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Crowdfunding roundup: A Bluetooth boombox, smart lamp speaker 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. Starting off this week, we have something that every street performer will want - a custom portable Bluetooth boombox fittingly called the Street Performer. The boombox is made from laser cut wood to feature your logo or artwork and features a battery that will last for all 10 hours of your annoying street corner performance. There's only one problem - the campaign has only 1 percent of its funding with three weeks to go. Since you've been streaming music from your iPhone, you don't have any need for that old fashioned CD player that's mounted in your car's dash, right? Well, how about turning the slot of that CD player into the bottom mount for Radmo, which bills itself as "the perfect mobile phone mount for your car". They even show it holding an iPad Air, so this sucker is sturdy. It's also funded to the tune of 716 percent with a month to go. You'd love to dabble in electronics, but you have absolutely no skills. That's the reason behind SAM, which combines a kit of electronic hardware, a Mac app, and the Internet to create a powerful way to learn. The project is funded with 26 days to go, but you can still get in on the action. Tired of dumb lamp speakers? How about a smart lamp speaker for a change? In case you're wondering what a lamp speaker is, ummm, it's a lamp and a speaker mashed together and connected to an app. The Smart Lamp Speaker project from Emoi wants to let you "be touched by light and sound". Isn't that possible by just getting out of your house occasionally? Anyway, the project will never see light (see what I did there?) without your backing, as it's only at a mere 13 percent of funding with 24 days to go. Move over, Apple Watch! You're not even on the market yet, and already there's something better - the EPIC Watchphones. They're watches with a built-in cell phone and what appears to be a totally unusable UI. This Indiegogo flex funding project has raised a whopping $257, about 1 percent of its goal, but you can toss your money into the campaign in the next three weeks to make your Dick Tracy watch phone a reality. I know that one thing every TUAW reader has been wanting is a USB drive with up to 128GB of storage that's also a 7,800mAh battery pack. Well, wait no longer! PowerDrive is 49 percent funded with about a month to go, and it's just that - a big USB drive and a charger for iPhone and iPad. Last this week is a security project called Project Sierra, designed to plug into your network and allow everyone to access the internet anonymously and with full protection. Basically, it's a box that encrypts your data and also uses an "international network of proxies" to hide your location. There's not much excitement for this project, which is zero percent funded with four weeks to go. 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.
Pavlok needs you to shock more people into breaking bad habits
There's no way you'd use a shock collar to train your beloved dog, but you wouldn't mind using one on yourself if it means breaking your nastiest habits, eh? If that's the case, then your day has come: Pavlok (a wearable band that can zap you with electricity) is now up on Indiegogo, with its designer hoping to raise $50,000 to develop more features and to begin mass production. In order to train yourself to stay away from bad habits or continue doing good ones, you'll need to program the Pavlok app -- for instance, you can instruct it to zap you awake if you hit snooze twice on your alarm. The good news is that you can set the electricity the wristband zaps you with from 17 to 340 volts, so you can adjust it accordingly and make sure each it's not strong enough to actually hurt.
Is this wrist-worn smartphone on Indiegogo a hoax or a fever dream?
One downside of Indiegogo's lax attitude to projects is that there's no requirement for a prototype or any proof that the device being pitched could even exist. In fact, the site is so laissez-faire, that a creator could probably promise a hoverboard powered by unicorn tears, and the only limit to its success would be human credulity. In unrelated news, Arubixs has taken to Indiegogo to ask for $300,000 of funding for Portal, a flexible, bendable smartphone that can be worn on your forearm like Leela's Wristlojackimator - with a watch strap holding it in place at either end.
