Distracted driving remains one of the largest causes of car accidents in the U.S. The makers of SafFone are out to provide a solution to that problem.
SafFone (pronounced Safe Phone) is a small black device that easily clips onto a vehicle’s driver-side sun visor and allows the user to select any preset phone number at the touch of a button. The device uses Bluetooth low energy technology for RF communication using 2.4 GHz radio frequencies.
Since the dawn of the digital camera and years into the smartphones imaging revolution that launched billions of photos around the Internet, syncing up photos with friends, family and fellow party guests is a game of jumping through digital hoops using a barrage of services with different tradeoffs: Facebook, Dropbox, Google Photos, iCloud photo sharing and on and on.
XY Share It offers a twist on photo sharing that addresses the sometimes surprisingly difficulty in sharing photos with mobile devices that may be right next to you. By introducing a small Bluetooth gadget similar to the locator tags (such as the one created by the company) that have deluged crowdfunding platforms, one can easily and securely share photo with those who have the tag. Essentially, the small squareish device acts as an authentication device.
It’s a common nightmare for dog owners: their beloved pet has run out of the house and they can’t find the pooch anywhere.
Where’s Nellie is a GPS tracking device designed to ease a dog owner’s mind if their pet runs off and can’t be found. The Nellie Beacon attaches securely to a dog’s collar and works in conjunction with an iOS and Android app. The beacon communicates up to six miles away with the included Nellie Base unit. If a dog is missing, the owner just has to press the locate button on the app and, in a few minutes, Where’s Nellie will pinpoint the location of the dog on the smartphone. It costs $179 and will ship in January. Its maker is hoping to raise $100,000 by May 16.
The device has promise despite coming along after several similar products, including Lucky Tag and WUF. However, Nellie seems to be superior to several rivals in a few ways. First, it makes use of several radio technologies. If the base unit is near the beacon, it uses Bluetooth LE technology. But if the dog is out of range, Semtech’s LoRa long-range wireless solution is used instead. If the pet owner wants to pinpoint exactly where the dog is, GPS is used.
Second, there are no monthly fees involved. Third, its batteries will last more than 365 days because the Beacon’s patent-pending technology uses low-power components and software, according to its Kickstarter campaign. That’s far more battery life than most rival products.
A good night of sleep is one of the most important things to maintain a healthy life. But all too often people have issues when trying to sleep, sometimes without even knowing it.
Chrona is a thin foam insert that transforms any pillow into a smart pillow. Combined with an app for iOS, Android and Windows Phone mobile devices, Chrona serves as a sleep optimization system that tracks and optimizes sleep using sound. The Bluetooth Low Enery device not only tracks users’ sleep by movement, but it also improves their sleep through the use of acoustics. Depending on where users are in their sleep cycles, Chrona uses low-frequency sounds to help them sleep more deeply or high-frequency sounds to prepare them to wake up. Chrona costs $169 and ships in December. Its maker has set a Kickstarter goal of raising $50,000 by May 18.
One of the product’s advantages is that it doesn’t require an uncomfortable wearable. But it faces competition from a growing number of products that promise pretty much the same thing, including Proper Pillow Plus and SliiP.
The carbon monoxide detector is a must-have device. But there are many potential toxins in the air other than carbon monoxide that can be dangerous to people also — especially the very young and elderly and those with compromised immune systems and respiratory ailments.
Air Mentor is a Bluetooth Smart device with built-in industrial grade sensors that measure home air quality and can detect pollutants including carbon dioxide, particulate matters and volatile organic compounds such as carbon monoxide, aromatic hydrocarbons and organic acids. The triangular device can be placed on any flat surface in the home or office, and is used in conjunction with an Android or iOS app. Cloud computing software automatically analyzes indoor air patterns.
One of five colors lights up on the device to signal the air’s quality: green for good air quality, yellow for moderate, orange meaning the air is unhealthy for sensitive people such as those with asthma, red meaning the air is unhealthy for everybody, and purple signaling very unhealthy air. The device costs $249 and ships in May. Its maker is hoping to raise $15,500 by May 8.
Air Mentor holds promise, especially for consumers with compromised immune systems and those with chronic respiratory conditions including asthma. But consumers looking for a more portable device that performs some of the same functions might opt for something like the Scarab wearable air pollutant detector.
Many parents with small kids know how hard it can be to convince some children to brush their teeth regularly, and to do it well.
Playbrush is a device that attaches to the end of any conventional toothbrush, transforming the brush into an interactive game controller that can be used in conjunction with iOS (and later Android) mobile devices. When the user starts the app on their smartphone or tablet, the gadget will automatically connect to it via Bluetooth Low Energy (Bluetooth Smart) technology. Playbrush costs $72 and will ship in December. Its maker is hoping to raise $51,887 by May 9.
