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hipKey Proximity Sensor helps find your lost keys, children
Ever lose your keys? I know, stupid question. Everyone loses their keys from time to time. It's maddening when you know they are just "somewhere right around here." Or worse, have you ever lost your iPad? Or a purse? If any of this is familiar to you, the hipKey proximity sensor might just be for you. The device attaches to your keys, children, backpack, purse or other valuables. Its counterpart app lives on your iOS device. If, for instance, you have the hipKey attached to your purse and you leave the house without it, the iPhone app will alert you that you've left the proximity of your purse. Or, if you have the hipKey on you and you've misplaced your iPhone, press the locate button on the hipKey and its iPhone app will beep, alerting you to its presence. Further, you can attach the hipKey to your child and set a proximity area. If you child wanders outside of that area you'll be alerted to it. As you can see, the hipKey has a myriad array of uses. It quickly sold out in Europe when it went on sale in December, but now the device is available again in Apple's online store in Europe and, for the first time, in the US. hipKey is US$90.
hippih's Bluetooth-powered hipKey keeps your iPhone close, your precious things closer (hands-on)
Bluetooth accessories that let you keep tabs of your stuff aren't exactly new, but few are as charming and well-designed as hippih's hipKey, at least from our initial impressions. Created and designed in Denmark, the tiny crescent-shaped device made its US debut at CES 2013 after a couple of very successful months abroad -- it apparently sold out just five days after it was available through Apple Online Europe. It connects to any iOS device with Bluetooth 4.0, where you can either use the hipKey to keep track of your iPhone or iPad or use a handy iOS app to keep track of the device itself. Just hook it up to your precious belongings and you'll know where they are via vibrations or an alarm. You can also use "Child Mode" to record what a child was wearing in case you lose him/her in a crowd. Additionally, there's a patent-pending Safe Zone feature that lets you create alarm-free locations so you don't accidentally set it off when at home or the office. We had chance to try the hipKey out in person, and were impressed by its small and discreet size. Made out of anodized aluminium, it's incredibly pocket-friendly and only has a couple of buttons so the controls are easy to comprehend. The alarm goes as loud as 90db and the vibrations seems pretty easy to detect. We only had a second or two to try the app out, but that appeared quite intuitive as well. It's difficult to say whether this will be that useful in real life, but we'll need to test it out for an extended period to find that out. According to a hippih spokesperson, the hipKey will be available from the Apple store in the US starting January 15th for $90 each.
