitness devices. Additionally the Neo Smart Jar can send out freshness alerts and create consumption trends of foods and ingredients over time.

What’s more, Neo can even make cooking easier: the app suggests recipes based on what’s available, and adjusts both the quantities needed and portion size depending on the number of guests at the table. Lastly ,the jar’s companion app can dynamically update shopping lists, even going so far as to automatically place orders for required items via Amazon (additional partner stores are in the works).

Each jar charges wirelessly and can runs for several months off a single charge, thus making the Neo Smart Jar a truly modern update to the humble glass jar of yore. A single Neo goes for $54, two can be had for $99, and a set of six can be picked up for $299. The $50,000 campaign is looking to ship the connected piece of kitchenware by November 2015.

Given the sheer variety of available helpful crowdfunded products for the kitchen, including the Pantelligent, ChefBot and the CookStarta, it seems like the cooking process itself may now be the hardest part of the cooking equation. While other products may tack on Bluetooth as an afterthought, the Neo Smart Jar implements it intelligently, and it shows.

Categories
Lighting Smart Home

Want to add smarts to light switches without replacing? Switchmate has them covered

editors-choiceControlling home lighting via a smartphone app can come in handy. But all too often setting up such systems can be overly complicated.

Switchmate does away with all of that complexity. It consists of a white cover that easily snaps over a standard light switch using magnets. It gets paired via Bluetooth with an Android or iOS app and the user can then easily take control of the switch via their smartphone. In a nice touch, the app can control multiple Switchmates. Notably, users can see the status of their lights within a Bluetooth range of about 150 feet. Each Switchmate will cost $60 and is scheduled to begin shipping in December. Its maker set an Indiegogo campaign goal of raising $50,000 by April 1.

Switchmate holds a great deal of promise if truly is compatible with any standard light switch and if the setup process is as easy as the campaign advertises. The device takes the ease of Emberlight one step further insofar as it attaches to a light switch instead of a light fixture itself, thereby eliminating the need to have a ladder or really tall person nearby.