Playbursh is a device with potential, especially for parents of young kids who either try and avoid brushing altogether or race through the process in just a few seconds. Turning brushing into a fun activity might very well be the trick to get at least some of them to change their ways. That said, it’s impossible to tell from the Kickstarter campaign video just how strong the initial game itself is. If it’s just one weak repetitive game, those kids may very well get bored after a week or two and parents will be left with the same problem they started with. To address this potential problem, the device’s maker plans to add multiple worlds, levels and characters.
A comfortable pillow is just as important as a good mattress to provide a good night of sleep. Most pillows, even the best orthopedic ones, however, can’t quantify just how well the user is sleeping.
The Proper Pillow Plus is a smarter version of the existing Proper Pillow, created by the same inventor. The Proper Pillow was designed to support optimal alignment with both back and side sleeping positions. Proper Pillow Plus builds on that and adds the quantification of sleep patterns with the assistance of a mobile app. A sensor network of pressure receptors built into the pillow tracks the user’s sleep experience and relays that data directly to the Proper Pillow Plus app via Bluetooth Low Energy. Among other things, Proper Pillow Plus can gauge what sleeping position and head orientation generate optimal sleep conditions. Proper Pillow Plus costs $60 and ships in April. Its maker is hoping to raise $375,000 via an Indiegogo campaign by April 18.
The product holds promise if it can truly and accurately measure sleep patterns and, more importantly, if it’s comfortable. That said, these two variables are impossible to gauge from a campaign video. Those are two of the same issues faced by similar products that have sought crowdfunding, including ThinkPillow.
Many traditional personal emergency response devices are limited in that they they traditionally keep seniors tethered to their homes. That’s an outmoded way in the era of powerful wearables.
Kanega Watch was designed to replace traditional emergency alert devices for seniors and doesn’t require a smartphone to operate. As an added plus, it’s more fashionable than many standard watches on the market. The company claims that focus groups have called Kanega a wearable version of OnStar for seniors because it provides discreet support for falls, medication reminders, and a guard against wandering, according to its Kickstarter campaign.
Kanega uses an easy speech interface rather than buttons and also features Bluetooth Smart technology and patent-pending quick-swap batteries that peel away from the watch for charging. The product costs $299 and will ship in February 2016. A separate charging cradle with two additional batteries is included. Replacement batteries are provided free with a monitoring service that costs $35 to $85 a month depending on the service level chosen.
Kanega mostly relies on emergency notification but there have been other products that focus more on passive monitoring. Lively focuses on monitoring independent seniors in their homes although the company has come out with a wearable.
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.
Stryd 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.
The Premise. Mobile devices open up the possibility to communicate and collaborate from any location, any time. However, the need to move the keyboard to a touch screen has also reshaped communication down from the blog post and the email to the tweet. What can be done when a full-length message needs to be sent on the go?
The Product. BestBoy is a chorded keyboard that attaches to the back of mobile devices and offers six buttons that users can press to type any characters they should need in communicating. The device operates on Bluetooth Smart technology and offers Braille support, buttons for gaming, and a web-based app is even available for users to get used to how they can type with the keyboard. With practice, using the BestBoy will offer desktop keyboard-style typing speeds and reduce the risk of Repetitive Strain Injury.
The Pitch. The primary video for the BestBoy campaign is literally all talk, with no sign of the product itself. A video is then shown from an older prototype from 2011, with a bit more of a comedic angle. It shows off how the product would look in action and also gives viewers an idea of how long this keyboard has been in development. The explanation of the campaign goes into what steps that journey required, and how the development of Bluetooth Smart has given it new life. BestBoy wants to raise $50,000 to pay for the prototype and production phases.
The Perks. BestBoy is offering its unique brand of control for those that pledge $23 to their campaign. Larger quantities are available from two to 40 keyboards ranging in price from $53 to $699.
The Potential. Will we see the BestBoy at Best Buy? Probably not any time soon. As the developers admit. the chorded keyboard is nothing new, with the Infogrip BAT serving a niche for years now. The solution isn’t extremely advanced or innovative like Grippity, but the company is wise to point out less obvious applications of this device. The idea of having a functional, fast keyboard for mobile devices is one thing, but if it takes learning, one might as well learn Braille while they’re at it. Having real physical buttons to press during mobile gaming is attractive as well, but in a lot of ways, it seems the market has spoken when it comes to keyboard redesigns, especially when two-in-one mobile devices offer such sleek, portable full-size keyboard options.