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Kickstarter seeks creators to launch more ambitious projects
If you look at what's trending on Kickstarter, you'll see a bunch of gadgets, games and quirky knickknacks. While they all look fun and promising, it seems Kickstarter wants to see grander campaigns much more creative and forward-thinking than usual. The crowdfunding website has published its first request for projects that focus on innovative designs and revolutionary technologies. Its design and tech team is looking for three types in particular, starting with ones that push the envelope.
Picobrew's next goal: A safe and affordable DIY distillery
Picobrew has a new, cheaper countertop beer brewing system. That you already knew. But the company is now dipping its toes into distilling. The Picostill is an add on for the Pico Model C that turns that weird custom designed keg into a countertop distillery. Specifically it's a reflux still that uses vacuum distillation, which doesn't look as cool as a pot or column still, but makes far more efficient use of the space.
Swap your boring coffee table for one that plays 'Pong'
Remember that real-world Pong table that was supposed to become a product you could buy if everything went smoothly? Well, it's here... almost. The creators have launched a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign to launch a production-grade, coffee table-sized version of the design. If you're willing to pledge at least $1,100 ($990 if you were referred by an existing backer), you can get living room furniture that uses magnets, motors and optical sensors to recreate the classic 1972 game. You can hide the controls when you aren't using them, and the table even throws in USB charging ports, Bluetooth music streaming and a coin-op mode to recoup your investment.
PicoBrew tries to make countertop beer brewing affordable
Brewing your own beer is surprisingly easy and cheap. But, it can seem intimidating. Plus, some of the equipment takes up a lot of space if you really start to embrace the hobby. Companies like Picobrew have been trying to simplify the process to make it more appealing to newcomers and those with limited space. The Pico Model C is the latest in a line of "countertop" brewing machines. It looks more like a coffee machine than anything else. In fact, it looks a lot like the company's previous machine -- the Pico -- except the stainless-steel body has been replaced with a black powder-coated finish.
Documentary to explore what went wrong with 'Tony Hawk' games
Back in the late '90s, the video games bearing the name of legendary skateboarder Tony Hawk weren't awful. Publisher Activision wasn't a monolith pushing out uninspired, annual sequels across all its franchises either, and in general, it was a happier time in the world. That's where documentary Pretending I'm a Superman: The Tony Hawk Game Story begins. Or, it will begin if it can raise $75,000 on IndieGogo.
Control your home with a gorgeous wooden remote
If you're looking for an attractive way to control your smart home, this minimalist, carved-wood multipurpose remote might fit the bill. It's called the Turn Touch, and it's pulled in almost twice the Kickstarter funding requested. The project has almost reached its first stretch goal to add IFTTT support, with plans to add Apple's HomeKit down the line.
Crowdfunded 'MST3K' revival hits Netflix April 14th
Tonight, after a "Red Carpet Kickstarter Screening" of the first new Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode, Netflix announced the revived series will launch April 14th. In a message to backers of the biggest crowdfunded video project, creator Joel Hodgson promised that backers with rewards including new episodes or a live screening of the new episodes will "have them by April 14." Netflix didn't have anything to share other than the cast photo above, but at least fans can mark their calendars.
Fig's new fund helps indie games get to Steam
Crowdfunding and investment site Fig is offering successful indie developers a little extra cash to finish games and get them on Steam. With the $500,000 Fig Finishing Fund, developers that hit their funding goals and attract at least 1,000 backers will get at least $20,000 from the investor-based fund. They'll be able to use that cash to finish their games, add more languages and get them up on Valve's brand new Steam Direct program coming this spring.
'Apocalypse Now' game studio tries raising $5.9 million on its own
The plan to translate cult war horror film Apocalypse Now into a video game seemed ambitious in scope and public support when it launched a Kickstarter late in January with a $900,000 goal. But after raising only $172,000 with just 9 days left, the team decided to pivot its crowdfunding efforts. The new plan: open a fresh website dedicated to a 460-day long haul fundraising campaign with a much larger $5,900,000 aim. Assuming all goes well, the team will still release the game in 2020.
Crowdfunded 'Star Trek: DS9' documentary imagines a new season
The creators and stars of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine have launched an Indiegogo campaign to produce a documentary about the show. What We Left Behind will tell the story of the third fourth Star Trek series as told by (most of) the people who made it. More than that, however, the film has assembled the show's writing team (including Ronald D. Moore) to map out what a mythical eighth season of the show would look like. Sadly, the AV Club beat us two pointing out that this is basically that Portlandia sketch, but in real life.
Kickstarter acquires live streaming company Huzza
Kickstarter today announced that it has purchased Huzza, the live-streaming startup that helped create Kickstarter Live. Like Twitch for creators, Live is a video platform that helps facilitate Q+As and connect people asking for money to people that have it. According to Kickstarter, 74 percent of creators who stream on the platform get funded, with the average viewer spending over 16 minutes watching livestreams.
