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Segway's electric scooter offers a ride from your car to your desk
A year ago, CityGo Urban raised over $300,000 for its successful concept: an electric scooter that would zoom commuters to work. Today, it's finally re-emerged in the news -- but as a part of a newly-envisioned "Last Mile" system developed by Segway, which bought CityGo shortly after its Indiegogo campaign ended.
Indiegogo requires campaigns to disclose product status and risk
Crowdfunding has brought a lot of great projects to life, but fundraising on the frontier brings risk -- like unexpected issues delaying product deliveries for years or cancelling campaigns outright. Indiegogo wants to shore up trust in its platform, so it's requiring entrepreneurs to disclose more information up-front and update backers monthly.
GoFundMe shuts down campaigns for Charlottesville suspect
Crowdfunding platforms are taking a no-tolerance approach to campaigns raising money in support of James Fields, the man accused of driving a car into protesters at a white-supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Saturday. GoFundMe has already removed "multiple" campaigns for Fields. Speaking to Reuters, strategic communications director Bobby Whithorne said: "Those campaigns did not raise any money and they were immediately removed." He added that GoFundMe will delete similar campaigns if more are created.
Track Bluesmart's latest luggage anywhere in the world
Connected luggage sets are easy to find these days, but Bluesmart stands out: as one of the first out of the gate, it has experience its rivals lack. You'll be glad to hear, then, that the company is back for another round. It's crowdfunding Series 2 luggage that builds on the existing formula with some features that, at first blush, appear to be genuinely practical. Both the 22-inch Cabin carry-on bag and 29-inch Check suitcase include a combination of 3G cellular and GPS that lets you track your luggage anywhere in the world (with cellular reception, at least) for free. If your luggage goes to Bhutan instead of Boston, you'll know it.
Indiegogo backers get their smart lock... two years later
Friday Labs has finally begun shipping the smart locks it promised its Indiegogo backers way back in 2015. Long waiting periods like this are definitely one of the most important things to take into consideration when backing crowdfunding projects. But, hey, at least this one didn't fold without shipping even a single product. In fact, the startup has also begun accepting pre-orders for those who didn't get to back the campaign. Non-backer purchases won't ship until next month or so, though, and it will set you back the device's full retail price ($249).
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.
Great keyboard design can be undermined by bad decisions
One problem with loving quirkily designed mechanical keyboards is that there's a risk of falling onto a hype train of your own making. At first blush, Lofree's wireless mechanical keyboard looked like a dream product, thanks to its Henrik Thor-Larsen-inspired design. It showed plenty of promise too, thanks to its Gateron Blue switches and Mac-first layout that works with both iOS and macOS devices (as well as Windows and Android). But despite its gorgeous looks, the Lofree keyboard is unpleasant to use.
Want an action camera that's also a watch?
Back in the days of Google Glass, people balked at the idea that people could, or should, walk around with a camera on their face. Spacemap wants to see if there's similar hostility to those folks who are effectively carrying an action camera on their wrist. Beoncam is a removable five-megapixel hemispheric camera that you can wear like a watch, pulling it out for those moments when a smartphone snap would be too slow.
Moto Z Mod puts a walkie-talkie on your phone
Motorola has been encouraging enterprising hardware hackers to create Mods at contests around the globe for the Moto Z smartphone, though so far results have been somewhat limited. The latest Mod to make its way to an Indiegogo project is the Linc radio -- a nifty little walkie-talkie Mod that the creators say will let you stay in touch at a range of up to six miles without cell service.
IBM and Indiegogo are bringing Watson's smarts to the masses
IBM sees a big future in the Internet of Things. The company unveiled its $200 million IoT headquarters in Munich this week as part of its planned $3 billion investment in the connected devices industry. So far, however, the tech behemoth has mostly lent Watson's brains to larger companies and research projects. That's about to change thanks to a new partnership from IBM, Indiegogo and Arrow Electronics that promises to give independent developers and entrepreneurs access to those same machine learning tools.
