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Posted By Simon Montford on March 31, 2015 The sleek looking Olio is the work of a former HP and Apple product designer Steven Jacobs. Like a growing number of newly released smartwatches, it apes the appearance of a conventional timepiece. This is because the team at Olio Devices chose to utilise high quality materials, instead of the usual plastic or rubber that's so frequently used by other wearable OEMs.
Posted By Simon Montford on March 16, 2015 The ELF is a nano drone that's being developed by a Chinese company called Elecfreaks. The company's campaign video does a great job of making me really want one, primarily because you can use the ELF to not only take "dronies", but also "remote view" using the accompanying cardboard cutout AV headset, during flight. Although extremely cool, neither feature is however unique.
Posted By Simon Montford on March 12, 2015 Disclaimer: I've known both Hermione and Ben Way, founders of Quiet Night, for many years and so, for the sake of my readers, I will do my very best to be as objective as possible! Quiet Night is the ultimate parent-friendly appcessory that will delight both parents, as well as the youngest member of the family. This is because the device plays soothing tunes that keep babies occupied and happy, leading to a 50% reduction in crying. They say silence is golden, so I believe this product has huge potential.
Posted By Simon Montford on March 9, 2015
Wearable technology is becoming increasingly popular, especially smartwatches, fitness trackers, smart clothing, and smart jewellery. As these items are attached to the body, they're far less likely to get lost or stolen, but how about all the other smart tech that we will increasingly carry around with us like umbrellas, smartphones, wallets and smart glasses? Instead of calling them "wearables", perhaps they should be called "bringables" or "carryables". The term most often used, however for such items is the word "Appcessories".
Posted By Simon Montford on March 6, 2015 I feel kinda bad for saying this but, FlyShark have produced one of the most bizarre Kickstarter videos I've seen in a while. I mean who goes for a 1.3 mile run wearing a suit? That's weird, but hold on the weirdness continues. The dude then prepares a "romantic" dinner for some poor unsuspecting girl, that consists of KFC, followed by what must surely be her most favorite thing in the world, ever - chocolate cake. This is because upon seeing the cake her pulse rockets to 180bpm!
Posted By Simon Montford on March 6, 2015 How many times has your umbrella been lost or stolen? In my case, I've lost count! The Davek Alert Umbrella alerts you when you step out of range, because inside the handle is a Bluetooth LE beacon, which can be synced to any iOS or Android smartphone. The app provides weather info, and is even smart enough to recommend when you may need to bring your smart umbrella with you. Tracking devices are becoming increasingly popular among the absent-minded, and safety conscious.
Posted By Simon Montford on March 3, 2015 Quell is the only drug-free FDA approved, and doctor recommended, device in the States that's clinically proven to relieve chronic pain at the touch of a button. The Boston-based company wants to help millions of people avoid discomfort as well as the health implications, and side-effects of taking pain-relieving medication. NeuroMetrix, Quell's creator, launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo earlier this week that exceeded its funding target a day after launch.
Posted By Simon Montford on March 2, 2015 Beam is a small 100-lumen projector (commonly known as a Pico project or mini beamer) that can be connected to any light socket. It is capable of 20,000 hours of operation, contains an LED light, two 2-watt speakers and 8GB of storage capacity. Any electronic device can be connected to Beam, including mice, keyboards, game controllers, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth speakers, and smartwatches.
Posted By Simon Montford on Feb 26, 2015 Pickpockets will hate Where's Wallet, because it contains a hidden sensor that can be tethered to a smartphone via Bluetooth. When the wallet (also available as a lady's purse) is lost or stolen, the app will guide the unfortunate individual back to the wallet. There is of course no guarantee, however that its contents will still be intact when recovered, but the tether's range can be increased or decreased according to your level of "pickpocket paranoia".
Posted By Simon Montford on Feb 24, 2015 Watching Pebble's live Kickstarter campaigns is becoming a bit like a spectator sport! I've been glued to the screen watching the pledges counter. As I write, Pebble's campaign total of $500,000 has been totally obliterated, and the total has now reached $6,576,994 (£4,256,485). With 31 days still remaining, how high can it go, and more importantly, can Pebble beat Exploding Kittens target of $8,782,571, which was set only a few days ago? Check out my Youtube video at the bottom of the page.
Posted By Simon Montford on Feb 21, 2015 A startup called Neptune has taken an entirely new approach to smartwatch design. It's founder, Simon Tian believes your smartwatch will take centre stage and your smartphone will become its trusty, but far less intelligent sidekick. The company recently announced the Neptune Duo, that'll not only be able to run Android Lollipop, but the device will also come with wi-fi, 4G, NFC, and GPS. In other words it will be capable of replacing your smartphone.
Posted By Simon Montford on Feb 20, 2015 The smart home of the future will be packed with all kinds of weird and wonderful products, but how will we choose to control them? Will people prefer to use voice commands, gesture or sound? Well a Japanese-based company called Interphenom think we will use sound. The company's "listening assistant" is a device called Listnr, which enables products like the Philips Hue smart light to be controlled using sounds such as clapping, finger clicking and floor stamping.
Posted By Simon Montford on Feb 18, 2015 Crowdfunding veterans, Evoz are running another campaign on Indiegogo for their "Evoz Parenting Monitor". Like many other home security devices, the Evoz enables parents to capture video and still images as well as interact remotely via their smartphone and tablet. What's different about this baby monitor, however is that it offers what Evoz calls a "toolbox" for parents that includes advice forums, and in-app expert parenting advice.
