Categories
Cell Phone Accessories Input Tablet Accessories

Stacking TextBlade slices through bulky Bluetooth keyboards

editors-choiceThe introduction of touch screen devices necessitated the use of touch screen keyboards, a pretty difficult problem even now. Most people, though, would agree they’re a necessary evil. They can be unreliable for anything more than short notes or messages, take up half the screen they’re being used on, and can’t be felt. For people whose jobs rely on any amount of typing, that last downside is a deal breaker, relegating the touch screen keyboard to the very last option on the list.

patent-claimedBluetooth keyboards have long been available for these platforms, generally to underwhelming response. They can be too big, or if they’re small enough, they aren’t practical for long typing sessions. WayTools’ TextBlade marries multi-touch functionality with a very physical, tactile typing experience to give users the best of both worlds — all while maintaining an incredibly slim profile with little tricks like a space bar/battery combo to save space. Indeed, the whole combo stacks neatly enough to fit into the coin holder of a jeans pocket.

Utilizing magnets gives the TextBlade its svelte construction along, but what it does best is reduce the standard 70 key QWERTY keyboard to just eight, intelligent multi-touch keys complete with full-finger spacing. The creators insist the keys are smart enough to know exactly what the users intend want to write, but those who purchase it will have to see for themselves. Some may want to take that plunge, while other may want a more certain solution like the FlyShark. The $99 keyboard is compatible with iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows platforms and is shipping on a rolling basis.

 

 

Categories
Health and Wellness Kids/Babies

BrushyBall stays a head by teaching kids how to brush teeth

Getting kids to brush their teeth is another one of those parental challenges, and it’s one that has the potential to make for some very long nights.

In order to motivate kids to brush their teeth and take the mundane routine out of it, BrushyBall  was created. As noted in Episode 6 of the Backerjack podcast, the battery-operated personal tooth brushing coach for kids has teeth that light up in a specific sequence of six sections. The toothbrush training toy, designed by a dentist, teaches kids by having them follow along with the flashing lights. Music and verbal cues are a part of the thorough process that lasts for about two minutes.

The plastic Muppet-like head isn’t too intimidating, and the developer would ideally like to license well-known characters to keep kids more engaged, but it seems to take up a fair amount of countertop space. Backers looking for a way to encourage kids to floss might want to check out Gummy Floss. This campaign seeks to raise 50,000 by April 5, 2015. For $20, backers get one product with an expected delivery of April 2015.

Categories
Cell Phone Accessories Displays

LIBERCOM152 is the klunky way to turn your iPhone into an iPad

The phablets that have rapidly become the norm may be perfect for the morning commute or occasional road trip, but at home but there’s nothing like a full-sized display to display content as brilliantly as it deserves to be, and completely capture attention as a result.

While it doesn’t measure up to an HDTV or even most desktop PC screens, the 9.7- inch, full HD LIBERCOM152 lets consumers experience all their phone apps on a tablet-sized display. The full capacitive touch screen is primarily designed as a smartphone complement, but can connect to a PC, Mac, or even Rapsberry Pi to facilitate video calls, gaming, and Web browsing. Utilizing a a dual charging and micro-HDMI display cable reduces lag in the screen so that it can better support real-time mirroring. Early birds can grab their own LIBERCOM152 for up to $200 off the $350 retail price, with a ship date of June 2015 expected. The campaign seks $80,000.

The LIBERCOM152’s oozes retro charm with its SNES-inspired design that even includes a game controller. However, for what it costs, most users would e served better by a sleeker iPad or other tablet as it lacks the integration of ASUS’ Padfone X.

Categories
Features

Before the Backers: three smartwatches

Before the Backers highlights up-and-coming products that haven’t yet made their crowdfunding debut.

Choco Wear

ChocoWear2

The Choco Wear is a bendable smartwatch with a focus on fitness, able to track all the usuals such as heart rate, oxygen levels, calories burned, and sleep patterns in addition to keeping users up-to-date on calls, texts, and other notifications from a connected smartphone. What sets this one apart is its use of solar power in conjunction with a high-capacity battery and E Ink display, making it a device that pretty much never needs to be traditionally charged. Crowdfunding efforts should begin anywhere in late May or early June,

Categories
Automotive Connected Objects Imaging Safety

CarVi driving assistant lets you keep more eyes on the road

editors-choiceMany folks have been tempted by the high-tech safety features in newer cars, but wish there was a way to get them into their existing vehicles economically.

That is the goal of the makers of CarVi, a small, circular black driving assistance device that attaches easily via a bracket onto the windshield of just about any car. The device adds an extra set of eyes, monitoring a driver’s position in a lane and the location of the car in front of it. CarVi warns drivers if they are too close to the car in front, and if it senses any potential trouble will issue audible and visual warnings.

The device comes equipped with a camera capturing 720p HD video that CarVi analyzes in real time. Owners can set it to record 40-second to one-minute video onto a memory card whenever certain events occur, such as tailgating incidents. The user can then transfer that video to an Android or iOS smartphone for viewing later. Alternatively, CarVi can function as a full-time recorder if the driver desires. CarVi can also provide suggestions via the accompanying app on how to improve driver skills after the car is turned off. CarVi will cost $299 when it ships in August. Its makers are hoping to raise $100,000 by March 20.

