Consumer Electronics Daily News

Mowjow Finds Success in Crowdfunding

Mowjow, a London based social gaming company that is creating innovative money games for everyday consumers to be played on their mobile devices, announced a milestone in its fundraising efforts. Mowjow recently used an innovative and relatively new form of financing, crowdfunding, to raise in excess of EUR 200,000 from more than 200 investors. This first tranche-- of five in total-- was a great success and was significantly oversubscribed.

"It's only fitting that our company is using a new form of raising capital that is both innovative and interactive", states Andreas Christensen, Founder, Chairman & CEO of Mowjow. "This new model is now part of our stakeholder relations plan."

Being an innovative and interactive social gaming company, Mowjow has developed proprietary social gaming software and has now also developed its proprietary crowdfunding process. Both will be integrated as part of Mowjow's "go-to-market" strategy for the upcoming launch of its skill based game with real money prizes.

"The heart of Mowjow is the collective effort of like-minded people to network and pool their resources" adds Christensen. "We have witnessed this with our global development teams collectively building the Mowjow platform, now we see this with our new investor base and soon we will see it with consumers from around the globe networking our new games".

PRNewswire

Skydog Ships on Time to More than 1,000 Kickstarter Backers

PowerCloud Systems, a pioneer in cloud networking, has announced that Skydog™ is shipping on time this week to more than 1,000 Kickstarter backers. Skydog is an easy-to-use wireless home router and companion mobile application that provides unprecedented visibility and control of the home network.  With Skydog, parents can manage their children's online experience, as well as the security and performance of the devices, applications and users connected to their home network. Skydog will be available to the general public via www.Skydog.com in October.

Before Skydog, parental and security controls on home networks were largely limited to blanket settings made on the router or an individual PC. Skydog changes that paradigm by allowing parents to set individual network access controls for each user, covering all of his or her devices. Moreover, Skydog allows users to optimize the performance and security of their home networks.

The innovation of Skydog lies in its patented cloud-powered platform. Skydog includes a powerful Wi-Fi router and a cloud-based application that can be accessed from any connected smartphone, tablet or PC. This allows home network administrators, who are often busy parents, to see and control home Internet usage, even when they are away. Skydog revolutionizes home networking in three key areas:

• Real-Time Visibility:
  • Monitors the network, including who is online, which devices are being used, usage tracking of specific sites and how much bandwidth is being used.
  • Sends text alerts when specified issues arise, such as an Internet outage, or a new guest seeking to access the network. Skydog also speeds the diagnosing of problems such as poor Wi-Fi signals of devices.
  • Notifies the administrator or individual user when time limits on specified websites have been reached, even when those websites are accessed across multiple devices.

• Easy and Powerful Home Network Management:
  • Actively manages broadband usage by assigning priority bandwidth access to certain users, such as a work-at-home parent, or applications, such as a streamed movie to the family room television.
  • Enables time limits for specific website access by user, covering all devices, and set on a flexible calendar that, for example, distinguishes school days from weekends.
  • Provides firewalled guest access, granting an extra layer of security to the family network.
  • Allows for remote network management, such as a parent's home or vacation property, using the same mobile application.

• Ease of Set-up and Use:
  • Installs quickly and easily using the Skydog app.
  • Organizes attached devices by primary user to simplify and unify actions such as setting policies on applications or Internet use.
  • Easily piggybacks on existing routers or broadband gateways, to provide the additional functionality only available with Skydog.
  • Works on any connected mobile device using a powerful, yet simple HTML5-based app,  allowing for anytime, anywhere visibility and control of users and devices on the home network.

For more information, please follow Skydog on Twitter and Facebook.

PRNewswire

Gesture-operated Smartwatch gets Patent protection ahead of Samsung, Apple Releases

HOT Smartwatch, another emerging Apple and Samsung contender, has announced the full issuance of "US Patent No. 8,515,505" during a week-long slew of New York media events.

Recently launched on Kickstarter, the HOT Smartwatch has garnered massive support in pre-orders for thousands of its four models for the upcoming holiday season and through Q2 2014. Dallas, TX-based PH Technical, makers of the HOT Watch, have officially debuted the watch in New York City last week, to an audience of consumer tech and fashion tech members of the press.

