Tag: apps

Categories
Music Technology

Stream delivers open source multi-room music streaming

Multi-room, Wi-Fi music systems have become increasingly popular as emerging technology standards in the category, including AllPlay, continue to try and gain a foothold. But Sonos and other options on the market, such as the Core multi-room speaker system, are too costly for many consumers, often coming in at $300 or higher.

Stream is being touted by its maker as a highly affordable option, coming in at $199. Like similar products, Stream enables users to listen to music from Spotify, Amazon, YouTube, iTunes and their own personal music collections in all rooms of their homes. It’s an open system that can be connected via a free app for Android and iOS devices. Alternatively, iOS users can run Stream via AirPlay. Stream will ship in May. Its maker is looking to raise $50,000 by March 24 to give the manufacturing supplier a first order and pay for research and tooling costs, according to Stream’s Indiegogo campaign.

Stream holds promise largely because of its price tag, which separates it from much of the rival pack. But it’s not clear if that will be enough of a selling advantage. For now, the actual quality of Stream’s sound isn’t known, and that’s the most important feature of any music system.

Categories
Displays

Beam smart projector shows video, images from any light socket on any surface

editors-choicePico projectors that can be connected to Android and iOS mobile devices to display video and other content can come in handy at home and at the office when making presentations. Combining a pico projector with an LED light bulb into a device that can be connected to any light socket could make it even more handy.

patent-claimedThat’s precisely what the makers of Beam have created. It’s an always-connected 100-lumen LED projector that promises 20,000 projection hours, and comes equipped with an LED light, two 2-watt speakers and 8 GB of onboard storage. Beam features a tapered, cylindrical design that’s designed to accommodate any standard light socket. Any electronic device can be connected to Beam, including mice, keyboards, game controllers, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth speakers, and smartwatches.

Beam turns any flat surface into a big screen, whether it’s a table, ceiling, floor or wall. It also enables users to listen to music via its speakers. Beam can be programmed to do a wide range of things, such as play music or display certain content at specific times each day, or whenever somebody turns on connected Bluetooth speakers or starts the Beam app. It will ship at $399 in October. Beam’s maker set a goal of raising $200,000 by March 24. That money will be used to complete Beam development and start production, according to its Kickstarter campaign.

Beam, which is featured in Backerjack’s Episode 7 podcast, holds a great deal of promise. Its multi-functionality and unique design help it easily stand out from the growing number of pico projectors on the market, including TouchPico.

Categories
Connected Objects Wallets

Where’s Wallet calls home to your smartphone to avoid being misplaced

Forgetting or misplacing a wallet can be a major inconvenience — especially if it’s left in a public place and has a lot of cash and credit cards in it.

Where’s Wallet is a twist on the increasingly popular Bluetooth item finder that solves that dilemma. It’s a wallet that features a hidden sensor inside. Users just have to download a free Android or iOS app, set a notification range, and their smartphone/wallet will beep to alert them the moment they step beyond that preset distance. Its maker is fielding the product in three versions: a $49 slip model, a $69 bi-fold version and a $99 clutch version. Each will ship in August. Its maker is trying to raise $30,000 through Kickstarter by March 22.

Where’s Wallet is a clever entry in the Bluetooth tracking device category. Applying the technology to a wallet is a no-brainer, and should be especially appealing to consumers with a tendency to misplace their valuables. However, the specific application has a drawback in that some consumers will prefer a small tracking device like TrackR Bravo that can be attached to the object of their choice. For example, folks who are more likely to misplace their keys than their wallet.

Categories
Automotive Connected Objects Imaging Safety

CarVi driving assistant lets you keep more eyes on the road

editors-choiceMany folks have been tempted by the high-tech safety features in newer cars, but wish there was a way to get them into their existing vehicles economically.

That is the goal of the makers of CarVi, a small, circular black driving assistance device that attaches easily via a bracket onto the windshield of just about any car. The device adds an extra set of eyes, monitoring a driver’s position in a lane and the location of the car in front of it. CarVi warns drivers if they are too close to the car in front, and if it senses any potential trouble will issue audible and visual warnings.

The device comes equipped with a camera capturing 720p HD video that CarVi analyzes in real time. Owners can set it to record 40-second to one-minute video onto a memory card whenever certain events occur, such as tailgating incidents. The user can then transfer that video to an Android or iOS smartphone for viewing later. Alternatively, CarVi can function as a full-time recorder if the driver desires. CarVi can also provide suggestions via the accompanying app on how to improve driver skills after the car is turned off. CarVi will cost $299 when it ships in August. Its makers are hoping to raise $100,000 by March 20.

The device holds some promise, especially for elderly drivers and the parents of new drivers. But similar products, such as Truvolo and Zubie, have already offered the same kind of functionality with varying degrees of success. While the warnings could indeed help drivers avoid accidents, it remains to be seen if many drivers will actually be willing to hear tips about how to improve their driving once they turn the engine off.

 

Categories
Connected Objects

Luna smart bed cover covers all the bases to provide good night’s sleep

Objects all around keep getting smarter and smarter. But the bed, one of the most important things that people use every day and a key part of our health, isn’t getting any smarter.

The San Francisco-based makers of the Luna smart mattress cover are out to change that. Luna is able to manage the user’s bed temperature and tracks sleep habits using multiple hidden sensors, including an ambient light sensor and temperature humidity sensor. The thin cover can also be integrated with the user’s other smart home devices to turn off lights, lock doors, change the thermostat, or make sure coffee is brewed when the user needs it each morning. Luna’s dual zone technology provides the option for users and their partners to select different temperatures for each side of the bed.

