Categories
Cell Phone Accessories Imaging

Smart Shoot shows your smartphone around a scene for picture-perfect control

Smartphones have become the go-to device for many people to take photos and shoot video with. But they tend to lack several of the high-end features that are typically featured in standalone digital cameras and camcorders, including facial recognition.

Smart Shoot is a pan and tilt, motorized mount for smartphones that provides face recognition, intelligent tracking and free-hand shooting. It uses Bluetooth and works in conjunction with Android and iOS smartphones The product starts shipping in June. Future pricing isn’t provided via its Kickstarter campaign. But early bird backers can get one for a pledge starting at $88. Its maker hopes to raise $80,000 by April 3.

The device has some things in common with Galileo and Swivl, two earlier Kickstarter-funded projects. However, Galileo is designed to work with iOS mobile devices and GoPro cameras, while Swivl can be used with Android and iOS devices, as well as DSLR cameras. The largest potential obstacle for Smart Shoot is that –- from its campaign video, anyway — it doesn’t seem to move as smoothly as the earlier devices.

Categories
Connected Objects Music

Aset and Pharaoh smart headphones turn Android on its ear

Wireless headphones provided a major boost to the headphone market. One reason why is that doing away with the cord made it much easier –- and safer — to use headphones while exercising.

patent-claimedThe patent-pending, over-the-ear Smart Listening Device (SLD) headphones take Bluetooth headphones one step further by adding the Android operating system, enabling users to download music and other media files directly to the headset. Other features include a built-in pedometer to track fitness accomplishments, USB connectivity, built-in GPS, and built-in internal microphones for phone calls and Skype conversations. Each set of headphones can play 8 hours after less than an hour of charging its lithium battery.

Categories
Lifestyle Technology

TableTalk lets you hear others talking no matter the noise level

It’s often annoying when the noise is so loud in a restaurant or other public gathering spot that it’s hard to hear what companions are saying.

patent-claimedTableTalk is a patented assisted listening system made up of a base station and headsets. The digital signal processor (DSP)-equipped system uses Bluetooth and advanced noise cancellation technology to make conversations clearer regardless of how noisy it is, according to its Kickstarter campaign. TableTalk connects up to five people.

Categories
Connected Objects Travel

AirBolt will help prevent your luggage from disappearing into thin air

Luggage security is an ongoing concern for travelers. But traditional luggage locks are problematic for several reasons, whether they require keys or combinations. The keys are easy to lose, while combinations are easy to forget.

AirBolt is a smartphone-controlled travel lock that doesn’t require a key or users to remember combinations. The device is relatively small and features a die-cast zinc body, along with a rugged stainless steel rope that allows users to attach AirBolt to places that include a bag’s zipper. It operates on Bluetooth 4.2 and features a rechargeable Lithium-ion battery that lasts for one year, according to AirBolt’s Kickstarter campaign.

Categories
Connected Objects Cycling

Revolights illuminates a more connected vision of bike lights with its Eclipse+

A complete lighting system that properly illuminates all types of bicycles no matter its make or model has been a thorny problem for a long time. At least that’s what most people commonly think. After two Kickstarters, the army of backers that have made both successes seem to think it has figured it out. Now, they’ve made their way back to the crowdfunding world—this time, on Indiegogo—to introduce their Eclipse+ connected bike lighting system.

The Eclipse+ is a refinement of the original Eclipse model. While it still provides 360º illumination, the lack of cables and addition of snap-in rechargeable batteries for power makes the entire unit easier to install. But the biggest improvement comes in its Bluetooth connectivity, adding a wide-array of features facilitated by the companion Revolights iOS/Android smartphone or smartwatch app.

Categories
Input

SOMATO makes keyboard keys rise up, demand to be felt by budding typists

Many educators agree that the influx of new technology in school over the past 10 to 15 years has led to a decrease in the quality of handwriting.

To the team behind SOMATO, this is troubling because it’s indicative of a loss of tactile character recognition — essentially, how cognitively involved people are in the act of typing. To address the declining connection between our physical and mental processes when composing words, keycaps with raised bump structures were developed to be used on any physical QWERTY keyboard.

Categories
Sensors/IoT Smart Home

Koto trio of sensor cubes monitor your home’s environent

One of the keys to a healthier lifestyle is as basic as the air we breathe, but that can easily be forgotten because of hard it can be to know exactly what to do to make it better even in our own homes.

To help, the Koto family of smart sensors has been designed to make sure you have all the information needed to make the proper health decisions. The system actually consists of three products. The Koto Blink is a tiny box filled with sensors measuring temperature, humidity, light, and noise, all in an effort to make your living space more comfortable.

The Koto Air is an upgraded Blink, combining its sensors with an air pollution and dust sensor to create a fuller picture of the home and a more robust set of data with which to make the subtle adjustments to the home necessary to stave off mold in older homes, for example.

Categories
Smart Home

Angee’s all-seeing eye protects your home from nefarious ne’er-do-wells

Typical home security systems require a lot of input from users every time they leave and enter the home. And while they might alert authorities to sinister plots on your valuable goods, by the time they arrive it’ll have been too late anyway. A smarter type of security system is needed to serve as the best deterrent possible.

Angee has a good shot at making waves in a segment rife with connected security solutions that pretty much all do the same thing. The portable, lightweight device is outfitted with a 360° camera, allowing Angee to track all motion directly around it, record one hour of HD video, and stream video to an iOS or Android tablet from which it can be shared. Angie’s portability makes it so that users can move it to any room but to truly get the most out of her, security tags mounted at entry points throughout the home can expand Angee’s monitoring range. This offers users more peace of mind through more comprehensive security benefits, at-the-door identification, and pinpointed zone detection in the case of a curious toddler, for example.

Categories
Connected Objects Cycling

LIVALL connected bike helmet blings out your ride

For far too long, bike helmets have been left in the closets and basements of homes all across the United States despite how effective they are stopping at preventing all types of injuries. The reason? Most would mention how bike helmets much besides make them look silly, a sorry excuse now that the LIVALL Bling Helmet is here.

The LIVALL Bling Helmet is a bicycle helmet that features Bluetooth connectivity alongside a two sets of LEDs and a three-axis gyroscope, all in an effort to improve communication and safety for cyclists everywhere. Bluetooth connectivity in conjunction with a built-in mic gives riders the option to to walkie-talkie other members of the group, take calls from others, or just ride along to music from the smartphones.

A dual set of LEDs, up top and on the back, ensure other members of the riding group, pedestrians, and motorists all have a good idea of where the cyclist is, while the three-axis gyroscope sets off an SOS alert and contacts help when the cyclist is thrown off due to an accident. All of these features are facilitated with the Bling Jet handlebar controller working in tandem with the LIVALL app on iOS or Android.

Categories
Connected Objects Health and Wellness

Nicotrax connected cigarette case helps you to kick the stick

Even though smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the world, millions still do it every single day. Most of these people know how to quit, too, but it’s been proven that simply knowing how to doesn’t make it any easier. In any case, most solutions deal with the chemical dependency created by a smoking habit while ignoring the social and mental aspects that also contribute, making it very difficult to truly quit.

Nicotrax is aiming to give smokers a lot more support with its Bluetooth-connected cigarette case. Its Bluetooth-connected cigarette case tracks cigarette use over time with the accompanying iOS or Android app. Each time one is taken from the case, it relays information about the time and location taken along the people the user was with, all in an effort to identify unknown triggers.