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.
Pretend to be Tony Stark with this $290 desktop robot arm
Most robot arms we've seen in the past few years have been either attached to our favorite rolling dog/mech robots or been innovative prosthetics on our favorite humans. But why not a little worker bee robolimb plopped on your desk and ready to perform menial and/or delicate tasks? UFactory launched an Indiegogo campaign for its newest domestic helper a few weeks ago, the open source uArm Swift, which has leaped past its $10,000 goal to raise $280,000 at the time of this post.
New York City tech leaders object to Trump immigration ban
If it wasn't already clear that the tech industry is opposed to President Trump's immigration restrictions, it is now. Hundreds of New York City tech luminaries have signed a letter that urges Trump to change his mind on the policies, many of whom are from companies you'll recognize -- Airbnb, Blue Apron, Comcast Ventures, Foursquare, Indiegogo and Kickstarter are just a few examples. Many of them are CEOs or founders of influential firms, including Uber chief Travis Kalanick.
Smart air freshener lets you select scents with your phone
Thanks to the internet of things, we have the ability to control our home's lighting and temperature at the touch of a button. But what about the smell? For that, we're left with shoving a Glade plug-in air freshener into a socket or opening a window. That's set to change with the introduction of Moodo, a SensorWake-esque device that's designed to customize your home's scent at will.
A connected cooktop could keep you from burning breakfast
The world needs an app-connected hotplate like ... well, I'm not sure if we need one, but we're getting one, regardless. FirstBuild, the company responsible for a $250-to-$500 coffeemaker, is back at it with the Paragon setup. Promising precision cooking via an array of built-in sensors that automatically adjust the induction cooktop's heat output automatically, FirstBuild hopes you'll think the granular temperature adjustment settings are worth the price of admission.
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.
The Gate one-ups other smart locks with a built-in camera
Smart door locks and deadbolts allow you to let anyone in your house from anywhere with an internet connection, but how many enable you to ensure the identity of the person entering? Some smart locks, such as the August, offer add-on cameras and microphones, but you have to buy those accessories separately; meanwhile doorbells like the Ring have a camera but don't allow for electronic keys or remote activation. The Gate smart lock, on the other hand, packs everything into a single device.
Lysol owner and Indiegogo team up to find the next... Lysol
Reckitt Benckiser's board thinks that there might be something in this crowdfunding lark for sourcing new product ideas. That's why the chemicals company behind Durex, Veet and Lysol is teaming up with Indiegogo for its Healthier Tomorrow Challenge. Money-hungry startups with ideas related to health products are offered the chance to take part in a Shark Tank-esque competition for RB's love. If you have an idea that the conglomerate thinks is a winner, you'll be offered support, mentoring and, potentially, access to RB's manufacturing and distribution channels.
Indiegogo lets you invest in potential startups
When a kid with a good idea asks you for $20 to fund their new startup, you give that money in the hope they'll do some good. That can sting, however, when they become a multi-billionaire and you don't even get a note of thanks with $20 stapled to it. Indiegogo is working to remedy the issue by incorporating equity crowdfunding into its platform. That way, instead of getting a lousy t-shirt as a reward for your patronage, you could actually get a share in the future success of businesses that you back.
Gnome is a smart garden system for urban horticulturalists
There are quite a few connected gardening products out there to help you grow and nourish plants. But most of them involve smart pots or indoor hydroponic solutions: Perfect for beginners or casual hobbyists, but not so great for more serious gardeners like Hugreen founder Clement Lee. New to the world of organic farming, Lee found himself frustrated by the limitations of existing products like the system from Edyn, which monitors small outdoor areas but is fairly limited in distance and overall capability. Hugreen's Gnome, launching on Indiegogo today, is aimed at large backyards or rooftop gardens and tackles those weaknesses directly with more accurate monitoring and the ability to communicate as far as a kilometer away.
