Tag: wireless

Categories
Networking

GeeFi’s out to satisfy with unlimited 4G Wi-Fi

Trying to find a Wi-Fi hotspot while away from home or the office can be hard enough. Trying to find a hotspot while traveling internationally can be an even bigger pain in the neck.

patent-claimedGeeFi is a hotspot that promises unlimited 4G Wi-Fi service from just about anywhere. The patented, pocket-sized device houses an advanced chipset that delivers fast, reliable 4G/LTE Wi-Fi with unlimited data. Users can wirelessly connect up to 10 devices to GeeFi, which touts speeds of 150 megabits per second for downloading and 50 megabits per second for uploading. GeeFi doubles as a charger for any USB chargeable device.

It ships in December. Future pricing isn’t provided. But Kickstarter backers have been able to order one for a pledge starting at $100 for super early birds. Its makers hope to raise $20,000 by Oct. 24.

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Categories
Music Networking

Hub lets you stream wireless hi-fi audio to multiple users

It would be nice if multiple people could all listen to a song, play a videogame, or watch TV using their own headphones or earbuds. It would be especially nice if the sound provided was hi-fi-quality.

Hub is a device that enables existing headphones or speakers to receive wireless, hi-fi audio from any source. Each user just selects a battery-powered sound “puck” receiver from the Hub base station. Each person can control the volume on their own headphones. In addition to promising better sound quality than many wireless audio solutions,

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Categories
Imaging Smart Home

Back to the Backers: Butterfleye never tires of watching without wires

There’s been an explosion of home security cameras in the past few years, but whether they are attached to some kind of monitoring service or rely on their own apps, they are less convenient to install than they could be. While many of them happily hop on to a Wi-Fi network, they can’t stray too far from an outlet.

Butterfleye combines a wide-angle lens with a big battery to keep it going up to a week without charging. It employs sophisticated sensors that go beyond simple motion detection to include sound detection; it can also differentiate between humans and pets. The company claims it has more improvements in the queue in terms of accurate identification that it plans to deliver via regular firmware updates. Going along with the prevailing model these days, the company offers some limited cloud storage of video the Butterfleye captures with more available for a monthly fee.

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Categories
Connected Objects Music

Back to the Backers: Mikme wireless recording microphone

After failing to reach its Kickstarter goal of raising $217,000 for the Mikme wireless recording microphone early this year, Mikme Audio is giving Indiegogo a try with a new campaign for the device. The company has, however, opted for a much more modest goal of raising $25,000 by July 26 this time.

patent-claimedMikme allows users to record quality audio with just the single touch of a button. The company has done some work above and beyond its Bluetooth connection to stream audio reliably to its iOS and Android companion app. Users can use the app to simply save, mix, edit and share their recordings and can mix up to eight tracks. The device comes with 8 GB of onboard memory, enabling up to 180 hours of recording. Other features include a gold-plated condenser capsule. Mikme will ship in November and cost $299 at retail.

With its single button devoted to recording, the device remains a good option for consumers looking for a simple, high-quaity microphone that offloads all the user interface to an app for easy editing and sharing.

Categories
Smart Home

The flick of a switch turns on all the lights with LampLink

To create the perfect ambiance in any room, the right amount of lighting is necessary. Most of the time, though, a room’s outlet placement can limit the kinds of lighting arrangements possible, forcing people to place a lamp somewhere they don’t want it to be.

LampLink is a transmitter/receiver system that allows a user to control all the lights in a room at once without the use of a smartphone. The transmitter is plugged in to a wall switch connected outlet, while the transmitters are plugged into lamps. When the wall switch is flicked on, all other lamps connected are turned on as well.

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Categories
Food and Beverage

Nano Heated Wireless Mug keeps it hotter for longer

No morning is complete without a cup of hot coffee. The big challenge is always figuring out how to keep that coffee hot all throughout the morning.

patent-claimedThe Nano Heated Wireless Mug provides just such a service. Using a charge, it keeps coffee hot for 45 minutes. The technology Nano uses allows for the coffee (or tea) to be heated evenly. In addition, the battery remains good for seven refills. To charge, one can use any standard USB cord. This thermos also features a handle, snap lid, light weight, and food grade plastic so it’s safe for consumption.

There are many wireless heating mugs around, but most focus on actually brewing coffee on the go, like the Hey Joe Coffee Mug. Nano is more versatile in a way because it works with whatever beverage the user craves at the time, including tea. One will cost backers a donation of $39 for delivery in August 2015. Nano is looking for a funding goal of $40,000 with the help of Kickstarter.

