Categories
Music

Sonic Blocks let you roll your own speaker set

Wireless speakers continue to be popular thanks to the growing popularity of mobile devices and the convenience of streaming music from them using Bluetooth. Networked wireless speaker systems, meanwhile, have become popular also for much the same reason, as well as the success of Sonos.

patent-claimedSonic Blocks is a wireless speaker system that goes at least a couple of steps further than most rival products. First off, it’s a modular system made up of 6-inch speaker blocks. Second, while most wireless speakers rely solely on Bluetooth, Sonic Blocks also allows users to stream music via Wi-Fi for superior sound quality. It’s also compatible with the DTS Play-Fi multi-zone wireless audio technology for Android smartphones and tablets.

Categories
Technology

Ockel Sirius B shrinks a PC into your palm

Some folks would just love to take their computer with them wherever they go, especially if they need it for work. But they just hate having to schlep such a large device around with them, even if it’s just a laptop.

Ockel Sirius B is an updated version of the Sirius B pocket PC from Ockel Computers. It’s a Windows PC with the power of a desktop computer, but the lightness and size of a smartphone that allows it to fit in one’s pocket. It comes in a choice of white or black housing with aluminum edges. The computer features a fan-free design, allowing it to operate silently. Other features include HDMI 1.4 output, an Intel processor, 2 USB ports, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, a microSD memory card slot and up to 4 GB of RAM.

Categories
Television

AccuVoice speaker makes TV dialogue rise above the noise

Soundbars have become popular in recent years in part due to the declining quality of speakers that come with TVs. After all, today’s flat-panel TVs tend to be so thin that there is nowhere to put good-quality speakers anymore. That’s especially a problem for older TV viewers and others with hearing difficulties.

patent-claimedAccuVoice is a TV speaker from audio device manufacturer Zvox that goes a step further than one of its soundbars. That’s because AccuVoice has been specifically designed to help people with hearing loss hear dialogue from whatever show or movie they’re watching on TV. The aluminum speaker is only 17 inches wide and about 2.5 inches high and is simple to hook up because it only has one connecting cord.

Categories
Cell Phone Accessories Displays Input

Superbook makes your smartphone a super cheap laptop

Smartphones have become the one device that people don’t leave their homes without. But smartphones aren’t so hot when it comes to word processing and other productivity functions.

The Superbook is a laptop-like shell from Andromium that provides keyboard input and an 11.6-inch display for Android smartphones and tablets, basically transforming the small mobile device into a complete laptop with a larger screen at a low price. Superbook promises more than 8 hours of battery life. Other features include a multi-touch trackpad and phone-charging capabilities. When plugged into an Android device, it launches Andromium’s app that offers Microsoft Office suite compatibility.

Superbook ships in February 2017 at future pricing of $129-$139 for a basic version. But Kickstarter backers can order one at pricing that starts at $99. Early bird backers were able to order one at $85 for January 2017 delivery. Andromium hopes to raise $50,000 by Aug. 20.

There have been several hybrid products that combine smartphone and PC functionality, including Hybrx. But Superbook provides one of the best value and feature propositions, thanks to its low pricing and Office software compatibility. However, one’s Android device must be running Android 5.0 or later with at least 1.5 GB of RAM and USB-OTG support for it to work with Superbook, limiting the number of compatible devices. And, obviously, consumers using iOS or any other mobile operating system besides Android are out of luck, at least for now.

 

Categories
Cell Phone Accessories Imaging

The New Glif keeps your smartphone photos on the level

As the cameras on smartphones get better and better, the need for a good tripod mount to take better photos on those smartphones keeps growing also.

The New Glif is a redesigned version of the pioneering Glif tripod mount for the iPhone 4 that adds new features and now works with the latest iPhones. The mount’s makers have focused on a quick release mechanism, as well as portrait and landscape support, with the new model.