Luna works with any kind of mattress, its maker claims. Backers who pledge $199 for a queen or full size cover, $219 for a king size cover, or $229 for a California king size cover when it ships in August. The $100,000 Indiegogo goal has been set to pay for product validation testing and tooling to manufacture enclosures.

The product holds great promise, going a few steps further than the ThinkPillow smart pillow and Beddit sleep and wellness tracker that are both more reliant on their apps than Luna is. An iPhone or Android smartphone is required only the first time the user installs Luna. Consumers who are sleep-challenged will find it especially valuable.

Categories
Food and Beverage Technology

SalivaScanner scans salads, sandwiches, soup for spit

If an order placed at a restaurant isn’t to one’s liking, there’s always the recourse of complaining or sending it back. Letting the food out of sight, however, leaves it open for all kinds of potential revenge if one has been something less than a gracious guest.

Tpatent-claimedhe SalivaScanner from San Diego-based Klein Electronics is a handheld device that scans food and can detect certain enzymes that are only found in human saliva. The company’s CEO notes that detecting saliva in one’s food has become more important than ever because Ebola can be transmitted through the exchange of bodily fluids. The scanner’s LCD will indicate if there is saliva in food and, if so, how much. An accompanying Android and iOS app will display more details and track data including the location of the incident and potentially report it to social media sites. No pricing for the device is listed at the Kickstarter campaign and none of the three rewards for pledges that are listed include the device itself. But Klein says the target price is $199. He is looking to raise $85,000 in order to finish developing the product.

The device might have some appeal as a novelty. But using the Ebola outbreak to help sell the device borders on fear mongering. And consumers who are so paranoid that they need to scan their food for saliva would likely be better off not eating out at all, or at least consider complaining to restaurant staff in a more civil way.

Categories
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.

Categories
Connected Objects

Tog controls Bluetooth devices, even when they get lost

It would be nice to be able to control multiple devices all from one hub. Especially when such a device has disappeared, maybe behind the pillows of a couch somewhere.

Tog is the latest Bluetooth-enabled button that can be used to remotely control Bluetooth LE devices including smartphones, laptops and lights. It can activate Siri or take a picture on a smartphone with no app required. The user can also configure it to control or mute music. The Tog design is open source, so it can be modified to do whatever fits the user. TogMods are magnetically attached modules that extend the functionality of Tog. An accompanying app is required to perform extra functions including locating the user’s smartphone when lost.

Backers who pledge $20 will get one Tog and TogMod in May as part of an early bird Kickstarter special. Tog is hoping to raise $50,000 by early February.

The product’s early bird pricing is cheap enough to attract some interest. However, just like with similar products, including Qblinks, there doesn’t seem to be enough of a reason for most consumers to spring for yet an extra smart device when they already have their smartphones so close at hand much of the time. However, if the phone gets lost, one may want to have Tog around as a backup.

Categories
Sensors/IoT

FishBit monitors the aquarium while you’re away, makes sure water is safe

Aquariums can be difficult enough to maintain while home. They become even more difficult to take care of when the owner is traveling.

That’s why San Francisco company Current Labs developed FishBit, an aquarium monitoring system that includes an iOS and Android app, a monitor and a controller. There are rival products on the market, such as the Digital Aquatics Lifeguard Aquarium Monitor, but such products can be harder to set up. In addition, they supply similar data, but don’t help users understand what the information means.

The FishBit BETA monitor gets placed inside the aquarium and measures pH, salinity and temperature. It also monitors the controller for other aquarium equipment, including lighting and pumps, and the FishBit app that’s accessible via a smartphone or Web browser. Backers pledging at least $299 have been promised delivery of the system in June. Current Labs is looking to raise $5,000 on Kickstarter

FishBit is a promising product that is bound to appeal to many aquarium owners, but there are a few question marks. For instance, it’s not clear how many of the niche base of consumers this is aimed at will be willing to pay. Still, those who love their fish can count on FishBit for aquarium help.

Categories
Technology

YoBox remembers what’s in moving boxes, stores data digitally

The stresses of moving are endless. Putting everything in boxes can be tedious and finding them again is a nightmare. People label their boxes, but there always seems to be minutiae that gets lost in the move.

The YoBox personal storage management system was designed around an Android and iOS app that works in conjunction with multi-colored YoBox sticker labels that are NFC and QR enabled. The user just has to take photos of all the items being put in a box or list the items in the box using the app, seal the box with a unique YoBox sticker label, scan the label using the app, name the box via the app, and confirm it. Once registered, the YoBox info will be saved onto a secure cloud server and stored there.

For a $20 pledge, backers will get a set of 10 labels that each contain unique NFC and QR codes, allowing them to manage the storage of 10 boxes starting in April. The system’s Boston developer is looking to raise $20,000 on Kickstarter.

The storage management system seems cleverly designed. One downside is that the YoBox system may work better for Android device users than those with iPhones, which don’t provide NFC in reader mode. The QR code will still work on iPhones, but unlike NFC and other radio-frequency identification (RFID) technologies, QR codes requires line of sight, so the QR code must be legible to the camera. QR codes can also be damaged by environmental elements including extended sun or water exposure. Still, the idea is a clever way to match the convenience of digital with the necessity of keeping track of YoBox remembers what’s in moving boxes, stores data digitallyphysical items.