Categories
Music Technology

Stream delivers open source multi-room music streaming

Multi-room, Wi-Fi music systems have become increasingly popular as emerging technology standards in the category, including AllPlay, continue to try and gain a foothold. But Sonos and other options on the market, such as the Core multi-room speaker system, are too costly for many consumers, often coming in at $300 or higher.

Stream is being touted by its maker as a highly affordable option, coming in at $199. Like similar products, Stream enables users to listen to music from Spotify, Amazon, YouTube, iTunes and their own personal music collections in all rooms of their homes. It’s an open system that can be connected via a free app for Android and iOS devices. Alternatively, iOS users can run Stream via AirPlay. Stream will ship in May. Its maker is looking to raise $50,000 by March 24 to give the manufacturing supplier a first order and pay for research and tooling costs, according to Stream’s Indiegogo campaign.

Stream holds promise largely because of its price tag, which separates it from much of the rival pack. But it’s not clear if that will be enough of a selling advantage. For now, the actual quality of Stream’s sound isn’t known, and that’s the most important feature of any music system.

Categories
Displays

Beam smart projector shows video, images from any light socket on any surface

editors-choicePico projectors that can be connected to Android and iOS mobile devices to display video and other content can come in handy at home and at the office when making presentations. Combining a pico projector with an LED light bulb into a device that can be connected to any light socket could make it even more handy.

patent-claimedThat’s precisely what the makers of Beam have created. It’s an always-connected 100-lumen LED projector that promises 20,000 projection hours, and comes equipped with an LED light, two 2-watt speakers and 8 GB of onboard storage. Beam features a tapered, cylindrical design that’s designed to accommodate any standard light socket. Any electronic device can be connected to Beam, including mice, keyboards, game controllers, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth speakers, and smartwatches.

Beam turns any flat surface into a big screen, whether it’s a table, ceiling, floor or wall. It also enables users to listen to music via its speakers. Beam can be programmed to do a wide range of things, such as play music or display certain content at specific times each day, or whenever somebody turns on connected Bluetooth speakers or starts the Beam app. It will ship at $399 in October. Beam’s maker set a goal of raising $200,000 by March 24. That money will be used to complete Beam development and start production, according to its Kickstarter campaign.

Beam, which is featured in Backerjack’s Episode 7 podcast, holds a great deal of promise. Its multi-functionality and unique design help it easily stand out from the growing number of pico projectors on the market, including TouchPico.

Categories
Connected Objects Wallets

Where’s Wallet calls home to your smartphone to avoid being misplaced

Forgetting or misplacing a wallet can be a major inconvenience — especially if it’s left in a public place and has a lot of cash and credit cards in it.

Where’s Wallet is a twist on the increasingly popular Bluetooth item finder that solves that dilemma. It’s a wallet that features a hidden sensor inside. Users just have to download a free Android or iOS app, set a notification range, and their smartphone/wallet will beep to alert them the moment they step beyond that preset distance. Its maker is fielding the product in three versions: a $49 slip model, a $69 bi-fold version and a $99 clutch version. Each will ship in August. Its maker is trying to raise $30,000 through Kickstarter by March 22.

Where’s Wallet is a clever entry in the Bluetooth tracking device category. Applying the technology to a wallet is a no-brainer, and should be especially appealing to consumers with a tendency to misplace their valuables. However, the specific application has a drawback in that some consumers will prefer a small tracking device like TrackR Bravo that can be attached to the object of their choice. For example, folks who are more likely to misplace their keys than their wallet.

Categories
Automotive Connected Objects Imaging Safety

CarVi driving assistant lets you keep more eyes on the road

editors-choiceMany folks have been tempted by the high-tech safety features in newer cars, but wish there was a way to get them into their existing vehicles economically.

That is the goal of the makers of CarVi, a small, circular black driving assistance device that attaches easily via a bracket onto the windshield of just about any car. The device adds an extra set of eyes, monitoring a driver’s position in a lane and the location of the car in front of it. CarVi warns drivers if they are too close to the car in front, and if it senses any potential trouble will issue audible and visual warnings.