Posted By Simon Montford on Feb 17, 2015 Flicks is a Bluetooth-enabled wireless speaker that's not only an audio system but also an HD LED projector that can display images of up to 100 inches (254 cms). Movies and TV shows can be streamed via HDMI media devices such as those produced by Amazon (Fire), Google (Chromecast), and Roku. In addition, music can be streamed from a tablet or smartphone. Depending on which model you buy, battery life ranges from 4-8hrs (movie watching), and 28-56hrs (music streaming).
Posted By Simon Montford on Feb 16, 2015 E-ink provides a really crisp display and uses very little power, making it an ideal technology for small screen connected devices like Displio, as well as smartwatches such as the Geak Watch 2, and wearables such as the Tago arc by Boston's Liberate Technologies Inc. One major drawback of using e-ink instead of LCD or OLED, however, is that it can only display monochrome images.
Posted By Simon Montford on Feb 16, 2015 Within only three hours, Eero received $100,000 (£65,000) in pre-orders, and two days later they amassed over $1 million (£650,000)! Goes to show that if you can solve pain points that consumers immediately identify with, extracting money from their wallets can be as easy as pie! Of course I don't mean that in a bad way, because those that hand over their cash are more than happy to do so if the technology acquired makes their lives better.
Posted By Simon Montford on Feb 11, 2015 The SEER is a VR headset that provides much better visibility than Google Glass, Meta 1, and even Air Force fighter pilot helmets - it's capable of providing a horizontal field of vision that exceeds 100 degrees. Furthermore, the SEER's far less expensive than "propriety" headsets such as the Oculus-powered Samsung Gear VR.
Posted By Simon Montford on Feb 11, 2015 Nano drones such as the Zano, Anura and Nixie are growing in popularity. Unlike the aforementioned nano drones, this one's pretty basic, but that's reflected in the price. The creators have intentionally kept things simple, and cost-effective as they want their Nano Drone to appeal to first-time users. Not only is it very easy to operate, but the company's patent-pending impact guards have been designed to protect the drone's blades from hitting the ground or getting damaged during wall or ceiling collisions.
Posted By Simon Montford on Feb 10, 2015 The Displio is a diminutive e-ink gadget which can be programmed to display all kinds of information. It comes with an API as well as a growing number of widgets that are being developed by Draugiem Group, a Latvian IT company that is the brainchild of the Displio. The device comes in white, black, red, blue, green, yellow, and grey $99 (£65). A special edition wood version is also available for $119 (£78).
Posted By Simon Montford on Feb 10, 2015 Kits aimed at novice hardware enthusiasts are becoming increasingly popular. They aim to make "hardware hacking" really simple and easy, because up until recently experimenting and building connected devices has involved a soldering iron and a lot of technical knowledge. Examples of kits that are available to purchase include SAM, Bitalino, LittleBits, and Wunderbar (for a more extensive list of kits and component suppliers check out our directory). This week another IOT kit, called MESH, has appeared on Indiegogo.
Posted By Simon Montford on Feb 7, 2015 In 2013 Canonical attempted to raise $32 million via crowdfunding to build the Ubuntu Edge. Unfortunately their Indiegogo campaign did not succeed, however the company did manage to attract $12.8 million by the time their campaign ended. The Edge was intended to double as a desktop PC when connected to a monitor, mouse, and keyboard, which would have been pretty cool. Cononical's second attempt, the "Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition", will not transform into a PC, but retains the Edge's best feature - the OS.
Posted By Simon Montford on Feb 5, 2015 The battle of the smart home is starting to really heat up. Every week a fresh batch of products grab our attention, but how will we choose to control all these new and exciting devices? Will we use something like Reemo or Nod that utilizes gesture control, or will we communicate with an A.I. assistant like Cubic, EmoSpark, Ubi, RobotBase or Jibo using voice command? Will there end up being one device to rule them all, or will we use several methods?
Posted By Simon Montford on Feb 2, 2015 Robotbase, located in New York, is a startup that has developed a robotic personal assistant for the home and office. With only 68 hours to go, the company has smashed its funding target on Kickstarter. The personal robotic device uses advanced facial recognition software to not only identify humans but also read their moods. In addition to doing things like setting alarms and scheduling appointments, it can also control connected devices around the home or office via wifi, Z-Wave, Zigbee, Bluetooth LE.
Posted By Simon Montford on Jan 28, 2015 The best way to describe RideOn is Google Glass meets Skully. Developed by winter sports enthusiasts who used to design helmet displays for fighter pilots, RideOn proves that augmented reality isn't just a gimmick, but can be used for a multitude of different (and possibly life-saving) uses. Examples include GPS location (avalanche), navigation (if separated or lost), entertainment such as gaming and video streaming, communication with other RideOne users, and sharing of content to social media.
Posted By Simon Montford on Jan 27, 2015 FishBit is an aquarium monitoring device that enables owners of tropical fish to remotely control and monitor their tank's water composition. After developing the idea for fun, the team decided to quit their day jobs, join a hardware accelerator programme (Highway1), and pursue the project on a full-time basis. Based on the success of their Kickstarter campaign, it looks like they won't be needing their jobs back any time soon!
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