The device holds some promise, especially for elderly drivers and the parents of new drivers. But similar products, such as Truvolo and Zubie, have already offered the same kind of functionality with varying degrees of success. While the warnings could indeed help drivers avoid accidents, it remains to be seen if many drivers will actually be willing to hear tips about how to improve their driving once they turn the engine off.

 

Categories
Connected Objects Kids/Babies

Evoz monitors babies, captures special moments

There are many devices on the market that monitor babies, but few of them offer multiple functions, such as the ability to play lullabies, serve as a nightlight, and capture photos of special moments.

Evoz is a smart baby monitor that works in conjunction with an app for mobile devices, and alerts parents if there are any issues with the baby. Initial support is for Android and iOS devices, but its maker is working on compatibility with other unspecified mobile platforms. It features a wide-angle, Wi-Fi-enabled, 720p HD video camera, so parents can see everything that is going on in the baby’s room from the screen of their mobile device. The monitor has eight infrared LEDs partially hidden behind the black circle around the lens, which enables a 12 to 16-foot range for night vision video.

The device’s maker developed data mining algorithms to look for patterns in the baby data that experts have indicated are meaningful. That information is stored and can be accessed by parents at any time. As an example, if a baby is older than six months, and daytime naps are consistently less than 45 minutes, parent are presented with a step-by-step guide to teach them how to increase nap times. The device’s makers worked with therapist Kim West, the “Sleep Lady,” for more than two years to understand data trends and provide parents with information and expertise.

Evoz holds a lot of promise, offering a collection of features that competing devices on the market just can’t match. In addition to access to videos in which West offers advice, parents who use Evoz will get access to sleep and parenting experts that West trained and certified.

Evoz will ship in April of this year to those who back $169. Its maker set a goal of raising $25,000 by March 17.

Categories
Watches and Jewelry

Feelings Bangle displays your relationship status without electronic gadgets

For those who have become weary of the guessing game where a person’s dating status is concerned, here is a product that will allow emotions to be worn on the wrist. Feelings Bangle is a bracelet that lets the wearer to communicate whether or not they want romantic attention.

The silicone-looking wrist bands come in nine different colors, with a corresponding word for publicly displaying one’s status. A few of the options include ‘party animal’, ‘friend zone’, ‘in love’, and others. Perhaps the most amusing is the ‘complicated’ status… whatever that means. Too bad there’s not a line of these for gag gifts that say things like ‘loser’, ‘out to lunch’, or ‘gold digger’.

The bracelets are touted as being easily seen within 10 meters, and they can be personalized with charms or a small pendant. But even if this product actually catches on, it will probably still be necessary to have a good pickup line prepared. Interested backers might also like to check out myOki.

This campaign seeks to raise $42,000 by March 23. For $5, backers get one product with an expected delivery in July of this year.

Categories
Personal Transportation

AirBoard personal aircraft promises an aerial revolution, puts Back to the Future on notice

The dreams of many people around the world envision a future where travel facilitated by personal hover vehicles is the norm. The most popular example is the hover board from the movie Back to the Future, something people are still patiently waiting for. If the AirBoard becomes a reality, the hover board may be outdated before it even exists.

By taking the idea of a Hiller Flying Machine and modernizing it, the team behind the AirBoard is claiming to have created the world’s smallest manned aircraft. Capable of clearing all sort of terrain with its ground collision detection system, the product is truly the stuff of sci-fi. It sports four rotors underneath to provide altitudes of at least four and a half meters, all in a package that, when opened, is just 71″ by 59″ tall. More impressively, it is three times smaller when closed, measuring a petite 31″ by 43″ tall—small enough to be put into a car’s trunk.

The combination of a powerful, Bluetooth-compatible Intel chip—along with a gyroscope and accelerometer—allows the AirBoard to be connected with a companion smartphone app for additional control, making it easy to pilot even for newbies.

The proposed product is truly unique and will prove revolutionary if the final price is reasonable. But, as impressive as the product seems to be, it’s extremely hard to believe that it will live up to its claims, with its tight production schedule and nary a video showing off at least a prototype. Although many will be rightfully excited by the idea, the campaign is floating on an awful lot of doubt for the time being.

$250 gets backers a priority ticket for the chance to purchase an AirBoard in late 2015, with a price TBD. The campaign is looking for $30,000 by March 21.

Categories
Smartwatches/Bands

Spark smartwatch provides spark you need to stay awake

Most people have been in a situation where staying awake is required, but can’t be done because of how tired they are. Alarm clocks and watches with alarms are all well and good, but people don’t always know that they will be falling asleep and will need to be awakened.

The Spark smartwatch addresses that issue. The watch tracks the wearer’s movement velocity and frequency, which claims to detect how alert the person is using an algorithm developed by its maker. If the device detects that the user has fallen asleep, it will gently vibrate to wake the person back up.

Spark holds some promise, especially for college students pulling all-nighters, but it’s not clear if its one main application will be enough of a reason for many consumers to find it a compelling proposition. Some consumers may not find the watch’s plain design appealing enough to wear it on their wrists. It lacks the style of a smartwatch like Moment. Health fans, meanwhile, will likely prefer to reserve the real estate on their wrists for smartwatches or bracelets offering fitness tracking features.

Spark will ship in May of this year to those who back $99. The campaign has a goal of raising $8,000 by March 12.

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.