The device comes equipped with a camera capturing 720p HD video that CarVi analyzes in real time. Owners can set it to record 40-second to one-minute video onto a memory card whenever certain events occur, such as tailgating incidents. The user can then transfer that video to an Android or iOS smartphone for viewing later. Alternatively, CarVi can function as a full-time recorder if the driver desires. CarVi can also provide suggestions via the accompanying app on how to improve driver skills after the car is turned off. CarVi will cost $299 when it ships in August. Its makers are hoping to raise $100,000 by March 20.

The device holds some promise, especially for elderly drivers and the parents of new drivers. But similar products, such as Truvolo and Zubie, have already offered the same kind of functionality with varying degrees of success. While the warnings could indeed help drivers avoid accidents, it remains to be seen if many drivers will actually be willing to hear tips about how to improve their driving once they turn the engine off.

 

Categories
Personal Transportation

AirBoard personal aircraft promises an aerial revolution, puts Back to the Future on notice

The dreams of many people around the world envision a future where travel facilitated by personal hover vehicles is the norm. The most popular example is the hover board from the movie Back to the Future, something people are still patiently waiting for. If the AirBoard becomes a reality, the hover board may be outdated before it even exists.

By taking the idea of a Hiller Flying Machine and modernizing it, the team behind the AirBoard is claiming to have created the world’s smallest manned aircraft. Capable of clearing all sort of terrain with its ground collision detection system, the product is truly the stuff of sci-fi. It sports four rotors underneath to provide altitudes of at least four and a half meters, all in a package that, when opened, is just 71″ by 59″ tall. More impressively, it is three times smaller when closed, measuring a petite 31″ by 43″ tall—small enough to be put into a car’s trunk.

The combination of a powerful, Bluetooth-compatible Intel chip—along with a gyroscope and accelerometer—allows the AirBoard to be connected with a companion smartphone app for additional control, making it easy to pilot even for newbies.

The proposed product is truly unique and will prove revolutionary if the final price is reasonable. But, as impressive as the product seems to be, it’s extremely hard to believe that it will live up to its claims, with its tight production schedule and nary a video showing off at least a prototype. Although many will be rightfully excited by the idea, the campaign is floating on an awful lot of doubt for the time being.

$250 gets backers a priority ticket for the chance to purchase an AirBoard in late 2015, with a price TBD. The campaign is looking for $30,000 by March 21.

Categories
Sensors/IoT

Gas-Sense monitors low gas levels, helps protect homes from the cold

Wintertime is tough for those who live in four-season climates. Trying to keep the house warm can mean constant attention to gas and oil levels. And when those run out, it’s up to the oil companies to get to the house ASAP during their busiest time of the year.

patent-claimed Gas-Sense is a solution to that problem. Oil companies use estimates for how much oil or gas a house has left in its supply. However, really cold days can throw that data off. Gas-Sense is a gas sensor for a home’s LPG (liquified petroleum gas). Using Bluetooth LE, the sensor tells the accompanying iOS/Android app how much gas is left. Not only that, but it gives a percentage of the gas left as well as a timeline for when it should be refilled. Gas-Sense runs on a battery that lasts up to two years.

While most oil companies do have a good grasp on gas levels, Gas-Sense is still a nifty product for homeowners who worry. The installation instructions are a little unclear, however. The campaign says to “just slap it on.” Still, backers who want to stay warm no matter what can donate £35 (~$54) for their own Gas-Sense for delivery in June of this year. This product is looking to raise £14,000 (~$21,500) on Kickstarter by March 12.

Categories
Connected Objects Home

Listnr assists in controlling the Internet of Things with claps, stomps, and snaps

One of the easiest ways to interact with the environment is through sound, and voice-controlled technology is at the forefront of this potential. For instance, Amazon’s Echo is trying to make one’s own voice the cornerstone of the cloud-connected experience. But sometimes, things just don’t have to be that complex.

