Categories
Technology

Pixxio home network drive lets you store, share all your digital stuff

The Premise. Media professionals in all sorts of industries are routinely inundated with tons of files from their many projects. This overwhelms either their desk with a mountain of unorganized hard drives, or their wallets with crazy expensive computers or storage solutions that are more complicated than they’re worth.

The Product. The team at pixx.io is presenting their product, the aptly named pixx.io box, as the solution to these woes. The relatively pint-sized box packs a serious punch, housing a quad core Intel Celeron J1900 processing running two mirrored 1TB HDDs at 2.42GHz. What exactly is that power for? It’s so that you won’t ever have to worry about processing large batches of media files at once using their proprietary media management software, which directly converts high resolution files into small JPG copies for you to work on. Optimized for images and graphic files, you can quickly share those files with others, adding watermarks, adjusting resolution, or setting restrictions or expiration dates before you do. It’s also possible to integrate galleries onto a website and even collect files via e-mail or Web upload — all need to do is connect it to your network and it’s able to be used with any device.

The Pitch. The campaign’s two videos are slickly made and cover the product’s general use and more specific capabilities, respectively. The campaign’s textual information clearly informs you of each of the features the pixx.io box has, is accompanied by a massive FAQ section that leaves you with no doubts, and even comes translated in German.

The Perks. The early bird special for €449 EUR for a single unit saves backers some moola, while the opportunity to nab a pixx.io box for the slightly higher premium of €569 EUR. If that too passes you by, drink away the regret with a trip to Germany to celebrate Oktoberfest with the pixx.io team and save all the pictures to your brand new pixx.io box for a cool €2,999 EUR.

The Potential. The pixx.io box is a very full featured product with a user-friendly bent that will attract all manner of interested parties. A standard user’s vacation photos, family events, and everyday happenings will all find their way onto the product easily, while professionals will applaud the ease in which the pixx.io automates many common necessities. Although devices like the MBLOK offer a level of portability along with the capabilities of wireless transfer offered by the pixx.io box, the product’s biggest differentiator is the way in which it handles its files — even some of the best prosumer NAS units don’t offer this level of specification towards files. If potential backers can look past the pixx.io box’s lack of customization options, true memory expansion, or more enterprise-level features, then this might be their cup of tea.

Categories
Organization

Mobin tilts organizing the small stuff toward homeowners’ favor

MobinFrom the ultimate spice rack to the classic storage center for all those little nuts and bolts scattered around the garage, Mobin is designed to bring organized convenience out of the chaos. One thing that seems to set this wall unit apart from others is its ability to tilt out without detaching for easy access, although the units are still detachable so that they can be toted from place to place. The one hand operation is also a nice touch. Backers get a set of six for $60, with an expected delivery of May, 2015, although it’s unclear if this includes the mounting rack or not.

 

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Tech Accessories

Reversible flash drive always knows which way is up

Super MotorUSB drives are an incredibly useful method for sharing information. The Super Motor USB Flash Drive is a new and improved design on the traditional USB. Not only does it boast more storage space and faster processing, but it’s also reversible. The campaign video shows how the drive can go in one of two ways. It’s unclear why this is entirely necessary, but we’ve all had trouble inserting USBs at one point or another so the Super Motor does make the whole process easier. One will cost backers $15 for 8GB of space. Super Motor hopes to raise $7,000 on Kickstarter.

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Technology

The Guardian tells e-snoopers to get off of your cloud

guardianConcern about our digital information is at an all-time high. Between cloud services skimping on security, credit cards being swiped, major banks being hacked, and the NSA sniffing around, it’s difficult to confidently secure valuable files. BoltKey’s Guardian intends to make it easy. The silver slab offers users military grade encryption and wireless backup of up to 3TB of data, coupled with two-factor authentication requiring the included BoltKey accessory. The product’s encryption and storage may dwarf others, but products like WEDG or the Sherylbox offer more options with which to interact with data. Early birds can get their own Guardian for $199 in November 2014, while tardy turtles will get theirs in December 2014 for $249.

Categories
Cell Phone Accessories

How the bleep do you back up your phone?

The Premise. Even as the tools safeguarding our precious data continue to evolve,  backing up remains a headache for some and a mystery to everyone else. A few things will always stay constant: the need to backup our data, and that crushing feeling when your smartphone [insert traumatic event here] while realizing you don’t have a backup.

The Product. bleep is a hybrid smartphone cable that can charge your iOS or Android phone and back it up at the same time. By condensing the charging cable with USB storage, bleep backs up your data every single time you plug it in without affecting charge time. With the data securely stored right on the cable, you’ll be able to recover relevant data to any smartphone even after losing your own. Its physicality also allows you to do all of this even without an internet connection or computer. In addition, bleep has created a mobile app on which you can manage your backups and set your own security parameters, giving users full control over how exactly their data is protected.

