Categories
Smart Home

Ivan not so terrible, keeps an eye on your place for few rubles

Home security used to be synonymous with pricey hardware and exorbitant maintenance fees. The advent of the Internet of Things has made that a thing of the past, instead using either base stations or the smartphones we all know and love to keep the home safe at a fraction of the cost.

These systems come in many shapes and sizes, but the Wi-Fi-enabled Ivan home security system is the size of a deck of cards. It’s also extremely simple in how it focuses on two main areas: security and IoT integration. Its use of a passive infrared movement detector, or a PiR, ensures that only body heat can trigger alerts sent to predefined family and friends through email, SMS, or Twitter. In an emergency situation, a dedicated panic button also does the same. When all is well, though, Ivan’s IFTTT integration allows users to control any other connected products in the home by using it as a remote control. Ivan is priced at $95 with an expected ship date of February 2016. Goio, the company behind Ivan, is looking for $98,000 before August 12, 2015.

The home security and sensor market is certainly crowded. The addition of Ivan to the mix only serves to make it more so. While its $95 price undercuts competing products like Presence, its lack of connectivity with smartphones and tablets may prove underwhelming for some. More fully featured products include the aforementioned Presence along with the SandboxHome.

Categories
Fitness Smartwatches/Bands

Avid is a cheap fitness watch with a Pebble-like button layout

We’re definitely in the era of the smartwatch, but the sad part is that they pretty much all do the same things. The Avid Multi-Sport Smart Watch adds to that massive list by being a watch you’ve seen before with a different name. It has a bevy of features for sports, including auto-course recognition, distance to the green, and scorecards for golfers, or calories burned, distance ran, and route tracking for runners. When you’re not out on the green or trying to best the time for your favorite path, the watch can control music on your smartphone and activate the shutter on your smartphone. In addition, its native push support can keep you up-to-date — it just won’t look too stylish doing it. The campaign is seeking $150,000 CAD (~$134,000 USD), with the opportunity to get your own Avid watch for just $99 CAD (~$88 USD).

The little things usually do count, but not when products like the inWatch Z are capable doing just the same with the addition of an HD camera, but even that watch didn’t hit its funding goal. The Avid would have been better served being a more focused product like the Zoi running system. Because it isn’t, the Avid suffers because it’s doing too many, already explored things at once.

Categories
Cell Phone Accessories Connected Objects

Relive the days of pagers with Smart Keychain

smartkeychainThe great thing about all-in-one devices is the way that they reduce both clutter and the bulky, pants-sagging weight caused by having a gadget for each function. Smart Keychain is one such device that combines a key-finder, a flash drive, and an email reader into a keyring display with a USB port. At the same time, the low-tech look and feel of the product and the bulky addition it makes to any keyring detracts from features mostly offered by the phone that isn’t being ousted from the pocket. There are some really good tools here, but this feels like an unnecessary reinvention of the beeper. Smart Keychain is available for $59.

 

Categories
Cell Phone Accessories Connected Objects

Noteu puts smartphone notifications on your desk to avoid pocket-pulling peeks

NoteuOne of the main reasons people are so obsessed with checking their phones is because of the litany of notifications that one can receive through the course of a day. Noteu is a small desktop screen that can connect to devices on the same network and display email, weather, and other notifications on a simple LED display that can be dismissed with a tap of the device. Devices like LEDmeKnow are certainly more aesthetically pleasing than this simple box, but Noteu does offer readable text. Either way, most people would probably be content to keep glancing at their phones and responding just as fast. Noteu can be picked up for £25 and will be out in October.

Categories
Tech Accessories

Privus encrypts digital communication to keep it from prying eyes

PrivusWith whistleblowers raising issue with online security from hackers and governments alike, encryption can be an important tool to protect privacy. The Privus system allows users to encrypt their emails, chats, and texts easily for complete privacy. All you need to know is in the first second of the video, as a CIA and NSA Surveillance Contractor declares the Privus encryption unbeatable. For a pledge of $25, backers can get access to Privus email encryption with a year’s subscription to Privus Premier. Those who want safe physical storage can add on a 16GB USB drive with Cipher-Key application for a total of $65.