Kickstarter | srtOnlineMedia.com

Archive for kickstarter

Customize and Code Your Own Robots With Linkbot

May 24, 2013 / Eric Larson / No comments

California-based company Barobo is all about robots. Their newest invention, Linkbot, is a modular robotic platform that lets you build and customize your own robot, block by block, like LEGOs

You start with a single bot. It's ready to go as-is, but you can add your own flavor by connecting two or more bots together into different shapes. What's especially cool is the hands-on coding feature, called PoseTeach, which allows you to program the bot with your hands on the outside instead of a keyboard. While you make adjustments on the outside, the Linkbot automatically writes and remembers the code itself Read more...

More about Videos, Diy, Robots, Crowdfunding, and Kickstarter

Category: crowdfunding, DIY, kickstarter, Robots, Videos /

Vertus Makes Any Speaker Bluetooth Friendly

May 23, 2013 / Samantha Murphy / No comments

Syncing audio to a Bluetooth speaker is a common practice these days, but sending it wirelessly to two old-school speakers at the same time is a thing of the future.

A new Kickstarter project for the Vertus, which has already reached its $40,000 funding goal on the site, allows you to share music via Bluetooth to more than just one speaker.

SEE ALSO: 9 Essential Steps for a Killer Kickstarter Campaign

Here's how it works: If a friend comes over with, say, a Jawbone Jambox and starts playing music, you will be able to connect an older speaker so both devices play the same song. The speakers can be in the same room, right next to each other or other parts of the house. Read more...

More about Speakers, Kickstarter, Tech, Gadgets, and Mobile

Category: Gadgets, kickstarter, Mobile, speakers, Tech /

Hovertrax is Like a Segway Without Handlebars

May 22, 2013 / Eric Larson / No comments

Vancouver, Wash.-based company Investist has a new idea for rolling in style. It's called Hovertrax, and it's an auto-balancing, electronic transporter with two-wheeled gyro technology — or, more simply, a wiggle board with power.

The group is collecting funds for the gadget through Kickstarter, and, as of Wednesday afternoon, has already raised more than $50,000 — exceeding its original goal of $40,000, with 39 days remaining to donate

SEE ALSO: Flying Concept Car Could Hover Over Congestion

The concept behind Hovertrax is simple: Its two motors, one in each wheel, correspond with your movements. To move forward, lean in to your toes; to move backward, tilt your heels behind you. Spin the board in circles by placing one foot behind the other. The company assures there's no learning curve — just hop on and hit the road Read more...

More about Gadgets, Videos, Crowdfunding, Kickstarter, and Small Business

Category: crowdfunding, Gadgets, kickstarter, small business, Videos /

New GPS-Powered Handlebars Send Texts to Your Bike

May 21, 2013 / Vignesh Ramachandran / No comments

For cyclists looking to pimp their bikes with smartphone integration, look no further — new stylish technology from startup Helios makes your bike "smart."

Helios Bars boast an integrated headlight and two rear LEDs, and riders can use the left and right lights as turn signals. But what sets the product apart is the ability to connect handlebars to a smartphone via Bluetooth 4.0.

Using smartphone connectivity though Helios' iOS app, the rear lights on the handlebars take advantage of a GPS connection — so they can help you navigate via Google Maps' API. After inputting a destination into Helios' app, your phone plots a route. Then, once you start biking, the rear left and right lights blink, indicating where to turn. Read more...

More about Bicycle, Cycling, Kickstarter, Tech, and Gadgets

Category: Bicycle, Cycling, Gadgets, kickstarter, Tech /

Wooden Pinhole Cameras Make Old-School Techniques Cool Again

May 19, 2013 / Vignesh Ramachandran / No comments

Digital cameras are great, but like most electronics, they likely won't withstand the test of time in, say, a century from now.

So Slovenian industrial designer and self-taught carpenter Elvis Halilović developed pinhole cameras that he and his brother make out of locally-harvested chestnut and maple wood. The ONDU Pinhole Cameras, as Halilović has branded them, were created in six different dimensions and sizes, as further explained in the video above. The designs can accommodate everything from 35mm to 4-by-5-inch film to even larger paper.