Billed as a user’s listening assistant, the Listnr pays more attention to sound than to voice. The device’s iOS app allows users to attach connected objects in the homes (like a Philips Hue lightbulb) to actions like clapping, stomping, or snapping fingers. As a result, hands full of groceries or a comfortable position in bed won’t be obstacles to devices in and around the home. In addition, the Wi-Fi-enabled device can send notifications to iPhones, and even identify the emotional tenor of the voices in the room.

Overall, the product can be useful but only with a wide variety of actions. Without that, it just isn’t as compelling. Early birds can grab a Listnr device for $99, due to ship in August of this year. The campaign is looking for $50,000 in funding by March 6.

Categories
Chargers/Batteries Connected Objects Luggage and Bags

AMPL charging backpack provides ample energy for your contraptions

What should be portable devices are anything but when people have to lug around external batteries, charging cases, and all types of wires just to keep them filled with energy throughout the day. Modern demands require the presence of constant sources of energy, but always fighting for an outlet isn’t the most practical solution.

Instead, the AMPL Smart Backpack lets users take the power with them. The shock absorber-lined, water-resistant backpack is outfitted with three compartments for swappable, high capacity batteries that are powerful enough to charge everything from smartphones, to tablets, to 17″ laptops. The batteries feature Onovo fast charging technology to charge the batteries to 80% in an hour to avoid staying stuck to walls. Located throughout the bag is a total of six USB ports that funnel the energy, monitored and controlled by either a small, touch-capable OLED screen, or a Bluetooth-enabled companion app that lets users prioritize what gets charged first, along with keeping an eye on the internal temperature—all without opening the bag.

This is the slickest conception of a smart charging backpack so far when compared to half-baked products like the Smart Charge Power Bag. The sheer power that can be carried around, coupled with the level of control the companion app gives users, makes this a clear winner for lots of people since these devices are so common. The $125,000 campaign is looking to get the $249 backpack out to backers by September of this year.

Categories
Connected Objects

Back to the Backers: Daisy app and sensor

What if plants could talk, and tell you exactly what they needed?

The Daisy app and its companion sensor were very recently covered by Backerjack, and detailed a horticulturally slanted, smartphone-enabled system that would alert users to the moisture, light, and temperature needs of all the greenery in their home or apartment. Unfortunately, not enough backers believed in the product, and it subsequently met a grim demise shortly after.

Now, Daisy is back with a much lower campaign goal of $5,000 versus the original’s $50,000. The product and the prices at which it was going for prior are exactly the same, so there have been no major modifications to the core idea—not that it was necessary. The sensor’s companion app does a lot of the heavy lifting by including an encyclopedia along with lots of customization options, too. A donation of $33 gets backers two Daisy sensors to be shipped in June of this year. Let’s see if it’ll have a much sunnier outcome this time around.

Categories
Health and Wellness

Diabeto makes diabetes easier to manage by syncing glucometer with smartphone

Diabetes affects many people, but the way to manage the disease is fairly basic. Those afflicted must constantly watch their glucometer to make sure they’re safe.

Now, like many other afflictions, diabetes can be monitored with a smartphone. Diabeto is a small device that transmits readings from a glucometer to a smartphone app, Web app, or Pebble smartwatch. That information is then stored in the cloud to make the data accessible from anywhere, which can be “useful for remotely monitoring children’s diabetes by parents or [a] healthcare practitioner,” as the Indiegogo page notes. The app allows one to track their mood, activity, carbohydrates, insulin levels and blood glucose. It was designed to be easy enough for children to use, and is small enough to look almost like a children’s toy.

Backerjack has seen many smart devices that focus on health, such as the Wishbone and Fever Smart. Diabeto joins a successful market and will certainly be useful to those with diabetes. Of course, as with all such devices, accuracy is super important, and if Diabeto errs, the result could be dangerous. Still, Diabeto’s compatibility with both Web apps, smartphone apps and the Pebble watch set it apart from similar products that only work with smartphones. For their own, backers must donate $59. Diabeto is hoping to raise $10,000 on Indiegogo.