Tag: Vikaura

Categories
Displays

Stay updated on weather, messages, and the test with Pixsso E Ink connected display

With so much information living within the many apps residing in smartphones and tablets, it can sometimes be difficult to get a firm grip on it all. Notifications keep information flowing constantly bombarding screens and lessening the importance of each new alert, piece of news, or message from a loved one, making them just another vibration.

Changing the context of the information can help, which is an approach that the Pixsso is attempting with their connected E Ink display. The 4.4″, always-on display can stick to pretty much any surface—be it wall, desk, or calendar—and provide customized bits of information that are set by a companion iOS or Android app. While the display itself may be a little bland, the benefit of using E Ink in combination with Bluetooth LE is the six month battery life that it claims, allowing Pixsso to fade into the background when not in use.

E Ink is a versatile and highly effective display medium to help facilitate the information that people are awash in, even if it may be too understated for some. There’s something to be said for these sorts of displays that aren’t garish or attention-seeking. Pixsso is a passable interpretation of this sort of this display, but with products like DISPLIO and Vikaura that offer more functionality in prettier packages (at around the same cost), Pixsso is facing a difficult market space.

A single Pixsso display can be had for $149. The $45,000 campaign is looking to ship the product in October of this year.

Categories
Connected Objects Displays

E Ink cloud display Vikaura lets your smartphone blow off some steam

Our smartphones are carriers of so much valuable information. So much, in fact, that much of it gets lost in the bowels of camera rolls, or in the depths of the rows and rows of apps. As useful as having that many photos and information may be, they’re worthless they can’t easily be accessed.

The Vikaura Screen is a 4″,6″, or 9.7″ E Ink display that’s capable of linking with multiple iPhones or Android smartphones at once. Once linked, information like photos, weather, or simply messages can be pushed to the device using Bluetooth LE technology. This enables situations where things like recipes can be displayed on the screen while running around in the kitchen, or messages can be pushed from a child’s smartphone to a screen to avoid a no cell policy at school.

At-a-glance information can be set up by subscribing to feeds on the Vikaura, always ensuring important information like news is available right by the bedside, for instance. An open API will make sure that more uses will continue to be developed too. Impressively enough, there aren’t any sort of wires as its internal, replaceable batteries support a vague “thousands” of screen updates; feasible given E-Ink’s low power requirements. Early birds can score the 4″ model for $99, the 6″ for $129, and the 9.7″ for $199, all sizable discounts on their eventual retail prices. The $125,000 campaign goal is looking to have the Vikaura Screen shipped by June 2015.

Second screen experiences are slowly becoming more and more popular, and given the wealth of information our devices contain, it makes sense. An E Ink styled display is a novel idea, and echoes the InkCase Plus in its use of E Ink. As energy saving as E Ink can be, though, it robs photos of their color, making a product like Fireside so much more attractive.

Categories
Podcasts

The Backerjack Podcast, Episode 3, with Ross Rubin and Steve Sande

Steve and Ross, your two favorite crowdfunding connoisseurs, check out three innovative products in this leaner Episode 3 of The Backerjack Podcast:

  • The promising Neeo thinking remote that turns an Android app into a true universal remote.
  • The ambitious, Immersis entertainment projection system that turns your liing room into a half-sphere of video entertainment.
  • The potentially useful Vikaura e-paper displays that turn a pricey Kindle-like screen into a home for helpful messages or other information.

All the campaigns are still active so check them out our thoughts before signing up to back them.

Not an iTunes user? You can download the podcast by saving this link, subscribe via RSS, or listen to it with the player below:.