Tag: connected objects

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Apparel Connected Objects Sports

Turning Shoe helps athletes avoid injury and perfect their form

When playing baseball, golf or other similar sports, stress is often placed on the body when swinging a bat or club, throwing a baseball, or making other unnatural motions that the body is unaccustomed to.

patent-claimedThe Turning Shoe is a smart shoe designed to reduce this type of stress and impact to the body by promoting a more natural swinging motion for baseball and golf players. The Turning Shoe eDrive Plus adds a sensor that sends information about users’ movements to their smartphones via a mobile smartphone app. Its maker plans to ship the shoes in six color designs. Turning Shoes for baseball and golf will cost $299 each, while Turning Shoe eDrive Plus for the same two sports will cost $395 each. All will ship in October provided that a campaign goal of $50,000 is met by April 16.

 

Categories
Connected Objects Food and Beverage

Proscan scans food for nutritional content

It’s always best for everybody to know exactly what’s in the food they’re eating -– especially if they’re on a diet or have a serious allergy to foods such as peanuts. Unfortunately, a list of ingredients isn’t always available.

Proscan is a water resistant device that quickly scans any food and displays a list of the calories, energy, carbohydrates, protein, cholesterol and dietary fiber that it contains. The device works by using a load sensor, optical sensor (spectrometer), other advanced sensors and complex algorithms to analyze food and then display its nutritional content on the device’s touch-sensitive display screen or on a Bluetooth-connected iPhone, Apple Watch, Android device, or Windows Phone. In speaker mode, all scan results are read aloud via Proscan’s speakers.

Provided that a $50,000 goal is reached by April 14, Proscan will ship in December in a choice of a Beam (rectangular) model or a round version. The entry price is about $349 for a regular model. Proscan Mini versions will cost about $238, while customized versions with color options and engraved wording will cost about $419. The Indiegogo campaign is slated to end on April 14.

There have been other food scanner campaigns in recent memory. The SCiO is one product that comes to mind, although that product was designed to analyze surrounding environments as well. If Proscan works as easily and seamlessly as it appears to in its Indiegogo campaign video, the product may very well hold some promise. Still, a pocket device like SCiO seems much more practical, especially when dining at a restaurant or traveling, which would seem to be when users would want it most.

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Connected Objects

A digital frame, Pigeon carries photos and videos to loved ones

Once upon a time, the digital picture frame was a popular product category. But consumers quickly grew tired of them, in part because they were too difficult to be used by many of the people who often received them as gifts, such as grandparents.

The Wi-Fi- and Bluetooth-enabled Pigeon largely resolves that problem as it allows photos and videos to be automatically downloaded to the frame via an Android or iOS app. As a result, users, and grandparents in particular, won’t be stuck staring at the same 10 photos for years on end, which was sometimes the case with older digital frames that often relied on memory cards. The 10-inch frame has built-in speakers, 2 GB of onboard storage, and USB connectivity for when Wi-Fi isn’t available. It can also be hung on the wall or onto a refrigerator via its magnetic back. Notably, photos and videos are also stored securely via Pigeon’s cloud service while a a motion sensor cleverly ensures that the frame is on only when somebody is nearby.

There are two versions of Pigeon to choose from along with a choice of five frames: the entry-level Winkie version costs $159 while the White Vision model, with backlit LED lighting and a rechargeable battery pack, costs $205. Its maker is hoping to raise $50,000 by March 19.

As mentioned in a recent Backerjack Podcast, there have been a few challenges to digital picture frames. The Pigeon digital frame, however, holds some promise thanks to its enhanced and more modern features. But there is still at least one fundamental cause for the declining interest in digital frames that no new frame –- including this or Fireside — will be able to address: the ubiquity of tablets which many grandparents can use with ease.

Categories
Smartwatches/Bands

Pebble Time arrives in time to go head-to-head with Apple Watch

The first Pebble smartwatch was so popular when it launched via Kickstarter in 2013 that its maker couldn’t supply enough to satisfy demand as it set a record fundraising. But, since then, Apple has created more buzz in the smartwatch category than any smartwatch to date. Pebble fans have likely been wondering what the company would do to remain relevant.

The new Pebble Time, being launched via another Kickstarter campaign, offers various enhancements over the two prior Pebble smartwatches, including certain unique features that not even the Apple Watch can claim. An example is the smart accessory port to be added later in 2015 that will provide a way for other companies to add additional sensors to Pebble Time. Pebble Technology has also boosted battery life to seven days and shifted from a black and white to a color e-paper display.

Also new are a microphone, a 20 percent slimmer design and a new timeline interface that highlights what’s important in the user’s day. The timeline organizes all kinds of relevant information, including appointments. And Pebble is asserting its independence from the smartphone platform makers via Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that can push information from the Internet directly to the timeline without any apps required. Another feature coming later this year is voice to text, which adds voice recognition to the user’s apps. Pebble Time is fully compatible with the more than 6,500 existing Pebble apps for iOS and Android. The company is also fielding the new model in three colors: black, red and white. And unlike the original that was months away at the time of its campaign, Pebble Time is shipping in May at $199. The company has set a goal of raising $500,000 by March 27.

While it’s starting to be a very crowded space. Pebble Time has potential thanks to its wide set of features, and brand recognition. It remains to be seen if the Time has what it takes to slow the Apple Watch juggernaut, although as noted on the special edition of the Backerjack podcast devoted to it, the new Pebble model has a clear price advantage over the $349 and up Apple device..

