Tag: app

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Connected Objects Imaging

Wow Frame seeks to bring social media into the pictures

Once upon a time, digital picture frames were among the most popular consumer electronic devices. But mobile photo sharing has largely killed the category.

The Wow Frame is a digital picture frame that receives photo and video feeds from social networks and mobile devices. Its maker intends consumers to buy multiple Wow frames and place them next to one another on their walls. Users would be able to share free or “premium” HD photos and videos with other Wow owners as part of an accompanying service.

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Connected Objects Imaging

Tiny1 compact camera specializes in shooting stars

There are a lot of digital cameras on the market, but not many of them have been designed for one specific use, like taking photos of stars in the sky, for example.

patent-claimedTiny1 is a compact camera with patent-pending noise reduction technology that has been designed for astronomy. It helps users plan, capture and share stars from the palms of their hands. Tiny1’s interactive star map is a unique interface using augmented reality to help users easily locate and shoot celestial objects. It shows users the stars and constellations in real time and there is a search function built in to guide them.

Tiny1 works in conjunction with an Android app. The camera can be paired with a smartphone to easily share pictures via Wi-Fi. Tiny1 can also be controlled using Wi-Fi to reduce camera shake. Any lens available can be attached to the Tiny1 easily, including interchangeable camera lenses and telescope lenses, according to its makers Tiny1 ships in December at about $700. But early bird Indiegogo backers have been able to get one for a pledge starting at $349. Its makers are out to raise $100,000 by July 7.

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Connected Objects Health and Wellness

OneCare Dori helps the elderly remember to take their pills

Dory is the famous fish who suffers from memory loss in two funny Disney Pixar movies. But, in real life, there’s nothing funny about memory loss –- especially when it comes to the elderly forgetting to take their medications to keep them healthy.

OneCare Dori is a device that works in conjunction with an Android and iOS app to remind elderly people when it’s time to take their pills and do other important things. It also provides real-time alerts to their families and other caregivers. The basic service allows caregivers to use the app to schedule reminders in an interactive voice call format that the elderly person can either receive via a landline or mobile phone call. Caregivers can also monitor in real time the status of each reminder, as well as the answers given by the elderly person to each reminder.

 

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Wearables

Pilot smart earpiece soars with easy language translation

editors-choiceOne main challenge while traveling abroad is the ability to understand people speaking in different languages. Directions and other important information can easily be lost in translation.

Pilot is a smart earpiece that provides real-time language translation. It enables wearers to speak different languages, but still clearly understand each other because the language heard through the earpiece is each wearer’s own language. If someone does not have an earpiece, they can still use the smartphone app to translate. A nice extra feature is that the app can be used as a loudspeaker when in conference mode. Initial languages being supported are English, Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese. Additional languages will follow.

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Connected Objects

Spendwallet wants to be all your credit cards

Electronic payment has become a popular way for consumers to shop without having to schlep around a wallet full of credit cards to be used in multiple stores. But mobile payment via a smartphone doesn’t quite solve the problem because Apple Pay and Android Pay require NFC technology that can only be used in a relatively small number of U.S. retail stores. Phones can also ring while trying to pay for something with it or be damaged if the cashier drops it.

Spendwallet is a new alternative -– a slim, pocket-sized electronic payment device that consolidates up to 20 credit, debit and gift cards. It uses magnetic vibration technology like Samsung Pay. Spendwallet’s version of that tech is its self-developed Magnetic Flux Emulation (MFE). The device generates a magnetic field that makes a card reader respond as if a physical credit card is actually being swiped.

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Connected Objects Imaging

Sybrillo brings smarts, stability to GoPro

The small size of the GoPro has made it the perfect video camera to use for capturing action sports and other fast-moving activities. But its tiny size also makes it somewhat difficult to hold the camera steady and control it to perform professional-type actions including panning and tilting.

Sybrillo is a versatile, waterproof GoPro mount that makes it easier for users of the action camera to program it to pan, tilt and perform other functions typical of pro video cameras. Its gimbal provides the GoPro with gyroscopic stability. A Sybrillo app for Android and iOS smartphones and tablets enables users to control the camera remotely via Bluetooth. Sybrillo also provides recording capabilities for virtual reality (VR). Users can put their smartphone in a VR headset or Google cardboard and Sybrillo will follow the user’s every move.

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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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Robots/Drones

Growver intelligently waters lawns, even beyond Sesame Street

Homeowners rely on lawn sprinkler systems to maintain their lawns. But those systems tend to waste a lot of water, can be costly to maintain, and sometimes do a mediocre — or worse — job of actually keeping grass alive.

patent-claimedGrowver is a lawn-watering robot that saves water by irrigating the lawn as it goes. Water sensors in the robot detect which areas of the yard are dry so that Growver can revive them. It works in conjunction with an Android, iOS and Windows app that enables users to track how their lawns are doing over time, adjust water levels, and also control Growver remotely.

The robot drives back and forth over the lawn and waters a 20-inch wide path. First, Growver’s sensors guide it along the boundary wire. After watering the perimeter, the product fills in the entire area using patent-pending sensor technology to follow the wet-dry transition. Measurements via grass moisture sensors and water-flow data also let Growver intelligently adjust watering depth. It stops automatically when the entire area is watered.

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Connected Objects

Postie connected thermal printer delivers printed messages from afar

Although mobile devices do a great job of helping people communicate with friends and family who live many miles away, there is just something special about custom, handwritten messages and drawings that people share with each other in person. That’s especially the case when there are kids involved.

Postie is a connected Bluetooth thermal printer that delivers small notes -– drawings or written messages — to family and friends who have downloaded a companion Android and iOS app. Before starting to send and receive messages, both the recipient and sender must install the app on their compatible smartphones. Next, the recipient must place the smartphone onto Postie to receive the messages.

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Connected Objects

The Messenger is the gift that keeps on regifting

Deciding on a gift is always a difficult decision no matter how close two people may be, but once the gift is decided on, bought, and subsequently given, the process is done and over.

With its Messenger, Nomadic Gifts is looking to extend the life of the process for years to come.  Inspired by the intrepid carrier pigeons of yesteryear, the Messenger is a small porcelain bird with a hole in its middle that can hold a rolled up, hand-written message. It comes encased in a lustrous bamboo box that doubles as a stand on which to place the messenger, but Nomadic Gifts doesn’t want it to be left and forgotten like other gifts. To do so, the company encourages recipients to hold onto the Messenger until another occasion for a gift comes up, at which point every recipient becomes a gifter again.

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