Hands-on with the Tintag rechargeable item tracker
As part of our continuing coverage of the world of connected devices and of crowdsourced projects, I see a lot of item tracking devices. These are usually little Bluetooth tags that connect to something you want to keep track of - keys, backpacks, computers, cats, you name it - that work with an iPhone app to notify you when the tag is over a certain distance away or beep and flash when you want to find the item. To date, most of the tracking tags have either required a replaceable battery, needed to be charged up via micro-USB every once in a while or simply stopped working once a non-replaceable battery ran out of juice. Now there's Tintag, an item tracker that recharges via a small wireless dock. Tintag is still seeking funding through Indiegogo, but is just about there with 93 percent of funding with over a month to go. The Tintag team decided that the best way to get the word out about their product was to send out a prototype unit and beta app so that I could really get a feel for how it works. The charging base station and tag are obviously prototypes, with rough edges and none of the product markings we're accustomed to seeing on electronic devices, but Tintag has a lot more technical polish than some item trackers that are currently being sold. The first thing you'll want to do with a Tintag is charge it. For this purpose, you take the tag - a little 1.5 x 1.1 x .24 inch (39 x 28 x 6 mm) rectangle - and drop it onto the 3-inch (76 mm) diameter charging dock. A series of white LEDs flash to let you know that the tag has been placed in the proper place, and then a red LED on the tag flashes to let you know that charging is underway. Once Tintag is charged up and the app is loaded on your iPhone, you can begin to have fun with it! The app is surprisingly polished for a beta, and is one of the more well-designed tracker apps I've used. The app prompts you to pull down on a splash screen to add a Tintag, name the tag, and then add a photo of whatever it is that you're going to track - say, a backpack or a tool. Once that is done, the app displays a screen showing your Tintags. Tap one of the Tintags, and the app begins searching for the device. The location is marked on a map (I found that the beta app had the wrong location by about a quarter mile), and there's an indication of the status of the device. If it's on the charging dock it will show that the battery's charging, and once it's off the dock you get an idea of the charge level in the battery. The approximate distance to the tag is displayed as well, and there are app buttons to let you make the tag beep (it's quite quiet, like most tracking tags) or flash (it lights up a series of bright white LEDs around the exterior of the tag). You can also define a safety range for your Tintag. In other words, if you're over a certain distance away, the app notifies you that you'd better go back and pick up whatever it is that you're tracking. That feature seemed a wee bit buggy in this beta software, but then again, it is a beta. The battery life of the Tintag is about four months, after which you just drop the device on the dock again for a six-hour recharge. One very cool feature is that the Tintag can be attached to multiple phones, meaning that family members can all search for the same tags. The developers of Tintag expect to send out 500 functional prototypes like the one I tested by November 2014, so beta testers (those who pledge US$65) won't have to wait long at all. From what I see from the prototype, Tintag is the item tracker you've been waiting for.
Windlands mixes Shadow of the Colossus with Oculus Rift
If Spider-Man started swinging and leaping through a magical land inspired by Shadow of the Colossus, it might look something like Windlands from Ilja Kivikangas and Simo Sainio. In this first-person action-adventure developed initially as part of the VR Jam 2013, players take on the role of an automaton built to find and destroy the source powering gigantic golems. To aid in this endeavor, players will be able to leap large distances, jump off walls and use a grappling hook to swing from the environment. While not one of the jam's finalists, Kivikangas wrote to Joystiq that he and Sainio received enough positive feedback that they decided to turn their project into a full-fledged game. To do that however, they're asking $14,000 on Indiegogo. At the time of this writing, they have raised just more than $9,000. Thankfully, while videos and screenshots are nice - and you should feel free to check out a trailer after the break - you don't have to take Kivikangas and Sainio at their word regarding gameplay, as you can download demos for both the DK1 and DK2 versions of the Oculus Rift and decide for yourself if you'd like to help fund the game's development.
Nikola Tesla Museum could have a brick with your name on it
After running a successful initial round of crowdfunding, The Oatmeal is now looking to put the finishing touches on its plans to build a Nikola Tesla Museum. To do so, it needs a bit more help from kind souls on the internet. Despite hitting the goal amount on Indiegogo a couple of years ago, and having since received an unexpected, hefty donation from Tesla CEO Elon Musk, additional money is needed to start the actual building process on the property, one that was bought with the $1.37 million originally raised. In an effort to make things interesting, this new campaign offers to give contributors engraved bricks in exchange for their hard-earned cash -- the more you donate, the bigger brick you're going to have at the museum. But hurry because, as The Oatmeal points out, the sooner you back the project, the better location your brick will get. Eventually, the idea is to build the Nikola Tesla Museum on the land where his final lab was located, in Shoreham, New York.
