MiracleFone
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Crowdfunding Roundup: Hydros, Ritot, and more
Each 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. Summertime is when a young person's fancy turns to lawn watering, and Hydros is looking at ways to keep your yard perfectly green without wasting any water at all. Using a set of smart sensors and a controller, Hydros gives your lawn exactly the amount of water it needs, not more or less. With 26 days to go, the Hydros campaign is at about 12 percent of funding, but has plenty of time to perk up. And what young (or old) person wouldn't want an iOS-controlled robot? AI.Frame is a way cool robot that can walk, dance, get into rubber-band combat with other robots or humans, and it comes in a variety of colors with a lot of customizations. It's already funded at 325 percent with 10 days to go in the campaign, but you can still get in on the action. What the heck is a Convert Case? It's "a single phone case that can quickly and easily be interchanged with various attachments such as different images, designs, and functional add-ons". The idea is one that's fascinating; instead of buying multiple cases to cover the different needs you may have over the course of a day, you can just add and remove attachments. The project team -- Ben, Brandon, and Drew -- have a way to go in their funding quest as Convert Cases is at only 2 percent funding with about a month to go. Help 'em out, TUAW readers! Nothing says "lawsuit" more than making an iPhone charging adapter that seems to have a lot of MagSafe heritage. That's the idea behind Cabin, which is actually a pretty nice looking adapter if the Chinese entrepreneurs behind the project can avoid Cupertino's lawyers. With a whopping 42 days to go, Cabin is about 16 percent funded. Everybody seems to be making smartwatches these days, with the exception of Apple. With this bumper crop of intelligent timepieces, everyone is trying to add a standout feature. Along comes Ritot with a very unique feature -- a projection unit built into the smartwatch that makes your arm part of the display. Apparently the idea has caught the imagination of a lot of people, as Ritot is nearly 600 percent funded with over a month to go. OK, personally I think these are one of the most ugly charging solutions I've seen, but if you're looking for a way of getting wireless Qi charging without sticking your iPhone or iPad into a special case, this is probably up your alley. The 2nd-generation 3DOM Power Sticker project wants to put a saggy-looking sticker on the back of your nice sleek iOS device, and it's at 5 percent funding with 46 days left. MiracleFone isn't ready for Kickstarter yet, but the project team has a video up on Prefundia that shows exactly what this little device does. You know how you sometimes wish for a phone call to get you out of a conversation, bad date or meeting? Just push the button on the MiracleFone device and moments later you get a phone call on your iPhone that you can answer. There's even a voice on the other end of the call. Too bad that this is one of the most ridiculous Kickstarter videos ever, because MiracleFone is actually a pretty cool idea. That's it for this week. We'll be back next Thursday for another roundup of crowdfunded projects that you can support or ignore. Many thanks again to Hal Sherman for providing some tips about new and exciting projects, and 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.
