LaunchConference
Latest
Watch this iPhone get dunked in a goldfish bowl
It's the weekend, and what better time to watch somebody try to destroy an iPhone than that? After the break below, you can watch video of a presentation at this week's Launch Conference in San Francisco, in which LifeProof, a company that makes iPhone cases built to withstand the elements, dunks said iPhone in said goldfish tank. They also put condiments all over it, cover it in dirt, and just generally make a mess, all to prove that their iPhone case can protect against whatever gets thrown at it. The case itself is $69.95, which is a little pricey, but LifeProof of course says that replacing the iPhone completely is much more expensive. I'd suggest that if your iPhone is getting dunked in water or covered in dirt, it might be better to just leave it at home (although I guess there are certain jobs that require a smartphone in less-than-ideal conditions). At any rate, even if you don't need a case that can withstand a tornado, the video below (the demo starts around 1:40) is an entertaining watch.
Green Goose sensors monitor your life, you earn experience points (update)
We're pretty certain that once embedded wireless sensors catch on, they'll pervade every aspect of our lives, and Green Goose is building a microcosm of that eventuality in the form of a role-playing game. The five-person SF Bay Area startup has embedded custom 915MHz radios and MEMS accelerometers in a variety of tiny transmitters which you can mount to household objects -- like a water bottle, bicycle, or the toothbrush above -- which report back to the receiver with your actions and thereby increase your score. Brush your teeth on time, take your vitamins, or exercise repeatedly within a couple hundred feet of the receiver, and you'll eventually level up. (Or, optionally, muck with the sensor just right, and it'll register points anyhow.) Presently, that level isn't worth anything, but founder Brian Krejcarek says there are tentative plans to tie these points into a real game and an API to build the idea out, and he's presently looking for partner companies here at the Launch Conference in San Francisco to help roll out the sensors (which cost approximately $4 each) under branded marketing initiatives of some sort. If you don't want to wait, the company will sell starter kits starting February 28th for $24. Not bad for a head start on the future, right? Update: VentureBeat reports that Green Goose raised $100,000 in funding at the conference. Another interesting note: ReadWriteWeb reports that the sensors were originally pitched as a money-saving tool. Update 2: $100,000, not $100 million. Whoops. %Gallery-117463%
