We’ve seen the Organic Transit Elf go from a twinkle in founder Rob Cotter’s eye to the real deal in a matter of a few short months.
The solar-powered pedal hybrid vehicle first showed its face in prototype phase back at our Durham meetup, and shortly thereafter found its way to Kickstarter. → Read More
Editor’s note: Ross Rubin is principal analyst at Reticle Research and blogs at Techspressive.
Some say the cloud has replaced the PC as the digital hub. That may be true for data, but devices that create that data often need to make at least a pitstop before being distributed, and, increasingly, that interim destination is an app on a smartphone. Information and video can now be applied… → Read More
As fans of D&D will attest, there are not many games as satisfying as Gygax’s original but darn it if it wasn’t fun to try new platforms when they came out. Tunnels & Trolls, created 37 years ago by Ken St. Andre, wasn’t so much a D&D knock-off but an alternative. St. Andre streamlined the D&D rules, reducing the complexity, and added a bit more humor. For folks unable to get the… → Read More
A fascinating project is making the rounds this weekend that could change the way we think of 3D printers. The Filabot is a robot that can turn scrap plastic into 3D printer filament, thereby allowing an almost endless supply of material for prototyping and manufacturing. → Read More
Editor’s note: Ross Rubin is principal analyst at Reticle Research and blogs at Techspressive.
Bikes and tech go back a long way. During his first stint at Apple, Steve Jobs would talk about how, when one compared the efficiency of various animals in advancing a kilometer, humans fared poorly, a distant species from the class-leading condor. But when you did the same comparison with a… → Read More
The Swivl is an odd duck. When you first look at it you wonder what it’s for. But anyone who has given a speech or performed onstage will immediately appreciate this clever little device. The Swivl essentially follows you around the room as you speak, allowing you to record your video without a separate camera operator. → Read More
The Pebble Smart watch is one of the best-known Kickstarter projects. A compact e-ink device designed to work with almost any smartphone, the Pebble grabbed attention when it hit $10 million and sold 85,000 watches after expecting to sell 5,000 units. → Read More
The GameStick, a Kickstarter project we covered at launch that aimed to take what OUYA was trying to build in an Android-powered home gaming console and fit it into a device the size of a flash drive ran into some trouble today. The project has been removed from Kickstarter because of a copyright infringement complaint. → Read More
The iPhone 5 delivered a lot of new things vs. its predecessors, but it also marked Apple exit from the bumper game; unlike with the iPhone 4 and 4S, Apple didn’t make a slim band exterior case for this device to protect its delicate edges. Apple’s oversight makes for opportunity for others, however, and the AL13 aluminum iPhone bumper (which comes in both iPhone 4 and iPhone 5 variants) is a… → Read More
There we were, circled around a bachelor party campfire and drunk on keg beer, discussing the viability of using Kickstarter to fund a sex toy startup. My buddy Dan (he goes by Dangerous D at karaoke) had designed and handmade a compact speed controller for small vibrators (pic below). He was selling them at $75 a pop and apparently – I have yet to see or try one – they were getting rave reviews. → Read More
Editor’s note: Ross Rubin is principal analyst at Reticle Research and blogs at Techspressive. Each column looks at crowdfunded products that have either met or missed their funding goals.
The period leading up to the New Year is often a time of self-reflection. Resolutions often relate to people wanting to create a better version of themselves or at least a thinner version of themselves. → Read More
Editor’s note: Ross Rubin is principal analyst at Reticle Research and blogs at Techspressive.
‘Tis the season when our thoughts often turn to the wee ones in our lives, and that has certainly been on the minds of some crowdfunding project owners and backers. → Read More
Editor’s note: Ross Rubin is principal analyst at Reticle Research and blogs at Techspressive.
Crowdfunding campaigns employ all kinds of logical and emotional appeals to get you to dig into your wallet. But in just the past few months, there’s been a rush of different products seeking to replace yours. Why Kickstarter — which screens all projects — saw fit to greenlight 10 variations… → Read More
Do you ever find yourself wondering how good your dice are? Because I do. Are they really random? Or do slight imperfections in their design favor one number over another? It’s impossible to know. Unless you have precision machined dice. And while you’re precision-machining some dice, why not make them in a variety of rare and exotic metals? Those are the questions Tuscon college student Amber Rix… → Read More
I was poking around Kickstarter yesterday when I was hit with a big black screen telling me that I was about to experience a “brand new, super secret, full-screen internet party” — in other words, I was about to test out the site’s “Leanback mode.”