Crowdfunding Roundup: Unbreakable smart door locks and powerful purses
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. Being a fan of both home security and smartphone-controlled locks, I was very intrigued with this week's first entry. Haven is something a bit different for a lock, replacing the standard deadbolt with a wedge that is almost impossible to budge once it's locked. They show that about the only way you're going to get in through a door locked with Haven is with an axe ... and only after a lot of work. The project is 17 percent funded with a month to go, but I think this is worthy of support. Now, I can actually say that I have seen everything. Digitsole is a campaign (and Kickstarter Staff Pick) that brings the world of connected devices to your feet. It's a "connected insole", used to warm your feet, track your distance, and count how many calories you've burned. Digitsole is funded, currently at 154 percent of goal with over a month to go. Now for a couple of game projects. First up is Paradigm, billed as a surreal adventure game set in "post apocalyptic Eastern Europe with an ugly mutant protagonist and an evil sloth antagonist." Some of the backers will actually have their likeness included in the game, and there are other benefits if you put your wallet behind this project. It's currently at 172 percent funding with 11 days to go. Our other game is an awesome role-playing game called Star Traders 2. The team behind the project says "We've mingled inspirations from genre-defining series like Firefly and Battlestar Galactica, books like Dune, and games like Mass Effect, Pirates!, and Dwarf Fortress." The primary inspiration? The original Star Traders RPG. It's 69 percent funded with only 8 days to go. Come on, gamers! And now something for our more fashionable geekettes: Everpurse, a stylish purse with a charging dock built into it. Just slide your iPhone 5 or 6 (not sure it's big enough for the 6 Plus) into the charging pocket and you'll get up to 96 hours of juice. When the purse itself needs a charge, just drop it onto a tray for wireless charging. Unfortunately, Everpurse is only 6 percent funded with a month to go in the campaign. Step it up, ladies! I like seeing projects that are over goal and just about ready to launch. That's the case with Verve2, by inXus interactive out of Irvine, CA. Verve2 is billed as "LEGOs of the future" allowing you to "Create amazing projects by plugging the world around you to your computer or internet." It comes with a pile of sensors; force, touch, pushbutton, light, turn, motion, magnet, sound, and temperature. There's also a DIY sensor! It's perfect for students or anyone who wants to futz around with stuff. It's 301 percent funded with just 4 days to go. Last this week is another educational project, this one aimed at girls to get them interested in coding. Vidcode lets girls learn programming by letting them create video effects with code. The Kickstarter campaign will let the developers create more content for Vidcode users and deliver the first real product to schools. But this project needs your help, as it's only 43 percent funded with 26 days to go. Let's push it over the top! 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.
LifeBeam's heart-rate monitoring cycling helmet is ready for your commute
The last time that we covered LifeBeam, it was to tell you about the defense company's heart-rate monitoring cycle helmet that went up for pre-order on Indiegogo. More than a year later, and the second generation of the headgear is now ready for you to buy. This time around, the LifeBeam Helmet comes with a better sensor that cribs tech from the company's military aerospace systems that are used to monitor fighter pilots and special operations forces. The new hardware not only offers more accurate data, but also promises to vastly improve battery life to the point where it can be used several times in a month before you'll need to recharge. Other tweaks include the addition of Bluetooth 4.0 and ANT+, while the helmet's shape has been redesigned to better fit your head. It's available from the company right now, setting you back $200, complete with a limited-edition carbon carry case.
Indiegogo's pilot program lets successful projects keep raising money
When it comes to the wild and woolly crowdfunding space, it's not hard to look at Kickstarter as the Goliath to Indiegogo's David -- that's why the latter keeps trying to change up how young companies get the cash to build their products. First came Flexible Funding (which let project creators keep whatever money they've raised even if they didn't hit their goal), and now the company is launching a pilot program to keep those campaigns open indefinitely. That's right: if your crowdfunding project hit its initial milestone, you won't ever have to stop taking money from the people waving their wallets at you. In a way, this new funding model could turn Indiegogo into the store that Kickstarter never wanted to be. Sounds great for all those upstart artists and hardware hackers out there, no? It can be, but it could also mean questionable products (like the much-maligned Healbe GoBe and the Ritot projection watch) maintain a stream of funding they may not actually be worthy of. Only a handful of projects have been given the so-called Forever Funding treatment so far, including runaway successes like the Tens tinted sunglasses and this tiny tracking device, but this particular privilege should go live for everyone "in the coming months."
