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Gnome is a smart garden system for urban horticulturalists
There are quite a few connected gardening products out there to help you grow and nourish plants. But most of them involve smart pots or indoor hydroponic solutions: Perfect for beginners or casual hobbyists, but not so great for more serious gardeners like Hugreen founder Clement Lee. New to the world of organic farming, Lee found himself frustrated by the limitations of existing products like the system from Edyn, which monitors small outdoor areas but is fairly limited in distance and overall capability. Hugreen's Gnome, launching on Indiegogo today, is aimed at large backyards or rooftop gardens and tackles those weaknesses directly with more accurate monitoring and the ability to communicate as far as a kilometer away.
Crowdfunding Roundup: Some winners and a few slow starters
Every week, TUAW provides readers with an update on new or significant crowdfunded Apple-related projects in the news. While our policy is to not go into detail on items that haven't reached at least 80 percent of their funding goal, this update is designed to give readers a heads-up on projects they might find interesting enough to back. Wow, we're hearing about a lot of Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns that are figuratively "knocking it out of the park" by not only meeting, but exceeding their funding goals. Let's take a look at what's out on Kickstarter this week: Boldy is a new magnetic iPad and iPhone mount that uses a curved, half-egg shaped mount with a "cup" on the back of a special case to create an amazingly adjustable setup. It has a bit of a ways to go to reach funding, as it's only at about 10.7 percent funding. Fortunately, the campaign goes for another 45 days. If you're one of the three humans on the planet who doesn't have at least one device mount, Boldy looks like it is definitely worth waiting for. OK, so some of you young punks don't even know what a typewriter is/was, but if you have any love at all for retro tech you're going to love the Qwerkywriter. It's a typewriter-inspired mechanical keyboard that is just flippin' beautiful. Dreams don't become reality without your backing, though -- with three weeks to go, the Qwerkywriter campaign has only raised about 35 percent of funding. Please back this project so I can pretend I'm typing on my grandmother's old Underwood typewriter. We already had a full post about the Edyn connected garden accessories earlier this week, but the campaign on Kickstarter is still underway. If you want to make your gardening a little bit easier, to be able to understand what's going on with those plants, back this project. Edyn has already made funding -- it's 181 percent funded with 27 days to go -- but can always use more money to help get manufacturing up and running. TUAW readers know that I'm fascinated with the "Internet of everything", and I have sensors, switches, and webcams just about everywhere in my house to see what's going on and give me control from anywhere I happen to be. Well, oort is looking a creating a unified ecosystem of products connected to your iPhone or iPad through a small puck-like hub. Having just launched, the oort project is only at 2.1 percent of funding, but I expect it to take off. Ever heard of "juice jacking"? It's a method of compromising a smartphone or tablet that's plugged into a USB port for charging. Now, while as far as I know this has never been an issue, LA-based SparqEE wants to make sure it never happens to you. How are they doing this? With the Umbrella USB, which is basically a tiny USB adapter that passes power to your juice-hungry device but no data. In other words, it's a way to stop someone from infecting your devices with malware if you happen to plug into the wrong USB port... 112 percent funded with three weeks to go! Here's a great way to get girls interested in coding: APPALOOSA! is a mobile app prototyping kit that combines stories, supplies and source files to get young girls interested in app development. The project has modest goals and is fortunately almost halfway to its funding goal with 39 days to go. This should be an easy project to push over the top, and it's a very worthy Kickstarter. Let's say that you happen to own a very nice, expensive Breitling watch. Are you going to give that up for some "smart watch" anytime soon? Probably not. That's why Glance makes sense -- it's a digital accessory that fits under a watchband and works with smartphone apps to provide you with information, all while you're using your favorite watch. Regretfully, at only 25 percent funding with three weeks to go, Glance may not make it into production without your help. And finally, we head over to Indiegogo where the Pouff3D 3D scanner is trying to get off the ground. Maybe it's the name; perhaps it's the idea that not everyone needs a smartphone-connected 3D scanner that looks like a weird piece of living room furniture. Anyway, the project is probably going to die an early death; it has only captured $88 of an $85,000 goal with 16 days to go. And that, my friends, is it for this week in the wild and wacky world of crowdfunding. Come back next week when we'll see what new ideas (and probably even more smartphone/tablet mounts) show up. Thanks again to Hal Sherman for providing tips on a number of the projects. If you're aware of any other crowdfunded Apple-related projects, be sure to let us know about them through the Tip Us button at the upper right of the TUAW home page for future listing on the site.
The TUAW Daily Update Podcast for June 9, 2014
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get some the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the player at the top of the page. The Daily Update has been moved to a new podcast host in the past few days. Current listeners should delete the old podcast subscription and subscribe to the new feed in the iTunes Store here.
The "smart garden" of the future is on the way, thanks to your iPhone
If it seems like everything is connected to your iPhone these days, that's because it is. Well, almost everything. A company called Edyn is ready to connect it to one more thing: your garden. The company has successfully funded its first Kickstarter campaign for the Edyn garden system, a super smart collection of gadgets that can tell you everything you need to know about where your precious plants call home. It starts with the Edyn garden sensor. Once you stick the sensor into your garden soil it begins tracking all kinds of important metrics such as moisture levels, the fertility of the soil, temperature, and sunlight exposure. Using the Edyn app for your iOS device, the system compares the readings from your garden with data about your location to give you a better understanding of how your garden should be performing. It can suggest types of plants that will thrive in your specific garden and even tell you what types of fertilizer are going to work the best for you. The Edyn garden valve is the next piece of the system, and it works with the app to devise the perfect watering regimen for your plants. It takes readings from the Edyn garden sensor into account and decides when to water your garden. It's all automated, and it will automatically shower your plants whenever they need it. It all seems very slick, and if it works as advertised it could be an invaluable tool for anyone without a particularly green thumb. With a month left of funding, the Edyn system has already blasted past its original Kickstarter goal, so if you're interested in soil intelligence, you can hop on the crowd funding train right now.
Edyn's smart gardening system gives your plants exactly what they need
Smart home gardening devices frequently tell you that your plants need a little TLC, but they don't always deliver it; you frequently have to bring out a hose or watering can. If Edyn successfully funds its smart garden system, you may not have to trudge out to the backyard quite so often. The core is a WiFi-connected sensor that detects both the soil quality and ambient conditions, cross-checking those against your choice of greenery. If the sensor decides that your plants need some hydration, Edyn's iOS app automatically tells an optional smart valve to deliver just the right amount of water-- yes, you can be waste-free and lazy. Both the sensor and valve combine solar power with lithium-ion batteries, so you don't have to worry about watering on cloudy days.
