Tag: pod

Categories
Personal Transportation

Ginzvelo pedal/electric hybrid vehicle gets you around town

Crowdfunding sites have seen plenty of bikes and bike accessories, e-bikes and even folding bikes. But while two-wheelers are often great for navigating the urban jungle, their open air nature can make using them in poor weather impractical, dangerous or — at the very least — messy.

Ginzvelo (rhymes with “Pins fellow”) is an enclosed recumbent three-wheeler that can be powered via pedals or electric motor under which it can achieve speeds of up to 30 miles per hour. The vehicle provides a transparent bubble-like roof/windshield and the whole exterior lifts up on a rear hinge to allow entry and exit.  Peter Ginzburg, for whom the vehicle is presumably named, seeks $50,000 by September 24th. Still in the early stages, Ginzvelo is offering a few early birds the chance to pick up early units for $3,000 without the motor or $6,000 with it. The vehicles should arrive by November.

Ginzvelo is certainly a bit chunkier than a regular bike, but the one-person vehicle, which has a little bit of storage space, is much smaller than a car and can be parked in a wide array of settings. Its enclosure, which adds to its bulk, makes it a far more versatile vehicle than most e-bikes — faster and better-protected. Still, until mass production ramps up, it’s tough to say whether it will be more successful than the Segway or other electric bike alternatives.

 

Categories
Pets Sensors/IoT

Pod pet locator can withstand the elements

When a pet goes missing, it creates a tense situation full of nerves and panic as the family members try and locate a living being that could be absolutely anywhere and is unable to pick up a phone or write.

Pod is a GPS tracker that can be clipped onto a pet’s collar that provides a mixture of tracking and social features to push notifications to phones when a dog or cat goes wandering off  unsupervised. In addition to being able to simply locate a pet, Pod functions as a sort of local social network for pet owners to compare running speeds or area explored. The tracker is lightweight and waterproof, so it won’t risk shorting out and won’t weigh the pet down or make it uncomfortable. Pod needs $50,000 to do its part in preventing lost pets. At the $149 pledge level, supporters can get this real time tracker and attach it to their beloved pets.

Anything that can prevent a lost or endangered pet is a great tool to have, although a lot of the core design is built around letting pets run free. That kind of attitude is not global, and owners will still be responsible for their pet’s behavior, so buyers beware.

Categories
Food and Beverage Organization

Abacus coffee pod rack aligns your pods in hanging squads

Most of us use Keurig machines or something quite similar. As a result, our cupboards are inundated with K-Cups, pods, and other products. The Abacus Pod Rack goes in the kitchen and attaches to the underside or just side of any cabinet. Coming in several colors, this rack won’t be an eyesore. It stores columns of pods/cups to make choosing the perfect beverage easier. To insert, slide up and in. To remove, just pull each cup out. It holds up to 36 pods and attaches with adhesive strips. One of these Aussie products will cost $19 AUD. Abacus hopes to raise $15,000 AUD on Kickstarter.

With the prevalence of convenient coffee machines in people’s home, this product makes sense for storage. It’s more for the beverage enthusiast who has lots of different flavors for their brewer. There are lots of other storage options out there, however, like the DecoBros organizer that keeps K-Cups in a mini drawer. Nonetheless, Abacus comes with the perk of keeping your counters clear by adhering to cabinets. While this may be more for the finicky of heart, it’s a great storage solution for those little pods that fuel America.

Categories
Food and Beverage Health and Wellness

Podlife Shaker serves up pods to help your bod

The Premise. Many believe that one key to optimal workouts is nourishing your body with the correct supplements. With proper nutrition, your muscles are better able to bulk up the way you want them to. You also avoid the dangers of becoming undernourished or dehydrated.

The Product. Taking a cue from popular single-cup coggee brewers, Podlife offers several different supplemental powders featuring different flavors such as Whey Protein in Chocolate & Vanilla, Thermogenic Fat Burning Whey Protein, Pre-Workout in Tropical Pine, Nootropics Pod, and SuperGreens: 100% Vegan Superfood. With the 300ml Podlife Shaker, health nuts can keep a pod safe in the bottom of their bottles and then simply push down to release the powder into the water and shake to mix it up. The Podlife Shaker looks like a simple, clear water bottle with black trim. It comes apart and is dishwasher safe for easy cleaning.

The Pitch. This Australian-made product’s video shows Podlife being used by beefy Aussies in the gym. The rest of the campaign talks about the products, shows the different pods being sold as well as pods that are slated for manufacturing in the future. Podlife is also donating 30 grams of rice to Rice for Cambodia for each pod sold. The podophiles hopes to raise $55,000 USD in a  45-day Indiegogo campaign.

The Perks. For $38, backers can enjoy the Podlife Shaker and a box set of 12 assorted pods. Higher reward tiers offer lots of bulk packages of pods and shakers alike. All tiers include free shipping to the US and Australia.

The Potential. People seem to love anything that combines health with convenience. Other bottles like the PROMiXX offer safe supplement storage, but don’t come in conveniently portioned out pods. PROMiXX, however, doesn’t rely on shaking, but has its own agitating device to make mixing easier. Based on the success of Keurig machines that offer coffee, tea and iced tea beverages, Podlife could have strong appeal to gym rats to keep themselves supplemented up before and after exercising, but of course one key will be making it easy and affordable to get the pods.