"In light of the rapidly growing amount of 'wearable tech' devices introduced to the market by companies like Sony, Samsung, and Apple, consumers are notably seeking those products more likely to "stick around for longer," says co-founder Ram Pattikonda. "There are many sorts of rumored, as well as seen features and capabilities among different watches out there, but in our saturated market there are very few that have actually made it to the finishing line of granted Patents," he said.

US Patent No. 8,515,505 covers the watch's "Hands on Talk" feature, which allows users to hold private phone conversations using the watch by cupping their hands over their ears, utilizing a bio-mechanical solution which amplifies the calls by bouncing sound off of their palms. The patent also covers the watch's unique HOT Gestures™, which enables users to easily control many of the watch's features with intuitive hand motion. With HOT Gestures™, users can pick up a phone call by lifting their hands up to their ears, hang up a call by waving goodbye, or reject a call by shaking their wrists.

Mr. Shariq Hamid, Founder, CEO, and now official co-owner of the Patent has shared the excitement on the announcement: "Bringing innovation like private call making through a watch to a market that hasn't seen anything close, is a dream come true." In relation to the rumored Samsung and Apple announcements of a smartwatch of their own, Mr. Hamid noted they were "anxiously waiting since 2010 and the issuance of the Patent couldn't have come at a better time."

Designed to offer a variety of features attributed to health, fitness, and fashionable wearable tech, the HOT Watch serves as a phone, sleep pattern monitor, calorie burning tracker, and even an emergency calling device in cases of injuries or falls with a built in accelerometer and gyroscope. Launching with an open API, the watch already includes text messaging, email and social media app notifications.

The watch is still available through September 7^th for pre-orders starting at just $119, with early orders scheduled to ship in time for the 2013 holiday season. The HOT Smartwatch has already raised over $540,000 on the crowd funding site Kickstarter with 11 days left to its running campaign.

Ubuntu Edge's Indiegogo Campaign a Flop

by Hannah Hollins

Canonical, creators of the Ubuntu Edge, the smartphone designed to run as its own linux-based computer, has failed to reach its ambitious $32 million campaign goal on Indiegogo. Since its July 22 start date, the campaign managed to fund $12,812,776, which is no small feat-- the highest grossing (and successful) campaign on Kickstarter, the Pebble watch, funded just over $10.2 million. However, Pebble didn't set the bar high-- their initial goal was a mere $100,000. This inspires interesting debate on the capabilities of crowdfunding. How does a startup or company find the right medium between a successful pitch and a reasonable goal?

The market was excited to see the Ubuntu Edge become a reality, but not $32 million excited. Would the Ubuntu Edge have succeeded if their goal was $10 million? $12 million? Yes. There were enthusiastic backers: Bloomberg purchased the top-tier, $80,000 bundle, which included 115 Ubuntu Edge smartphones and a free month of tech support and classes. 8 supporters gave $10,000 for one of the first 50 Ubuntu Edge phones to roll off the factory belt. Even when the supporter donation price for an Ubuntu Edge was dropped from $830 to $635, it sold a few more units, but no offer could motivate three times that number of backers to jump on the campaign.

Canonical justified their lofty goal by noting on their indiegogo campaign, "between design, certification and manufacture, the costs of building a new phone are huge -- but the more we produce, the lower the final cost of each handset. Setting such an ambitious target means a more competitive price per device." However, if there were backers willing to initially pay $830 initially for an Ubuntu Edge, it's clear that having a competitive price wasn't necessarily the deal maker. The Ubuntu Edge was something that would have been initially a niche market item, regardless of its price. People unfamiliar to the capabilities of Ubuntu likely would not spring for this phone, when placed next to an iPhone or other Android-based smartphone. The backers most enthusiastic about the Ubuntu Edge were developers and excited techies who prefer linux-based everything. Managing to hail the Ubuntu Edge to the worldwide market while making it affordable and accessible to everyone should not have been Canonical's initial goal.

With Canonical falling $20 million short of their goal, this event will be a lesson for other entrepreneurs trying to launch a large-scale project. Realizing a product in small batches and putting the product on the worldwide market are two entirely different steps. Aim for the first and the second wave of success will roll in easily over the first.

 

Instawink: Your Instagrams with a twist!