The Pitch. The company’s charmingly animated video does a thorough job in clearly explaining the basic ideas behind bleep, with the only downside being the lack of an actual product in action. Bright diagrams and charts both dissecting and discussing the benefits of bleep round out the rest of the campaign, which is aiming for a $50,000 goal by October 24th, 2014.

The Perks. All bleeps come in the “Luxury Green” color and there are three capacities available. Interested backers can grab the 16GB version for $40, the 32GB version for $55, and the 64GB version for $78, along with larger packages if you have lots of clumsy friends or family.

The Potential. The bleep is an innovative take on the humble charging cable. Similar products focus solely on on-the-go charging, like Lifelink or the popular Mophie cases. bleep intelligently adds utility to the charging cable while remaining unobtrusive. It would be nice to see more color choices and there’s some legitimate concern that a cable is often easier to lose than a phone itself. But the extra premium that bleep commands seems with it in terms of convenience and piece of mind.

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Cell Phone Accessories Connected Objects

Share Foil is the Swiss Army Knife of travel routers

When traveling, most people cross their fingers and hope for the best with hotel or public Wi-Fi, and more often than not it’s more of a headache than a convenience.

Share Foil is a portable wireless router that offers a wealth of features perfect for anyone away from home. As a router, Share Foil can create strong Wi-Fi signals for up to ten devices, and has enough power inside of it to charge a smartphone to full battery twice during its 10 hour battery lifespan. Share Foil also allows devices to store and open files or even stream media by uploading it to the router or using the SD card slot. Same slot can be used to take photos off of a camera and transfer them to smartphones for easy sharing while on the go, turning vacations photos into live social media updates.

With a USB 3G adapter, Share Foil can take 3G signals and convert them into Wi-Fi that any wireless device can use. If signals are weak, Share Foil can be placed closer to the router than the devices to act as a signal repeater, keeping smartphone and laptop usage convenient and comfortable. Share Foil does all of this and costs backers only $60, with delivery expected in October 2014. Made by Trend Power LLC, Share Foil is raising $30,000 to produce the app and make sure all production and manufacturing possibilities are considered.

Share Foil does a lot of tasks in one small device, so if packing space is limited, make sure there’s room for it at least. If only one of these features is needed, or needs to be done at the best possible quality, users will probably prefer a cheaper or more dedicated solution to their network dilemmas.

Categories
Connected Objects Tech Accessories

EzeeCube stacks up to rule the digital living room

The Premise. In the beginning, there was the TV, and it was good. Add to that computers, smartphones, game consoles, DVD and Blu-ray players, and suddenly there’s a giant stack of devices all trying to work with each other. Now, one product is ready to network, share files between devices, and do everything that a living room needs in a small, sleek, modular device.

The Product. EzeeCube is an unassuming media sharing center that has much larger aspirations. By installing the device’s app on a phone, with a simple tap of the screen, all of the photos, music, and video files from phones and tablets can be stored on its 1TB hard drive and accessed on any mobile device or TV. If that’s not enough storage for some people, EzeeCube has expansions that can be stacked on top of it to linkup more power, functions, or storage space.

The Pitch. EzeeCube’s promotional video is a little understated, but the concept enough is all that needs to be communicated. When viewers see the small chassis of the device combined with the power that it provides and can be supplemented with, it’s easy to start planning a garage sale for all the devices that can be disconnected from the TV. EzeeCube needs $75,000 to get through the mass production process and enhance local cloud-based file sharing everywhere.

The Perks. Being a modular device, EzeeCube offers a lot of add-ons at various tiers. The base EzeeCube is available for $199 and should be available in time for thanksgiving. EzeeTuner allows for live TV recording and playback for $39, EzeeGame supports popular 8-bit and 16-bit games for $49, and EzeePlay plays and rips Blu-ray, DVD, and music CDs for $99. Each of these products will launch between October 2014 and April 2015. The stackable EzeeDisk 2Tb expansion is $149, and backers can also add a stronger processor and more RAM for $99.

The Potential. EzeeCube on its own doesn’t do much more than other products on the market save for the simple, one-touch syncing of files between devices. Once the modular components start coming out, the wireless stacking and various functions of the devices can turn EzeeCube into a replacement for pretty much the entire living room home entertainment system. This is the all-in-one device that’s been promised for decades, and now’s the time to get one before the retail price makes it more of a take-it-or-leave-it proposition.