Crowdfunding Roundup: Nano edition
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. It's been an exciting week so far -- so exciting that we haven't been able to do a lot with gathering the crop of Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns that have popped up in the last week. Today's list is going to be rather short as a result -- expect things to be back to normal next week. Our first entry this week accurately bills itself as "the smallest backup charger for iPhone." Oivo is a brilliant idea, a collapsible battery charger that you can pop a set of four readily-available AA batteries into for a quick hit of juice. The top and bottom halves of the charger magnetically couple together so you have a tiny square fob on your keychain. Pull them apart, drop in the batteries, and you're good to go. Oivo also works as an iPhone stand while you're charging. 39 percent funded with three weeks to go, I think Oivo is going to make it. For some people, the upcoming Watch from Apple is going to be way too large. For those people, we recommend that they back the MOTA SmartRing campaign on Indiegogo. Currently 44 percent funded with over three weeks to go, this is this first of these "intelligent ring" projects that looks like it may actually make it through funding. And hey, who doesn't want to have notification of a tweet coming in on a tiny ring on your finger? There are actually quite a few minimalist cases that are similar to our next entry, the Koala Case. This case is 27 percent funded with 17 days to go, and I'm not going to say much about it since I honestly think it's too similar to a number of cases already in production. And our final entry of the week is the Pocket Dock-It. Take an Apple charging brick and put a Lightning connector on top, and call it a Pocket Dock-It. It's certainly small, but your iPhone will hanging around wall sockets way too often. Don't expect to see this product in your local gadget store soon, as it's only at 3 percent funding with two weeks to go. And that's a wrap for this exciting 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.
PvP sandbox Life is Feudal hits Steam early access next week
Life is Feudal is one of several indie sandbox MMOs striving to become this generation's Ultima Online, and next week, you can actually play it... if you fork over a few bucks for early access, that is. The game unlocks on Steam on September 19th; existing alpha players will be able to claim their early alpha keys on Steam and partake in the smaller-scale, non-MMO test version of the game. Billing itself as a realistic medieval sandbox, Life is Feudal includes city construction and invasion, a freeform character building system, a single seamless world, terraforming, farming, crafting skills like cooking and alchemy, and full open PvP with looting. The developers maintain a document explaining how the game is similar to and different from other MMOs with such features, however. The game failed to reach its Indiegogo goals last year.
Will Ferrell aids cancer charity via Twitch gameplay duel
Like so many ichthyoids before him, comedian Will Ferrell will soon be playing video games over Twitch to entertain the online masses. Unlike those greedy fish, however, Ferrell's efforts are altruistic. "It's no secret the best gamers in the world have wanted a piece of me for years," Ferrell stated in his official announcement. "Guys like CaptainSparklez are gunning for me. I think he might be an actual wizard and he's looking for blood. I told them I'd give them the honor of competing against me with one small condition: we raise a whole bunch of money for a great cause like helping kids with cancer." In lieu of an ongoing stream, Ferrell has started an Indiegogo campaign that seeks to raise $375,000. According to the crowdfunding site, assuming the goal is reached by October 26, one lucky donor will be selected to fly out to the Twitch offices in San Francisco where they'll go head to head against Ferrell in an as yet undetermined game. As you'd expect, this event will be broadcast live over the Internet. For full details and all the information you need to enter this charity sweepstakes, visit Indiegogo. If you'd rather pick up the details from a bearded Will Ferrell surrounded by pizza boxes and stereotypical Chinese takeout containers, click through the break. [Image: WillFerrellHatesCancer.org]
This anti-tornado sleeping bag protects you from flying debris
Rolled up, the Tuuli Armor looks like any other sleeping bag, but according to its inventor, it can safeguard you from something much harsher than insects and the cold. Apparently, the bag was designed to protect you during tornados, and while it can't exactly prevent broken bones, it can shield you from debris and shrapnel flying faster than 200 mph. That's because it was made using ballistic nylon that soldiers use on the battlefield -- its Missouri-based creator Steve Anderson even bombarded it with bits of wood, metal and glass using an air cannon to test it out.
MOTA's vibrating jewelry promises more subtle notifications
Do you remember Ringly? The idea behind it was that people would use a vibrating ring to alert you about incoming calls, emails or text messages. If you can imagine that same concept, albeit in a smaller and less gendered package, then you have the starting point for the MOTA Smart Ring. Silicon Valley design outfit MOTA believes that in order to stop people checking their phone during conversations, notifications need to be buried somewhere even less obtrusive (and visible) than on a smart watch, and hey, it's pretty easy to look at your hands, right?