Instawink.com has just completed the first week of its Kickstarter campaign, Instawink: your Instagrams with a twist! The campaign has shown that it has real potential. Instawink.com offers iphoneographers a new and unique way to enjoy both their still and video images. As avid Instagramers themselves, the developers of Instawink wanted to create something fun and distinctive with their own images.

"We were reminiscing about those toys we used to get in caramel corn or cereal boxes when we were kids," said Gonzalo Banuelos, co-creator of Instawink. "They had pictures on them that would flip back and forth. Sometimes they'd depict an epic battle between two super heroes, or other times they'd show a change in the seasons from winter to spring. I wondered, how hard would it be to create those things? So, I spoke with a friend who runs a print shop and knows the business inside and out. Next thing you know, Instawink was born." 

Instawinks are 3x3 inch, semi-rigid magnets containing two photographs and use a technology created in the late 1940s, lenticular lens filtering. When the Instawink is moved back and forth the images switch from one to the other, thus appearing to "wink." The images come from the Instagram user's own photo stream. And, because Instawink.com has developed a way to break Instagram video into individual frames, users can also select images from their videos when designing their custom Instawinks.

As the Instawink prototypes were being developed Banuelos shared some with his friends and family to gauge their interest. It wasn't long before they were sharing them with their friends, and before he knew it, they were coming back for more. They wanted to create interesting illusions or juxtaposed images that showcased their photos. They even made some as gifts and got good reactions from the people receiving them.

As work continued on the Instawink prototypes the developers made sure that all materials used in the product were sourced from companies within the United States. They also insisted that the Instawinks be produced domestically. Thus the Instawinks will be created and shipped from Long Beach, California while the website was created and is administered in Austin, Texas.

Banuelos plans to use the funds raised on Kickstarter to purchase additional equipment and automate more steps in the process of creating an Instawink. The Kickstarter is in its early stages but shows good traction.

PRNewswire

New Sensor Puts Robot Vision Within Reach

Pixy is a small camera about half the size of a business card that can detect objects that you "train" it to detect. Training is accomplished by holding the object in front of Pixy's lens and pressing a button. Pixy then finds objects with similar color signatures using a dedicated dual-core processor that can process images at 50 frames per second. Pixy can report its findings, which include the sizes and locations of all detected objects, through one of several interfaces: UART serial, SPI, I2C, digital or analog I/O. Pixy can detect hundreds of objects from seven different color signatures.  As part of a Kickstarter campaign, Pixy is available by contributing $59 or more.

See http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/254449872/pixy-cmucam5-a-fast-easy-to-use-vision-sensor for more information on the Kickstarter campaign, which began on August 15 and ends September 14, 2013.

Pixy is a partnership between Carnegie Mellon University and a small Austin-based company, Charmed Labs. Pixy is the latest version of the CMUcam, a popular line of vision sensors.  The goal of Pixy is to provide a smart camera sensor that is easy to use and priced low enough, so that it can be used by a wider audience, including educators and hobbyists that currently use microcontrollers such as the popular Arduino. Pixy can connect directly to the Arduino with a simple cable. Since Pixy has its own processor, it does not bog down the Arduino's CPU with processing images.  And since Pixy has several communication options, it can talk to practically any microcontroller, or even simple devices such as relays, servos or lights. 

"We tried to make Pixy as easy to use as possible. We think this will make it popular with the robotics and maker communities," Anthony Rowe, CMU faculty member said.

"We've opened up the design by using the Open Source Hardware licensing model. You get source code, schematics, board layouts, everything," said Rich LeGrand, Charmed Labs President. Use of the Open Source Hardware licensing has been growing in the field of DIY robotics. "We expect almost everyone to use Pixy as-is, but we also hope that by opening up the design, others will be able to easily build on Pixy for their application," he added.

Pixy in action-- wig and glasses optional.

 

The Redneck Brigade Muds its Way into Kickstarter

The Southern inspired indie sandbox game "Redneck Brigade" is still rolling along on its Kickstarter campaign. The upcoming Q3 2014 release is centered around 7 distinctly different characters fighting off occupying forces of the Chinese army in order to reclaim their county in northern Georgia. This stylized first-person shooter emphasizes on creative non-linear solutions, situational comedy and hilarious banter leaving you with a knee slapping good time.