Categories
Connected Objects

Personal cloud security goes stylish with WEDG

The Premise. It’s become almost nearly impossible to function without using the cloud to share files from device to device or to other users, or just to store things in a convenient location. But cloud-based options are far from secure, and in order to keep files both private and easily accessible, a more private solution is required.

The Product. WEDG is a stylish, desktop cloud server with an upgradeable hard drive of at least 1TB. WEDG is easy to set up anywhere and begin storing and sharing files through a completely secure network managed via a proprietary app designed to bring phones to the level of security that matches the WEDG cloud. With no monthly service fees and the ability to access files from any device quickly and securely, WEDG is a must for any collaborators working together on a project whether within the same office space or on the other side of the globe.

The Pitch. WEDG’s promotional materials are like the device itself: short, attractive, and capable. With the campaign video we get a look at how WEDG came to be and what it can offer in terms of privacy and access for all users. The campaign page itself is long and in-depth, featuring all the different kinds of features and failsafe options WEDG provides as well as a history of the device’s signature and quirky design. In order to protect users everywhere, WEDG is asking for £90,000 in pledges to design the product by its own specifications, without the interference of other companies.

The Perks. A WEDG server complete with a 1TB drive starts at £149 and will be shipped out to supporters in December 2014. A white version for £199 is available, as well as an aluminum model with a 2TB drive for £249. Developers that want to push WEDG farther can get access to the device’s API and SDK at the £300 level, and beta testers can get access to new hardware models and software patches before anyone else for a pledge of £500.

The Potential. WEDG certainly isn’t the first device to offer a stable, personal cloud solution. Indeed its campaign is running concurrently with that of the Sherlybox, but the futuristic design, strong security protocols, and usage flexibility through the removable hard drive and companion app make it a stand-out among other competitors. It might not replace Dropbox or Google Drive as a simple, basic go-to option, but for those that put a premium on security and don’t want to sacrifice their web usage, WEDG looks like a great option.

Categories
Tech Accessories

Wi-Stick: Another wireless-enabled flash drive to add to the pile

wi-stickPortable hard drives are great, but in today’s world if files aren’t on the cloud, they may as well not be accessible. Wi-Stick is a portable flash drive that functions wirelessly, allowing up to eight devices at any time to connect to it and access any stored files. Wi-Stick offers compatibility with most major operating systems (iOS, Mac OS X, Windows, Android) and has a battery that lasts for as long as five hours before it needs to be recharged. Other similar devices are on the market, but Wi-Stick’s compatibility is how it seeks to set itself apart from the competition. Wi-Stick starts at 8GB for €70 and is estimated to deliver in August 2014.

Categories
Cell Phone Accessories Tech Accessories

MBLOK is a tiny cube of connected storage for mobile devices

The Premise. File storage is something one can never have enough of. Whether it’s for music on the go, apps, or taking extensive photos and videos, it’s important to know that running out of room is never a concern for any device.

The Product.  Fitting in the palm of a hand and offering up to 256GB of storage, the MBLOK is a portable storage device that can sync to any device using a traditional fold-out USB connection or via Bluetooth. The USB port is also used to charge the device’s 300-hour battery, while still allowing it to transfer files. Files can be moved at speeds up to 24 Mbit/s and can store any kind of files to be moved from phone to PC, or tablet to tablet, all wirelessly.

The Pitch. The MBLOK’s campaign mirrors the device itself: urban, fast-moving, stylish. The man-on-the-street interviews with people about the device paint a common picture of a device that is portable, useful, and attractive. MBLOK creators Kwelea Inc. are looking for $120,000 CAD to produce components and give the storage an interface for iOS and Android devices. Numerous stretch goals are offered to provide native audio and video output at $300,000, and official support for many more devices after that: $500,000 for Blackberry, $700,000 for Windows, $900,000 for the Pebble watch, $1,100,000 for Kindle Fire HD, and $1,300,000 for the Neptune watch. At $1,500,000, a final stretch goal is unlocked to create a smart shuffle algorithm for playing music through the MBLOK.

The Perks. A 128GB MBLOK is available in either emerald green or sapphire blue for $189 CAD.  The 256GB model will cost backers a pledge of $279 CAD. A stylish wood-faced model is only for those who kick in $499 CAD to the campaign. All rewards will ship out in January 2015.

The Potential. This is the natural evolution of the thumb drive — something pocket-sized that can easily share files between any USB or Bluetooth device without the need for complex bridges or file sharing setups. MBLOK isn’t the first to attempt this, with storage big shots like Kingston and Seagate offering the Wi-Drive and Wireless Plus devices in the market already, but MBLOK looks like the first to do so via Bluetooth, offering a week of battery life as opposed to the mere hours offered by the competition. Add to that the even smaller body and the MBLOK looks like a great way to move files around painlessly and easily across any compatible devices.