Crowdfunding Roundup: OpenHome Labs, Starfish, and Bleep
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. We start off this week with a fascinating announcement from Indiegogo, which announced a partnership yesterday with OpenHome Labs, "a program that helps connected home start-ups succeed by accelerating their development and go-go-market process." OpenHome Labs was developed by Icontrol Networks, a company that is going places in the connected home market. You may remember their Piper security cam and home automation hub from our review earlier this year. There are currently three Indiegogo campaigns running under the auspices of OpenHome Labs: Bttn, an internet-connected push button that triggers an action or chain of actions Reemo: a wrist-worn product providing gesture control of devices Zen: A new connected thermostat Kudos to Icontrol and Indiegogo for creating OpenHome Labs, and best of luck to current and future crowdfunding campaigns. Here's a funded project with a little over a day to go. Starfish is a weight-activated child seat sensor that connects to a smartphone to alert parents who may -- and it does happen occasionally to the best of parents -- leave their infants in the car. 111 percent funded with about 30 hours to go! And then there are the Kickstarter campaigns that fill us with an overwhelming feeling of deja vu. In this case, the ACE-1 UltraClean BioMass Cookstove reminded me of something... like the very popular BioLite camp stove. Uses available grass, sticks and twigs as fuel? Check. Generates electricity while cooking to power your devices? Check. Gives back by providing stoves for use in Africa? Check. The only thing the ACE-1 may not have in common with BioLite is funding. It's 6 percent funded with 45 days to go. If you've read the TUAW crowdfunding roundups for any period of time, you know that there are bazillions of campaigns seeking money to develop the perfect iPad stand. I've generally found mod tot them to be either too look-alike or too weird, but here's one that is absolutely stunning. It's called YOHANN, and it's the brainchild of two Swiss designers. It's 163 percent funded with three weeks to go. Here is another funded project on Indiegogo. The Bleep smart charging cable includes a built-in flash drive so whenever you plug in your iPhone. A lot of people must like this idea in addition to me; it's already 142 percent funded with 51 days to go. Everyone seems to want us to stop sitting down at our desks to work. Stand Stand lets you take a standing desk anywhere. Want to look like a total tool in your local Starbucks, standing up and working? Stand Stand's portable, so you can accomplish your wildest dreams. It's about half funded with 46 days to go, so it looks like you'll start seeing hipsters lugging these around soon. And we have another winner, and another project this week that really shows some amazing innovation. Mozbii is a stylus for kids that has a sensor built into it so it can pick up colors from the real world. It comes with a coloring book app, and hopefully when the campaign is successful the developer will come out with even more apps. Frankly, I think this capability might be useful for designers... adult designers. Mozbii is 136 percent funded with just over three weeks to go. You know what the world could use more of? Fitness trackers! Fitness trackers that you wear on your wrist! That's a really innovative idea that nobody has thought of, right? Now there's Jaha, a fitness band designed to locate and challenge other Jaha wearers in your vicinity. Of course there's an iPhone app that goes along with this all, so you can use the magic of GPS to track your walks and runs -- and nobody else does that. Sigh. Surprisingly, this campaign looks like it will be successful and bring yet another meh fitness band to the world. Help us, Obi-Wan iWatch -- you're our only hope. It's 77 percent funded with just less than three weeks left in the campaign. Today's world is full of nifty neat new products that are smartphone controlled. You can get air conditioners, slow cookers, and a ton of other products that can be remotely adjusted via apps. Table Air is an idea whose time has obviously not come -- a desktop air purifier with a controller app. It's currently standing on a tabletop in embarrassment of having only raised $1 of a $5,000 goal. But that's OK, Binky -- there are still 25 days during which clean air fanatics can vote with their dollars. Let's end this week on a high note. If you wear glasses or sunglasses, you know the frustration of not being able to remember where you left the damned things. Me? I probably lose two or three pairs of sunglasses a year. With LOOK, you'll have a small Bluetooth-equipped sticker that you can attach to those glasses as well as an app with which to search for them. I like this project, which just started yesterday. It's got a ways to go, though -- only 1 percent funded with 60 days to go. Please help a middle-aged man -- me -- to find his sunglasses. Back this campaign. And that, my friends, is another week's worth of the good, the not-so-good, and the downright stupid in the world of crowdfunding. 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.