"Although the game is completely conceptualized from a character and story standpoint we are just at the point of the production process where we want to make sure we develop the game based on what the community wants and the only way for us to do that is to open it up to the world and get people's opinions." Said lead designer Adam Garner. He continued to say, "Redneck Brigade drew much of its inspiration from games like Call of Duty, Red Dead Redemption, Borderlands, Gears of War, Battlefield and Grand Theft Auto. If you take those style games mix them together and add a little Archer, Red Dawn and The Dukes of Hazzard you get 'Redneck Brigade'. Instead of playing an uber-warrior special-ops death machine, you get to play a variety of distinct characters that are a lot more relatable. They'll make you laugh and cry, and might decide to stop and fish or hunt while avoiding capture. While they could steal a tank and go on a rampage, our protagonists are equally at home in the woods lacing a bad guy off the back of their ATV with a compound bow."  

This unconventional war game strikes at the inner redneck in all of us. With jerry-rigged weapons, redneck tactics, and the occasional fishing stop during combat the game will prove to be a nice change of pace from the standard triple-A title.

Gamers interested in backing the project are encouraged to visit http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/693494944/redneck-brigade-0 for more information.

PRNewswire

Ding Dong, Now You Know Who it is With iDoorCam!

A message from iDoorCam:

iDoorCam, a digital lifestyle gadget company, launched an Indiegogo campaign for its new WiFi-enabled doorbell. The iDoorCam doorbell enables users to answer the front door from their mobile device. iDoorCam uses cutting edge technology to make answering the front door convenient and easy.

The beautifully designed iDoorCam device replaces a current doorbell and connects to a home’s WiFi network. When a visitor pushes the button, the device sends an alert to a user’s smartphone or tablet and they can choose to ignore or answer the call. If answered, the user will see, hear and speak to the person at the front door. The call from the digital doorbell is routed to the mobile device over both WiFi and cellular networks.

iDoorCam is perfect for parents, frequent travelers, on-the-go professionals, senior citizens, or anybody who wants to stay connected with their homes.

“iDoorCam began with a single mission: to create technology that improves our everyday lives and helps people stay connected to their homes. As a busy executive who travels often, I am constantly on the go and needed a way to ‘be home’ even when I wasn’t. Being able to keep tabs on the house while traveling, brought me peace of mind,” said Desiree Mejia, co-founder and CEO, iDoorCam. “When it comes to connected gadgets, people are seeking simplicity, and iDoorCam is easy to install and easy to use. iDoorCam gives everyone exactly what they want -- anytime, anywhere connectivity to their home.”

No other doorbell device offers an advanced feature set that includes:

●     Multiple users: allows for unlimited users on an account so an entire family can receive alerts when a visitor rings the doorbell

●     User initiation: users can initiate communication with the front door through their mobile device, even if the visitor doesn’t ring the bell

●     Patent-pending motion sensor technology: primes connection and starts call before button is pressed, resulting in faster connections and reduced delays

●     Night vision with infrared LED camera: captures video in total darkness

●     LED indicator: notifies user when WiFi connection is lost

●     Automatic updates: updates device without having to sync or plug into a computer

●     Secure connection: provides an unparalleled level of encryption and SSL for bank-level security

●     2-Way Voice – 1-Way Video: homeowner sees and hears visitor; visitor hears homeowner

“Our goal was to bring the highest quality, WiFi-enabled doorbell to market at an affordable price point,” said iDoorCam Co-founder Andrew Paul Thomas. Additionally, all manufacturing and production of the iDoorCam is done in the USA.

The Indiegogo funding goal is $100,000 USD and aims to facilitate the development, production and distribution of iDoorCam to people around the world. The first 50 backers can buy the device at a reduced price of $99 and all backers will buy at a discount and will get their devices before the general public. Click here to visit iDoorCam’s 5-week Indiegogo campaign. iDoorCam will be available to the general public at www.idoorcam.com for a retail price of $164.95 and is expected to ship in time for the holiday season.