Categories
Connected Objects Interviews Music

The Backerjack Interview: Mass Fidelity’s Ben Webster on packing big sound into a travel-friendly speaker

Mass Fidelity’s Core is a paradox — a portable speaker that’s designed to produce a convincing stereo effect from virtually anywhere in the room. Actually, that’s true of multiple rooms as the system can be networked throughout the house like a Sonos system. Backers responded and the Indiegogo campaign was one of the most successful ever for a Canadian campaign. We caught up with Mass Fidelity co-founder Ben Webster to learn more bout the physics and functionality of the powerful desktop speaker due this summer.

Backerjack: Tell us a bit about Mass Fidelity and the Core.

Webster: Mass Fidelity was founded as an audio technology company with the intent on redefining the audio space. The name has a dual meaning that encapsulates our goals of bringing high-fidelity audio products to the masses and making products of substance. I started by looking at how many of my friends and family didn’t have high-quality sound systems and how much the technology scared them away. There ceased to be a middle ground at somewhere in the late 70’s, early 80’s — that’s when the divide became extreme, to the point where you were either buying junk or extremely high end stuff. What I wanted to do was build something that was attainable for the normal person that would give them a real, engaging musical experience.

This prototype of the Core has been traveling with me for the last six months and it’s changed my life. As the founder of an audio company, I have a big beefy system at home and I barely use it anymore. This thing is so convenient and it actually sounds like a stereo. You’re not gonna get around physics when considering my living room system with nine drivers, but it’s also thousands and thousands of dollars worth of components whereas this thing we’re selling for $595 gets 80-90% there. I really feel like there’s a combination of technologies about to completely flip the audio game on its head.

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Categories
Connected Objects Music

Aivvy Q streaming headphones provides the soundtrack to your life even if you lose signal

Streaming services like Spotify helped lay groundwork for the recent influx of new streaming services, including Apple’s upcoming Beats service and Jay Z’s Tidal venture. While on-demand music streaming is great and can conveniently work across a host of devices, most streaming services require an Internet connection to work, sometimes resulting in a subpar listening experience.

Aivvy Q is a wireless Bluetooth headphone set which can provide up to 40 hours of continuous music playback, all without needing an Internet connection. Touted as headphones capable of tapping into the “Internet of Things”, Aivvy Q is essentially a self-learning music player: a user can swipe its side to skip a track, tap to favorite a track, or rotate the channel ring in order to change the genre or playlist. Sensors within the product learn which tracks are preferred, thereby making sure the music being played is always relevant and enjoyable.

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Categories
Games Maker/Development

Hackaball ball will get your kids off the couch and outside

Time and time again, traditional video games have gotten a bad rap as enablers of a sedentary lifestyle. These days, with both console and mobile games increasing in popularity, many kids are spending much less time outdoors, their eyes instead glued to a screen.

Hackaball wants to lend a helping hand in getting them moving again. At its core, Hackaball is a computer kids can throw around. Inside the product’s tough, transparent case sits a plethora of motion sensors, 9 LEDs, an accelerometer, and a gyroscope, all of which can be programmed by using the companion iPad app to create games. With it, kids are limited only by their imagination as they can think up of many new ways to play with Hackaball. Additionally, the product comes with unlockable features that become available the more it’s used.

All of this fun is ultimately educational, with the companion app serving as a light introduction to programming — which makes sense given that there’s mention of future Arduino support for Hackaball. Hackaball’s ultimate enemy just happens to be the demographic they’re targeting: children’s attention spans. The $69 product is estimated to be delivered in December 2015, provided a successfully funded $100,000 campaign goal by April 3.

Categories
Cycling

EasyTurn turning signal eliminates doubt while cycling

Both novice and experienced cyclists alike face dangers when riding on roads filled with other cyclists, cars, and trucks — a simple collision always carries the risk of injury or even death. As a result, a cyclist is always responsible for signaling their intentions on the road, especially when turning. However, who’s to say that those on the road can understand such signals, or perhaps even see them in the first place?

The EasyTurn is a brake signal designed to be more visible to others on the road. It accomplishes this via a slanted design that can be seen at wider angles. It sports both left and a right turn signals, as well as an red emergency light that flashes when the product senses that the cyclist is braking abruptly. Cyclists can control the left and right turn signals with a wireless button that can be attached to the handlebar so as to be always within reach. Early birds can grab an EasyTurn for $59, while everyone else can get theirs for $79. An estimated delivery date of July 2015 is listed provided the campaign’s $25,000 goal is funded by April 20.

EasyTurn is compact, easy-to-install, and simple to use piece of safety equipment. Just as important, it’s not terribly expensive. Products similar to EasyTurn include WingLights and 8rlicht, the former of which features minimally designed handlebar-mounted turn signals than can be controlled with simple taps while the latter offers a programmable LED board that hangs off the back of a bike. While WingLights might prove to be worthy competition, 8rlicht may be too complex relative to what EasyTurn provides.