Crowdfunding Roundup: A bunch of dogs and one bright idea
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. This week we're starting off with a couple of Indiegogo campaigns, the first of which is the MPortable, a wireless SSD for photographers. Well, at least it's an SSD external storage device with Wi-Fi in it, because at one point on the campaign page they show pulling photos from a camera with a cable... but that's beside the point. The idea is that you can use this to store large quantities of photos from a DSLR, then share the images over Wi-Fi using a special app. Too bad it probably won't make it to market: it's 7 percent funded with about 17 days left. There's nothing to see here, let's move on. OK, how about a "smart iPad bag" called Padroo? It's smart if you think that putting a loaded backpack on the front of your chest is a good idea. At my age, I see this as nothing but a bad backache waiting to happen. Apparently others are questioning the primary design decision as well, as Padroo has no backers with 29 days left in the campaign. Back to the drawing board... Now over to Kickstarter, where we'll hopefully have a few projects that are actually going somewhere... although I doubt it with this first entry, the Pocket Gamer video game controller for iPhone. It's a great idea; it's just that there are a number of similar products that are already on the market. Perhaps that's why this campaign is stuck at 3 percent of its goal with a week to go. Well, that's going nowhere quickly. How about another "smart home solution"? That's a hot growth area, right? Qhome is a "next-generation smart home solution", powered by Quatanium. Huh? That's what I said, too. Anyway, despite an impressively long infographic, Qhome is 0 percent funded with 40 days to go. Ooof. Well, let's try again. How about Live Lids, a baseball cap with a color LED display where the team logo normally appears? That's a fine idea if you like having a billboard strapped to your forehead. Seriously, though -- the idea is different, but how many people really want to worry about having to charge their baseball caps? Call me old-fashioned, but I'll just take a standard baseball cap that costs less than $75, even if I can't sync images and logos to it. The campaign is 9 percent funded with 40 days to go. So, if you're not up for baseball caps with embedded displays, how about speakers with glowing color lights in the front? What? You say this seems like something that might have been popular with high school students in the 70's? Well, LumaPlay is actually 12 percent towards its funding goal, which is turning it into today's winner! There's still almost a month to go in this campaign, so your smartphone-controlled LED light/speaker may actually make it to market. This last project is one that I find to be probably the most useful and worthy of funding: the Jolt Sensor, which is used to detect possible concussion conditions in youth athletes. It's a wearable with a mission, a tiny clip-on that can be used in a helmet or on any other headgear, providing notification when the wearer's head has been exposed to a possibly dangerous impact. The idea is that coaches and parents can keep an eye on concussions in real time. The Jolt Sensor is 21 percent funded with four weeks to go; if you have kids who play sports, you want to back this project. And now an update on a previous story. Remember when I commented on AyeGear's jacket that was surprisingly similar to those made by SCOTTeVEST? Well, apparently Scott Jordan, CEO of SCOTTeVEST noticed as well. He contacted me yesterday to discuss just how similar the product is -- an exact duplicate -- and mentioned that the company is currently in litigation to defend its intellectual property rights against AyeGear. Go get 'em, Scott! By the way, the AyeGear "25 pocket transforming jacket" is only 6 percent towards its funding goal with just four days left in the campaign, so it's probably going to never see the light of day anyway. Finally, let's end on a very upbeat note. Remember Noke, the Bluetooth-equipped smart padlock that I actually backed? Well, it's currently 389 percent funded with about three weeks to go, and the team is reaching for some stretch goals like a scratch-protecting shell and different colors. I can't wait to get mine early next year so I can quit having to dig for the right key for the stupid padlock I currently have on my gate. 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. Out of this week's rather sorry crop of crowdfunding projects, which one do you think you'd back? Make your pick in the following poll and then let your friends know via Twitter and/or Facebook. What's your pick for the best crowdfunded project of the week?
Crowdfunding Roundup: Blinks and Tickles
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. Blink is a very affordable and easy to set up wireless HD home monitoring and alert system that shows you HD video, detects motion and also provides temperature readings, all though an app on your iPhone or iPad. Being battery powered means it's truly wire-free, so you can place the Blink boxes anywhere you want -- the battery lasts for more than a full year. Expected to ship in May of 2015, the Blink devices are part of a project that is already 287 percent funded with almost three weeks to go. A lot of wearable tech has a problem -- it's ugly as sin. elemoon is quite a bit different in that it's actually fashionable. The device changes colors to match your outfit, has a gold or silver wristband, and does amazing things! Rub it to find your iPhone, receive notifications silently through displayed icons, and track your activity. The project is close to 39 percent funded with 43 days to go. Check it out: Sous Vide is a method of cooking food by placing it in a vacuum-sealed bag, then immersing it in water at a precise temperature for an exact amount of time. It produces tender and perfectly-cooked meals, and now the Nomiku Sous Vide project wants everyone to join in on the fun. The project is 164 percent funded with just under a month to go, but you still have an opportunity to be one of the first to use the Nomiku Sous Vide device, controlling your cooking from your iPhone. This next project should be right up Dave Caolo's alley -- my fellow TUAW editor is a huge fan of board and card games, and Boss Monster aims to bring its dungeon-building card game to iOS. The project has about a month to go and is currently 35 percent funded. If you love games, this should be a fun project to back. Like the Blink discussed above, GeckoEye is another Wi-Fi security camera that sticks to the wall and is battery-powered. This one also recharges itself via solar cells on the casing, a feature that actually puts it ahead of the Blink in my mind. However, there's one little issue -- GeckoEye is only 10 percent funded with 19 days left in its Indiegogo campaign. Finally, if there's one crowd-funded project that you decide to back this week, make it Tickle. This project is designed to teach kids programming using Scratch on the iPad, a process the Tickle team says is as "fun and easy as playing with LEGOs". Tickle has a good start on fundraising, with 34 percent funding with 25 days to go. 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.