 

Affordable Point-and-Shoot 3D Scanner Launches on Kickstarter

Fuel3D combines high resolution 3D modeling with accurate color capture

Fuel3D Inc. today announced the start of a crowd funding campaign on Kickstarter that will bring the Fuel3D scanner to the world. Fuel3D is an affordable handheld 3D scanner that delivers high resolution shape and color capture for a range of 3D modeling applications, such as 3D printing, 3D art and 3D game development.

"The explosion of 3D printing and the continued expansion of the games market means that there is an increasing demand for 3D scanning products that capture high resolution 3D data," said Stuart Mead, CEO, Fuel3D Inc. "With Fuel3D, our goal is to bring high quality 3D scanning to a wider market by making it available at an affordable price-point."

Fuel3D is the world's first 3D scanner to combine pre-calibrated stereo cameras with photometric imaging to capture and process a 3D model in seconds. Fuel3D's ability to capture color in addition to geometric shape means that the product is also particularly well suited to on-screen 3D applications, such as game development, animation and 3D art.

In order to enhance the Fuel3D product offering, the company has teamed up with 3D design software company, Uformia, another Kickstarter success story. For Fuel3D, Kickstarter pledgers will have the opportunity to get their product bundled with Uformia's MeshUp software, the first real volume modeler for meshes, allowing any creator to make sure their models are always ready for 3D printing.

"Fuel3D's scanner promises to change the game in the 3D scanning and modeling space," said Cherie Stamm, CEO, Uformia. "For the first time, professional level handheld scanning is in the price range of the average computer user or 3D modeling and printing enthusiast, at a quality that even surpasses devices costing tens of thousands of dollars. Uformia is very excited to partner with Fuel3D on their Kickstarter campaign, as our upcoming product MeshUp is a perfect tool to use together with Fuel3D's scanner to creative an infinite number of possibilities by scanning and remixing the world around you."

Other Kickstarter alumni from the 3D printing world are also showing a keen interest in the Fuel3D technology, with companies like Formlabs and Pirate 3D following developments closely. The Form 1 3D printer from Formlabs produces high-resolution, high-quality prints that show the full detail of the Fuel3D's scans. Pirate 3D's Buccaneer produces low-cost ABS prints and allows fast and easy printing of Fuel3D scans.

"Right now, a large obstacle to 3D printing adoption is the difficulty in producing the digital 3D models required," said Roger Chang, CEO, Pirate 3D. "A high quality affordable scanner will really change the 3D printing game and Fuel3D's 3D scanner looks set to put 3D modeling capability into everyone's hands."

The technology behind Fuel3D was originally developed within Oxford University and was, at first, developed for medical imaging applications.

Pre-production Fuel3D units will be available in Spring 2014, with full production following soon thereafter.

 PRNewswire

Ubuntu Edge Launches Indiegogo Campaign: Truly a Superphone

The Ubuntu Edge, a "superphone" in the making, seeks to raise $32 Million on Indiegogo by August 22 to fund a full-scale production of a smartphone that can also run your PC. Is this a lofty goal, or a reachable possibility? Within the first five hours, the crowdfunding project already raised $1 Million-- it seems that the public trusts that the Ubuntu Edge could bring much-needed innovation to the tech-intense corner of the smartphone market.

On the campaign site, the Ubuntu Edge is pitched as "a proving ground for the most advanced mobile technologies on the horizon, a showpiece for true mobile innovation. And at the heart of it all is convergence: connect to any monitor and this Ubuntu phone transforms into an Ubuntu PC, with a fully integrated desktop OS and shared access to all files."

Among the Edge's notable features are a 4.5 inch screen made of sapphire crystal ("a material so hard only diamond could scratch it"), and a modest 300ppi screen resolution. Because the phone has to act as a computer OS, it will have the fastest multi-core processor, at least 4GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage. With these specs, the phone is shaping up to be the first truly mobile desktop computer.

Internally, the smartphone will dual-boot Ubuntu Phone Os and Android. This way, the smartphone user can harness the power of Ubuntu OS, while still being able to use their collection of Android apps, and they can converge the two systems upon launch.

The campaign will accept any donation amount, and has special offers at certain benchmark donation amounts ($20, $600, $830, $10,000, $80,000).

The Ubuntu Edge is a piece of the future that you want to invest in. Donate enough and you could get the phone discounted or mailed to you on its May 2014 release date.

For more information, head to the Ubuntu Edge's Indiegogo campaign page.