 

Categories
Lighting Music

BROOGS Smart Lamp charges devices, plays music, and lights the way with portable lantern

The beauty of the new, connected world slowly being forged is the transformation of ordinary parts of the home that are taken for granted into dynamic, living devices that can be interacted with in so many new ways. With this in mind, BROOGS has taken the humble lamp and pumped it full of interesting ideas.

The BROOGS Smart Lamp is minimalist and elegant in every way. The use of touch controls on the slickly curved device itself eliminates the presence of protruding buttons, while the portable LED lantern docked within gently lights surroundings. USB ports on its side allow users to charge their devices, and hiding within is a Bluetooth speaker that can interface with an iOS or Android device to stream music. It doesn’t only use the Bluetooth connection for sound, but also to push notification alerts from a device to the lamp, expressing them with the more than 16 million colors and the limitless combinations they that the lamp can create. A white BROOGS Smart Lamp is now $150, which is $49 off what it will be priced for retail.

The BROOGS Smart Lamp is a sleek addition to any home. The quantity of color combinations is mind boggling, and those who like reading before bed will find the gentle light much more soothing the harsh light of a ceiling light or tablet screen. Other interesting takes on smart lamps include the LIVING Room Lamp and LumiSmart, the latter being almost an assistant in the way it recognizes a routine after some time. When compared to other offerings on the market, the BROOGS Smart Lamp has looks, but lacks other factors that could truly separate it from everything else.

The $50,000 campaign is looking to raise its funding by March 13, and expects to ship the product in May of this year.

Categories
Connected Objects

Swiping with Swyp helps lighten your wallet

Walking around with a wallet filled with multiple credit, gift and store loyalty cards can be a major hassle—especially when they can barely even fit in the wallet anymore.

The company Qvivr has come up with a solution to that dilemma called Swyp (pronounced Swipe). The next-generation electronic wallet is a thin electronic device that looks, feels and works just like a conventional credit card, but the device has a chip that can store account information for up to 25 cards, eliminating the need to carry around all the extra bulk. The user can select any of the programmed cards using buttons on Swyp and a graphical image will show which card is being used at any given time. The user’s name, account number and expiration date are all displayed on the card, and the magnetic stripe on the back is programmed to transform Swyp into the chosen card.

Swyp is designed to work any place where the user can swipe a standard plastic card, and should work in any location that accepts magnetic stripe-based cards issued in the U.S. Swyp has been designed to conveniently learn from the user’s behaviors, patterns and surroundings to predict what card they will be using for the next purchase. Users can also share and exchange gift cards with other Swyp users. Swyp can also be used to electronically capture and organize receipts using an accompanying smartphone app. For security, it will lock up and stop working if the user’s smartphone is out of range. Older, similar devices include the Coin and Plastc, but those products can only store up to eight and 20 cards, respectively. Swyp is also similar to mobile wallets, but the latter only work with NFC-enabled terminals.

Consumers can buy Swyp direct from the company’s own Web site for $49 as part of an early bird special. It is expected to cost $99 at retail when it ships this fall.

Categories
Connected Objects Health and Wellness

Track bites instead of calories with the Count Bites connected wristband

Counting calories is a drag. Common methods are usually pretty cumbersome, and apps don’t help as much as it seems. Plus, who likes having to do math every time they eat?

The Count Bites band and app aim to shift the user’s focus from calories to bites instead. While no one method is inherently superior, bites are far easier to track than hundreds of daily calories. Both the Bluetooth wristband and companion app feature a single button for tracking purposes, so dieters can use it to set goals and monitor portions over time. The campaign is looking to raise $25,000 by March 3, and have the $30 band shipped out in June of this year.

Although the campaign does admit to the potential of cheating, it insists that beginning a diet by focusing on reducing the amount of food rather than micromanaging the type of food being consumed is far more beneficial for those with a BMI over 25. Instead of other fitness bands like the Jaha or Arcus that keep fit people fit, Count Bites seems like it could be a good fit for a larger swath of the population that doesn’t have the healthiest of habits.

Categories
Lighting

Swan-like Showcome lamp offers many methods of control

For those who find the words “on” and “off” to be boring and predictable, there is now a light that responds to the word “aladdin” instead. And yes, it is shaped like a lamp, sort of.

Probably more of a cross between a swan and a lamp. But Showcome also responds to other forms of communication. It also offers a Smartphone app, motion-sensor control for hands-free operation, and touch control that also allows the user to adjust how much light is being given off. The LED light source also offers potential room-to-room portability with a height of just over two feet and a width of just over seven inches.

The cord may be a bit short, though, at only 5.9 feet, depending on where and for what purpose one wants to use it. For $58, backers get one product with an expected delivery of January 2015.

Categories
Sensors/IoT Smart Home

Zstat brings the heat (or cold) to your smart home, senses danger

Zstat 20140220113721-zss9[1]If you’re still suffering from the sticker shock of your last utility bill, Zstat might be able to take the bite out of the future ones. While not as sleek as the Nest. it costs considerably less and offers more safety features such as sensors for smoke, carbon monoxide, and air quality. It also comes in white or stainless steel and is easily controlled with the Zstat app or text messages. For at least $100, early bird backers get the version with the safety features and an expected delivery of August 2014.