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The Blocks modular smartwatch will always be a concept
It's been several years since Blocks had its initial 15 minutes of fame, capturing the internet's attention with the idea of a modular smartwatch. The first prototypes were about as rough and ready as they could feasibly get, but the public's appetite for the ambitious product hadn't waned by the time the crowdfunding campaign started over a year later. More than $1.6 million in pledges and another few years of development, and the Blocks smartwatch is kinda, finally here. But so much has changed in the interim. Project Ara is dead, modularity isn't the buzzword it once was and we've gone from not knowing if we really need a smartphone accessory on our wrist to a saturated smartwatch market. But the founding fathers of Blocks still believe they have something unique to offer.
Domino's makes ordering pizza dangerous with 'Easy Order' button
With more than half of its customers now ordering via its mobile apps, it's fair to say that Domino's has pizza delivery down to a fine art. But in this modern age, there's always room to shave a couple of seconds off the purchasing process. That's where "The Easy Order" comes in. Domino's has brought one-click pizza ordering to the UK, letting you hit a physical button to get your favourite pizza delivered to your doorstep.
Flic is a 'smart button' that tells your iPhone to STFU
As far as smart gadgets go, Flic is about as simple as it gets. It's a tiny magnetic button that can be programmed to control various functions of your phone, from silencing an alarm to snapping a photo. Each button can be programmed with three different functions -- initiated by either a single tap, double tap, or push and hold -- and at US$27 they're relatively cheap. If this sounds like something you'd love to get your hands on, you're not alone, and the Flic campaign on Indiegogo has raised over $117,000 in just the first two day, with 46 more to go. Flic's original goal was $80,000. The potential uses for a Flic button seem to be pretty much endless, and the promo video shows it being used as a one-button activator for phone-based smart home automation features, an emergency alert button that sends a text or GPS coordinates if danger strikes, and a pre-programmed phone shortcut that can call someone with a tap. Perhaps its most astounding feature is that it has a battery life of up to five years. You can pre-order a single Flic button for the $27 standard price ($23 if you manage to snag one before the 500 discounted units run out), and you can save cash if you order more than one. Personally, I'd order one just to use as a snooze button, but that's probably just me.
