There have been a growing number of connected pill boxes in recent months that remind people to take their medications on time.
VV-Box is yet another medication-tracking pill box. But one thing that sets it apart from at least certain rivals, like Liif, is that VV-Box features a customized voice reminder. A personal greeting can be recorded, allowing people to remind their loved ones by voice to take their medicine.
Anti-snoring devices can cut back on not only snoring, but the sleeplessness and annoyance suffered by people who sleep with those who snore.
Unlike Snor and SnoreNoMore, two recent devices whose inventors have sought crowdfunding for, Nora is an anti-snoring device that’s non-evasive, not requiring users to stick any tubes or other items inside their mouths. Nora is instead made up of a small white device resembling a mouse that gets placed on the user’s night table and is tapped before sleeping, and a flat, padded insert containing a mini pump that inflates and deflates when somebody starts snoring, slightly moving any pillow that it is placed in. That gentle movement stimulates the upper throat muscles and lets snorers’ breathing return to normal, without waking them or their companions up, according to the campaign.
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.
Some car enthusiasts would probably love to capture video footage of what’s happening around them on the road while driving –- especially while racing their vehicles.
Waylens is an action camera that, unlike the popular GoPro and other traditional action cams, was specifically designed to enable drivers to easily capture, edit and share video taken while they’re driving. The camera works in conjunction with a vehicle’s OBD-II on-board diagnostic system port and automatically turns on while driving. By plugging in to the information provided by the port, Waylens can display useful information to the driver while the camera end is capturing video, video that the campaign claims beats those of other action cameras. There’s also the option to overlay these measurements atop the video as we’ve seen from GPS-equipped action cams from Garmin.
There’s a growing number of multi-function robots on crowdfunding sites. While some consumers may find a few of them, such as JIBO, too robot-like to warm up to, other consumers may find a few of them, including the Personal Robot, too creepy because of their attempts to seem human.
Buddy may avoid both of those problems because this new social robot that was designed to be a family companion is fairly cute. The robot’s face is featured on an integrated tablet and features two wide eyes and a small mouth that make it appear a bit like a friendly cartoon character. Preliminary tests with the Institute for Children with Autism found that its kid-friendly appearance makes it a good companion for children with special needs, according to Buddy’s Indiegogo campaign.
A friend or relative is knocking on the door. Great, now comes the wrenching decision to get up from the couch to let that person in. A connected door lock could come in handy, allowing couch potatoes to let somebody in with just a click on a smartphone app.
LazyLocks is an aptly-named and inexpensive connected door lock that works in conjunction with a free Android and iOS app. It can be easily connected to any door without replacing an existing lock, according to its Indiegogo campaign. LazyLocks uses Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, and displays the status of users’ home doors right on their smartphones, wherever they are.
The digital picture frame category was once hugely popular, but has sunk into a funk in recent years as photo sharing has gone mobile.
The makers of Oko are hoping to drum up renewed interest in the category by offering new features and focusing on social network interactivity. For example, Oko will let users follow hashtags and enable the device to display the best pictures and videos that are uploaded on social media networks. Features planned for the near future include voice control and, in a future version of Oko, cloud storage.
After failing to reach its Kickstarter goal of raising $217,000 for the Mikme wireless recording microphone early this year, Mikme Audio is giving Indiegogo a try with a new campaign for the device. The company has, however, opted for a much more modest goal of raising $25,000 by July 26 this time.
Mikme allows users to record quality audio with just the single touch of a button. The company has done some work above and beyond its Bluetooth connection to stream audio reliably to its iOS and Android companion app. Users can use the app to simply save, mix, edit and share their recordings and can mix up to eight tracks. The device comes with 8 GB of onboard memory, enabling up to 180 hours of recording. Other features include a gold-plated condenser capsule. Mikme will ship in November and cost $299 at retail.
With its single button devoted to recording, the device remains a good option for consumers looking for a simple, high-quaity microphone that offloads all the user interface to an app for easy editing and sharing.
There have been several onboard diagnostics (OBD) devices for cars introduced already. Some have focused on a single main function. In the case of GoFar, for example, it was fuel efficiency.
Vinli seems a bit more ambitious, coming with a wide range of apps. It’s an OBD-II device that’s been designed to quickly transform any older vehicle into a smart car. The device adds Wi-Fi to a vehicle using T-Mobile’s 4G LTE network, allowing the car to always be connected. Like other OBD-II devices, its maker is stressing how easy it is to set up, saying it takes only seconds to connect it to a car’s data port located under the dashboard. Drivers can then use the connection to stream media and send data.
Networked wireless speaker systems are becoming increasingly popular, driven largely by the Sonos brand. But good speakers in this product category can be costly and aren’t typically designed so that they can be used outdoors
Kien is a modular networked home audio system that lets users set up wireless speakers wherever they want –- inside or outside the house. In addition to being less expensive than many rival products, Kien also comes in a wider choice of colors than most speakers. It will be fielded in black, blue, green, red and white models, allowing consumers to better match the speakers with the colors inside their rooms. The system will ship in March 2016 and is made up of satellite speakers at $249 each and a $399 subwoofer.
The satellites are portable and operate on battery power. They can be recharged by placing them on the subwoofer. Placing the satellites next to the subwoofer via their interlocking design also creates a soundbar. Kien’s makers set an Indiegogo goal of raising $50,000 by June 17.
Kien’s design and easy portability help set it apart from most rival products on the market. Another strong feature is Dynamic Sweetspot: it tracks users’ locations and the sweet spot will follow them around so that music will always sound best wherever they’re standing, simmilar to Mass Fidelity’s smaller Core project. Unlike the similarly modular aiFi speaker, Kien is a Hi-Fi audio solution. But, like any speaker featured on a crowdfunding Web site, it’s impossible to tell from its campaign alone just how strong its audio quality is.