Pinhole cameras don't use lenses. Instead, they feature a pin-sized hole to produce an image, according to Halilović. To expose images on the film, you just open the shutter by moving it up, and then close it by moving it down. Read more...

More about Photography, Camera, Cameras, Kickstarter, and Wood

Category: camera, Cameras, kickstarter, photography, Wood /

Wooden Pinhole Cameras Make Old-School Techniques Cool Again

May 19, 2013 / Vignesh Ramachandran / No comments

Digital cameras are great, but like most electronics, they likely won't withstand the test of time in, say, a century from now.

More about Photography, Camera, Cameras, Kickstarter, and Wood

Category: camera, Cameras, kickstarter, photography, Wood /

Photo Project Will Send Balloon to Lower Stratosphere

May 18, 2013 / Eric Larson / No comments

NASA may have retired the space shuttle, but that doesn't mean amateur explorers need to stay grounded, right?

The Kua Fu Initiative is a photo project raising funds through Kickstarter to send a payload capsule into the lower stratosphere to capture HD photos and videos. Doug Cambron, the project's founder and a safety system supervisor from Perryville, Mo., said the idea for the mission stemmed from a lifelong curiosity of exploring the sky.

"Everyone who's grown up has thought at one point or another, 'Man, I really want to be an astronaut,'" he told Mashable. "This is a kind of a way to make that small bit of a dream come true." Read more...

More about Space, Videos, Photography, Crowdfunding, and Kickstarter

Category: crowdfunding, kickstarter, photography, space, Videos /

Robot Alarm Clock Dances by Your Bedside

May 17, 2013 / Vignesh Ramachandran / No comments

If you've tried every alarm clock app and gadget under the sun but waking up on time still proves difficult, a beside companion that dances and talks might do the trick.

No, it's not a human, it's a robot.

Southern California-based Nuts and Voltz has developed a working prototype for an iPhone- and iPod-compatible robot alarm clock that wakes you up in quite a unique way. The clock is called tim-E (pronounced "Timmy"), and you really only get a feel for its rambunctious personality by seeing it in action, as in the video above.

That's because tim-E talks weather and traffic out loud and can dance to your iPhone or iPod music. Choose to wake up to your own music or to tim-E's banter. The device even lives up to its "alarm clock with attitude" branding, since it can pose brain teasers to make sure you don't fall back asleep. You can also record voice reminders, which could be useful to take note of to-do lists or other random ideas that might pop into your mind at night. Read more...

More about Robots, Robot, Kickstarter, Alarm Clocks, and Alarm Clock

Category: Alarm Clock, Alarm Clocks, kickstarter, Robot, Robots /

This Brainy Desk Lamp Has a Personality

May 17, 2013 / Vignesh Ramachandran / No comments

These days, even lamps in your house can be programmed via Arduino.

A Canadian design company called Fabule has developed Clyde, an LED desk lamp that can be programmed with personality modules in its "brain." It's compatible with Arduino, an open-source electronics program.

For example, when Clyde is in "afraid of the dark" mode, he can light up depending on how dark a room is. In "touchy feely" mode, Clyde cycles through different light colors when you touch his jellyfish-like legs. Inside his head, there are sensors that make it all work.

The personified LED lamp emits soft, ambient lighting, and you turn it on and off by touching Clyde's squishy silicone "eye." Read more...

More about Startup, Lights, Arduino, Kickstarter, and Led Light

Category: Arduino, kickstarter, Led Light, Lights, startup /

Kevin Smith Says No to Kickstarter for ‘Clerks III’

May 16, 2013 / Todd Wasserman / No comments

Kevin Smith has no intention of following Zach Braff's lead in using Kickstarter to finance his upcoming film Clerks III, according to a report.

Smith told IGN that he considered the crowdsourcing platform, but changed his mind. "We nearly Kickstarted the budget back in November," he said. "But now I'm feeling like that's not fair to real indie filmmakers who need the help. Unlike back when I made Clerks in '91, I've got access to money now — so I should use that money and not suck any loot out of the crowd-funding marketplace that might otherwise go to some first-timer who can really use it." Read more...

More about Zach Braff, Kevin Smith, Kickstarter, Business, and Startups