SmarTock – Backerjack

Coolest Clock immodestly takes its time, projects it on wall below

Having a projector in the home is a big deal. An adjustable screen capable of displaying all kinds of content in sharp, high quality fidelity is something anyone would be happy to have, mainly because of the versatility it affords. It turns out that magical things happen when projectors are combined with other things, too.

The aptly named Coolest Clock mixes a projector with a clock to offer people a little bit of everything when they look up at the wall. The name is a bit misleading, though — it isn’t only a clock, and for all intents and purposes it’s everything but a clock. Think of it as the home screen on a smart device, only bigger and littered with widgets for everything from social media notifications and live weather to breaking news and quotes. The Wi-Fi enabled module can hang anywhere on the wall, and both its projection size and clock skins are completely adjustable when used with an iOS app or web interface. The Coolest Clock is going for $179 now, shooting up to $199 later. The product is scheduled to ship in December 2015 if the $20,000 campaign goal is achieved.

The Coolest Clock is very multi-faceted and unsurprisingly boasts some other, useful task-oriented features like to-do lists and scheduled reminders. Unfortunately, the product lacks sound notifications unless a stretch goal is reached, a feature that should be in the main build anyway. The SmarTock is a similar product, but the Coolest Clock trumps it on sheer variety of options, making it an interesting purchase for those wanting something unique in their home.

Once computers and smartphones began surfing the Internet, streaming videos, playing games and also telling the time as a bonus, the wall clock and the wristwatch became obsolete in a hurry.

SmarTock is a wall clock for the 21st century. With Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support, apps for weather, wallpapers, calendars, and more, SmarTock is designed to provide the convenience and aesthetic of having a wall clock into a package that better fits modern times. Using an LCD display with 1080p resolution, SmarTock will be an appealing, modern addition to any home. Inventor Josh Cotton has set a financing goal of $99,000 to begin mass production. Buyers interested in a SmarTock can grab theirs for $179 to ship out in May 2015.

The idea here is solid enough, though whether this does enough to compete with the “smart” accessories is debatable. Compounding this problem is a lack of information or demonstration on the product’s campaign: the internals are explained, some questions are answered, but instead of more concrete details, too much space is spent on sample wallpaper ideas. This could be an idea with merit behind it, but only time will tell if there’s enough concrete work here to result in a competitive product.