Categories
Automotive Connected Objects

Frizon HUD guides your car with a transparent screen, responds to gestures and speech

Heads-up displays (HUDs) tend to be better than traditional GPS devices because HUDs allow users to keep their eyes straight on the road in front of them while getting navigation and other useful information. A HUD display pops up directly in front of the driver, over the windshield, but doesn’t block the driver’s ability to see the road.

Frizon is a HUD with a transparent, Active Matrix OLED (AMOLED) screen. It auto starts with the car engine and responds to hand gestures and through speech recognition to control the radio, answer the phone and perform other car functions. Users can see all the car’s gauges on the screen without having to look away to the dashboard.

Categories
Connected Objects

Weighitz smart scales let you weigh it — whatever it is

The only scale that a lot of consumers own is the one they keep in their bathroom to weigh themselves. However, the clunky design of such scales pretty much makes them useless for weighing anything else –- like food, a pet, mail or a piece of luggage to avoid paying a fee at the airport.

Weighitz are small, modular smart scales designed to accurately weigh pretty much anything in the home, or even certain things outside the home like letters and luggage. It’s water resistant, and its low power consumption and high capacity batteries combine so users rarely have to recharge. When required, the scale can be plugged into the included micro USB charging cable and attached to a computer or wall socket. An indicator will light up when it’s charged.

Weighitz ships in December at future pricing of $25 each or $70 for three. But Indiegogo backers have been able to get Weighitz for pledges starting at $18 for one and $50 for $50. Its makers seek about $32,000 by August 22nd.

This is a handy product, but obviously there are many similar products, including GeniScale, that have come first. The modular design and smart functionality of Weighitz, however, gives it an edge over at least some rival devices. When combined, a set of Weighitz can weigh heavier or more oddly shaped objects. The scale outputs info to the companion smartphone app for unspecified operating systems. When using more than one Weighitz, the app will combine the readings from all the scales into one reading.

 

Categories
Connected Objects Pets

PlayDate lets you play with your pets even when you’re apart

Cats and dogs love to play, but pet owners can’t always be home to do that with them because of other commitments, including work and travel.

PlayDate is a remote-controlled ball toy that engages dogs and cats, and records HD video of them playing with it. The pet owner controls the interactive camera remotely from anywhere, via an app on Android and iOS mobile devices. Pet owners can hear their pets through a microphone in the ball and also speak to the pets through a speaker in the ball.

Categories
Health and Wellness Robots/Drones

Pillo lets you rest easy about taking your pills

Forgetting to take one’s pills can lead to major health problems, especially when those medications are for life-threatening health issues including heart disease.

patent-claimedPillo is a connected pill-dispensing robot that recognizes individuals in the family and helps people of all ages to better manage their health. In addition to dispensing medication, it can answer users’ health and wellness questions and connect a person directly with healthcare professionals. Because Pillo has been designed to be intelligent, its functionalities grow as it learns about the user and his or her family.

Categories
Connected Objects Television

Lightpack 2 lets your TV bask in the afterglow of ambient lighting

Ambient backlighting can add another level of immersion to one’s experience while watching a movie or playing a video game on the TV.

patent-claimedLightpack 2 is an HDMI pass through kit that provides ambient backlighting for TVs. It follows the Lightpack lighting system that the same manufacturer, Wooden Shark, successfully received funding for on Kickstarter in 2013. The big difference between the two products is that the earlier device was designed for computer monitors.

The new product has four HDMI inputs to connect all of one’s media devices, including game consoles, to the TV. Lightpack 2 controls an LED strip that contours to the back of a TV and can also include a Pixel accessory, a wireless LED-based lighting module that is placed on the wall or elsewhere. Lightpack 2 uses patented algorithms to process the input video signal. All that is required for setup are a power source and an HDMI connection. Lightpack 2 can also be used as an intelligent lighting system even when the TV is off. Mood lighting can be set with the companion Lightpack app for Android and iOS devices.