Crowdfunding Roundup: Pocketcopters, Hugs, and speakers
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. Remember swivelCards? They are the business cards that magically fold into a USB flash drive with just enough capacity to send the recipient of the card to a web page, a Dropbox folder, or any other place with an electronic address. The team launched its Kickstarter campaign yesterday and they hit their funding goal in less than eight hours. That doesn't mean that you can't jump on the bandwagon, though. You love your GoPro HD video camera, but since it doesn't have a viewing screen, you're always unsure of how your skydiving/skating/parkour/mountain-biking video came out until you actually look at it on your Mac. You could buy an external portable monitor, but who wants to lug that around? GoRigIt mounts your two trusty companions -- iPhone and GoPro -- together, so that you can view the video as it's being recorded, right on your iPhone. With 24 percent funding and over a month to go, GoRigIt looks like a sure bet for going into production QuarterWave is all about making Bluetooth speakers actually sound good. Made from wood, with a top-end amplifier, Bluetooth 4.0 and excellent drivers, the QuarterWave team wants to offer great sound at the price you're paying for crap speakers today. They're 48 percent funded with almost two months to go, so it looks like this project will definitely move ahead. Want the flexibility of taking aerial shots but don't want the expense or size of a AR.Drone or DJI Phantom II? 3D Pocketcopter is designed to work with your iPhone to give you a mini photography drone. It doesn't have much range, but it's perfect if you want to get a group shot from the air. It's only 1 percent funded with about three weeks left to go, so if you want a Pocketcopter, it's time to cough up some money. One of the most fascinating pieces of hardware at Macworld/iWorld 2014 was the FLIR ONE, a thermal imaging camera that works with an iPhone to let you "see" hot spots. Now Hema-Imager is seeking funding for a similar product, but with higher resolution and lower price tag. Don't you just love competition? Well, with 19 percent funding and a month to go, it's not certain that Hema-Imager will make it to market, but let's give it a chance. Everyone is always telling us to drink more water. Wouldn't it be nice to have an app tell us that it's time to guzzle down some water so we don't forget? That's the idea behind The Hug, a connected water bottle band that tracks just how much H2O is going into your system. Working with Fitbit and RunKeeper, the app can tell you how much water you need to be drinking to keep up with your activity. It's about 43 percent funded with about a month to go. Pre-order one, and always be hydrated. Have you ever wanted to hang your iPad Air? No, I don't mean putting a little noose around its nonexistent neck and pushing it off of a platform -- instead, being able to hang it on a wall like a picture. That's the idea behind the Loop by Mozzic, an iPad Air case that has an integrated hanging system built into it. You can hang it in the car, off of an airplane tray lock, dangle it from a kitchen cabinet handle. Loop by Mozzic is only 2 percent funded with 39 days to go, so it may not make it to production ... but it is an interesting take on an iPad Air case. And the last of this week's crowdfunding projects is another Bluetooth speaker, this one called the NudeAudio Super-M. It's waterproof, sand-proof, and fits in your jeans pocket. You definitely don't have to wonder if the Super-M is going to make it to market; this project is 744 percent funded with a week to go. It's a Kickstarter Staff Pick! 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.