Basically, in Leanback mode, Kickstarter starts playing project videos automatically. (I would have included a screenshot, but it’s literally just… → Read More
A few years ago in Prague I met a guy named Jeffrey Martin who is one of the world’s best panoramic photographers. At that time he had a bunch of weird hardware that took mostly panoramic photos but he’s since branched out to video, building his own methods for capturing 360-degree scenes. The Sphericam is his invention and it looks pretty amazing. → Read More
FormLabs, the same folks that are bringing the Form 1 3D printer to market, has had a roller coaster year. After launching on Kickstarter with a huge reception — backers pledged almost $3 million during the course of the campaign — the company ran into an obstacle when 3D Systems Corp. sued both FormLabs and Kickstarter for patent infringement.
Today, however, the company has… → Read More
There are plenty of Bluetooth speakers to choose from, which is exactly why I asked Boombotix co-founders Lief Storer and Chris McKleroy what made them think the market needed another one. But Boombot Rex, the company’s latest Bluetooth speaker (it previously made a few different models based on collectable vinyl toy designs) is a different beast, and one they think can win over even the jaded… → Read More
The PhoneScope 3D offers high-resolution magnified 3D scanning that can have applications for users ranging from forensics specialists to CGI animators. But its developers mostly just want people to have fun with the iPhone add-ons. After years in development, PhoneScope 3D is now raising funds on Kickstarter. → Read More
Editor’s note: Ross Rubin is principal analyst at Reticle Research and blogs at Techspressive.
High-quality videoconferencing was once the exclusive province of rich institutions with dedicated high-speed connections. Two recent Kickstarter projects take iPhone video interaction to places it has never been before. → Read More
One of Steve Jobs’ biggest pet peeves was external LED lights on cellphones. Oh how he would storm through the Apple offices, harrumphing at the thought of a Motorola KRZR lighting up like a tiny Christmas tree. He’d probably be really angry at this new product, myLED, which is a tiny LED that’s designed to light up when you get an iOS notification. → Read More
The Pen Type-A is a pen milled from a block of type 304 stainless steel that should last at least 50 years. It looks and feels great, and it’s a good writing tool as it uses Pilot’s Hi-Tec C ink cartridges. The ruler acts as a sleeve. It is precisely manufactured so that the pen slowly slides in and out, like a pneumatic cylinder. It’s a pen for pen geeks. → Read More
The creators of Spark, a Wi-Fi-controlled lighting system, has announced that their product will be compatible with the Pebble smart watch, which means you’ll be able to turn your lights on and off from your wrist like a deranged, light-obsessed Dick Tracy. → Read More
Legendary game designer Peter Molyneux has kicked off his first Kickstarter campaign — with project GODUS, “an innovative reinvention of Populous”. For GODUS Molyneux is continuing to work with 22can, the Guildford-based games developer which built his first mobile game Curiosity, and talks about wanting to “recreate the entire god game genre”. → Read More
Induction charging seems ready for its time in the spotlight, with the Nexus 4, Droid DNA and Lumia 920 all shipping with wireless charging based on the Qi standard built-in. Now a concept design that offers solar-powered wireless charging cleverly hidden inside a futuristic looking bonzai tree hopes to become a reality with the help of Kickstarter. → Read More
3D systems has filed a lawsuit against both Formlabs and Kickstarter for patent infringement. Formlabs is the manufacturer of a low-cost 3D printer called the Form 1. Thanks to the stereolithography printing technique, the Form 1 can achieve professional grade 3D printing in a small hobbyist printer. It quickly became a Kickstarter success. Yet, in 1997 3D Systems patented stereolithography… → Read More
Imagine it’s Thanksgiving morning and you’re with the family. You creep down the stairs, Sheriff in hand, and sneak in on dear old dad as he makes bacon pancakes. You set your weapon on “shotgun” and pull the trigger. A volley of hot rubber whangs him in the legs, his old frame buckling as he takes the shot. Another kill. All this can be yours with the Bandit, an automatic rubber band gun built… → Read More
I like gadgets, and almost out of necessity I also like bags. The Phorce, a new project hitting Kickstarter today, knows that there are many out there like me, and wants to provide a bag-based charging solution to help you keep your gadgets protected and topped off, with the added benefit of additional power management options communicated via Bluetooth to an iPhone app. → Read More
As I write this, there are about 18 hours remaining in what may be my favorite Kickstarter campaign thus far.
Now, to share my excitement, you probably need to have lived through an adolescence that was very similar to mine, one filled with countless hours playing Quest for Glory, the series of five adventure/role-playing games published by Sierra On-Line from 1989 to 1998. Man, I loved those… → Read More
We’ve seen designers and casemakers attempt to bring better sound quality to the iPad — the Zooka wireless speaker bar comes to mind, as does the Sound Cover case. But we have yet to hear about a company adding eight speakers to the iPad in the form of an extending case.
Until now. Meet the ORA Ultimate Sound System for iPad. → Read More
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