With your help 'Apocalypse Now' could become a video game
Apocalypse Now was a landmark achievement of cinema. Garnering near-universal praise since its 1979 release, director Francis Ford Coppola's Vietnam War epic has left an indelible mark on the cultural landscape, launching countless careers and impacting just about every form of entertainment since. Especially video games. Now, a veteran group of developers wants to put you in Captain Willard's (Martin Sheen) boots as he hunts Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando) in the jungle and witnesses the horrors of war first-hand.
ZTE's crowdsouced phone will pack dual cameras
ZTE has already confirmed that its crowdsourced Hawkeye phone will include showstopping features like eye tracking and a sticky case, but what about the nuts and bolts? Well, it's finally spilling the beans... and Hawkeye is a fairly powerful device for the money. The Snapdragon 625 processor, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of expandable storage and 5.5-inch 1080p screen are good, though not mind-blowing. However, you'll also get a dual rear camera system -- 12-megapixel and 13-megapixel sensors will deliver iPhone 7 Plus-style zooming at a price where that feature is relatively rare.
Smart stove knobs help you prevent a house fire
You can already buy connected ranges that offer remote control and prevent kitchen disasters. But what about your existing range -- are you really going to replace it just for some extra convenience and peace of mind? You might not have to. Inirv is crowdfunding the React, a smart stove knob system that upgrades most any electric or gas stove. You can control individual burners through your phone, of course, but the real star of the show is a sensor that sits on your ceiling. If it detects gas, smoke or prolonged inactivity, it automatically shuts off active burners. You shouldn't have to worry about sparking a house fire just because you forgot to switch the stove off before you left for the movies.
ZTE's crowdsourced phone gets a name and a Kickstarter campaign
It's only been a few months since ZTE tapped the wisdom of the masses and started work on its first crowdsourced device: an eye-tracking, self-adhesive phone. No, seriously. A surprising number of people thought we should be able to stick our phones onto walls and navigate through websites and menus just by glancing all over the place. While the phone itself is far from finished, ZTE did give us a few new details here at CES: it's called the Hawkeye, and you'll be able to pre-order one on Kickstarter starting today for $199.
Crowdfunded laptop dock for Android phones misses launch date
The Superbook, a device that converts your smartphone into a laptop, is the latest high-profile Kickstarter project to delay shipping to backers. The $99 device, basically a screen and keyboard shell powered by your smartphone's processor and memory, raised nearly $3 million after garnering pledges from 16,732 backers. However, the company has announced that it will postpone shipping from February 2017 to June 2017 because design changes and supplier issues.
'Star Citizen' switches to Amazon's game engine
Star Citizen is still far from being ready, but it now has a more solid underpinning. Cloud Imperium has revealed that it has switched both Star Citizen and Squadron 42 from Crytek's CryEngine to Amazon's Lumberyard engine as of Star Citizen's just-launched Alpha 2.6 release. It was an "easy and smooth transition" due to Lumberyard's CryEngine roots, but both secures the "long term future" of the games and promises some distinct advantages. It taps directly into the cloud through Amazon Web Services, for instance, and makes Twitch streaming easy.
Indiegogo will use collection agencies to go after fraudsters
Indiegogo has updated its Terms of Use in an effort to protect itself and backers from crowdfund-and-run fraudsters. In a recent blog post, the website has revealed that it will start using third-party collections agencies to go after campaign owners who don't deliver on their promises and those who run off with their backers' money. Further, it has begun imposing stricter requirements on people who want to set up shop. The campaign owners' legal residence should now match their projects' address upon ID verification to prove that they're not impostors. Owners are now also required to provide frequent updates about their project's development and are not allowed to put up another if their previous campaign is still active.
VR treadmill creator cancels pre-orders outside the US
Virtuix's Omni treadmill is very alluring to virtual reality fans who want freedom to walkwithout the fear of tripping over cables or running into walls. However, it's also massive and complex... and that's forcing the company to scale back its ambitions. Virtuix is telling its Kickstarter backers that it's cancelling all Omni pre-orders outside of the US, as the logistics of shipping the treadmill are just too much. It's not just the 175-pound, 48- by 43-inch shipping package that's the problem -- it's honoring regulations and maintaining enough replacement parts to handle a global audience. The initial plans to ship worldwide were "naive and unfeasable," the startup writes.
'Cards Against Humanity' hole is a crowdfunding metaphor (updated)
The Cards Against Humanity crew is no stranger to backing projects that are alternately very helpful and utterly pointless, and its latest is squarely in the latter camp. It's crowdfunding the Holiday Hole, which is... a hole in the ground. That's it. So long as the money keeps flowing, machines will keep digging into a nondescript patch of terrain. A basic $5 donation will buy 3 seconds of dig time, but you can contribute whatever you like. CAH is even livestreaming the whole affair (with multiple camera angles!), in case you want to see where your donations are going.