God game Maia pulls in $1 million while in Early Access
Maia, a sci-fi colony management sim from developer Simon Roth, has pulled in more than $1 million, and it's not even fully out yet. This figure includes the £140,481 ($225,219) Maia secured on Kickstarter in 2012, plus $11,000 on Indiegogo, pre-sales on Roth's site and Steam Early Access sales, Develop reports. Maia was Greenlit on Steam in August 2013. Roth is using the cash to set up a new development house called Machine Studios. He's hiring developers and may get to work on another, new project once everything is settled. "The real reason I wanted Machine Studios rather than Simon Roth Incorporated is I thought it would be really narcissistic and weird, for one," Roth said. "And also, I didn't want my employees to have to put on their CV, 'I worked at Simon Roth,' when it could be Machine Studios. And so it gives them a better thing to say what they worked for." Maia is $25 on Steam Early Access for PC, Mac and Linux, and it's currently $21.70 on the game's site (purchase includes a Steam key). [Image: Simon Roth]
Crowdfunding Roundup: Family robots and camera tomatoes
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. And we're back again for another roundup of crowdfunded tech projects for the world of Apple. This first one is going to excite anyone who has ever wanted a family robot just like the Jetsons had. Unfortunately, I don't think that Jibo will be able to do as good a job as Rosie the Robot, but this Indiegogo project certainly is capturing the attention of backers -- and the money. It's 1,277 percent funded with 16 days to go. Cue Richard Strauss' "Also sprach Zarathustra"! The Monolyth isn't "full of stars", instead, it wants to control your air conditioning unit with a smartphone. This isn't for whole-house air conditioning (which could use your Nest thermostat), rather for room units that cool a smaller area. The Monolyth team has some amazing goals for integration that will make the device extremely useful and powerful. They're currently at 23 percent of funding with 27 days to go, so if you have one of the compatible air conditioning units and want to be able to give it some brains, back this project. With all of the smartwatches and other wearables on the market, it was only a matter of time that someone came up with a "smart band" that worked for everyone in the family. The Sync Smartband doesn't have a display on it, but tracks steps, calories expended and REM sleep. It can also be used as a proximity sensor so the young (or old) ones don't go wandering too far away from you. Sync is 72 percent of the way through funding with just over a month to go, so it looks like this family-oriented fitness tracker will make it. A while back there was a fake project that someone created some great videos for. The project purported to create wonderful wine by putting water and a special powder into a smartphone-controlled container. It proved to be a hoax, but this Bieree smartphone-controlled microbrewery is for real! It needs a bit of support to make it into production -- the project is currently at 63 percent of funding with just 12 days to go. Back this project: beer drinkers around the world are counting on you. If I had a dollar for every "Smart Card Wallet-Sized iPhone and Android Charger" type project that has been published in our weekly roundup, I'd probably be able to retire. Yet for some reason, unknown to me because there are already a number of these products on the market that work perfectly well, we keep seeing these week after week. It's this type of repetitive "me too" Indiegogo campaign that makes me want to beg for some real innovation. This charger will apparently make it to market along with the other 5,834 that are out there -- it is 266 percent funded with about two weeks to go. When Friend of TUAW Hal Sherman sent me a tip on the Heirloom, I had to laugh as it was the first time I'd ever seen a "camera tomato" project. But Heirloom is a take on a tried and true photographer's friend, the "bean bag tripod". Use this with a Glif and you'll be able to take some amazingly sharp photos with your iPhone, and it is big enough that it'll hold your DSLR in place, too. However, this tomato is nowhere near being "go for launch," with only two percent funding with a month to go. With apologies to Burt Bacharach and Hal David, "What the world needs now is another SCOTTeVEST". That's what the AyeGear 25 Pocket Transforming Jacket appears to be, down to the "X-ray" photos of the jacket with everything from an iPhone and iPad to a water bottle in the pocket. But I think that's a good thing -- the market needs competition. AyeGear is a Glasgow, Scotland-based manufacturer that wants to bring a sharp-looking new techie jacket to the market. The project is only 2 percent funded with a month to go, so dig into your pockets if you want to give Scott Jordan's company a competitor... The Ghost Trax App is an iPad app that does one thing really well -- it plays a backing track for solo musicians. If you're a solo musician, you'll want to scrape up some money and back Mark McCluskey's campaign, as it's only 17 percent funded with just over three weeks left. I love this idea. MaCO is a magnetic cable organizer (hence the name) that's designed to keep your world from tangled cords. Apparently others have found MaCO to be just as exciting and useful as I have, since it's 184 percent funded with over three weeks left in its campaign. Here are all the details: Last but not least, here's a Kickstarter campaign that deserves the minimal funding that it has received so far. The EvolvButton is supposed to add a "real" shutter button to your smartphone for taking photos. Well, your iPhone does have a real shutter button -- the volume toggle. All the EvolvButton does is add a piece of plastic over the top of the volume toggle. Of the ridiculous $40,000 goal, EvolvButton has achieved a whopping $14 with a month to go. No video for this one, I'll leave you with a photo instead. 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.
