Welcome to another week in Kickstarterland. It’s been too long since my last post so this should be a big week. I have been busy with my new startup Mystic Pants traveling to the USA for meetings and conferences about the Internet of Things (IoT).

Kick(s) of the Week

The DAO – The worlds largest crowd funding campaign at $160m so far and I don’t even understand what it is! But it had to get a mention.
Acanvas – This project wins the prize for it’s really brilliant charging solution.
Regular Kicks

GeoOrbital Wheel – A clever solution to making your bike electric.
Knocki – Sometimes Kickstarter backers surprise me. $100 for a device which detects knocks and turns them into home automation actions is nuts.
Nura – A crazy idea from a Melbourne company – headphones that calibrate themselves by bouncing sounds off your inner ear.
BioLite – A battery powered lantern. This is a company that has worked out how to sell the basics all over again.
Portal – A new Wifi AP which enables some extra 5ghz channels. It will only buy some extra time until everyone else is using the same spectrum.
Pal Strap – A GPS add-on strap for Pebble Time. How to make your Pebble uglier.
BiCable – A dual-header cable (Lightening and Micro-USB) with the most sexual inuendo I have seen so far.
Spend Wallet – Another card consolidation device like Coin and still without chip-and-pin support. It wouldn’t work in modern countries like Australia that no longer support swiping.
Flens – A focus lense for your smartphone flash. It narrows the beam to make it brighter.
Formbox – A desktop vacuum former for making your own mini factory.
Furbo – A dog camera with a treat ejector and bark alert. I can see this woman cleaning piles of dog shit on a regular basis and not getting much work done.
PlayDate – Sphero for dogs with a built-in camera, microphone and speaker.
Leka – A giant Sphero robot for exceptional children with autism and alike.
Nydeum Sense – Apparently the revolution is missing some members. It’s not a bad looking device but it’s really not a problem needing to be solved.
Geo AR Games – This is the first project I have seen that posted a news piece as their campaign video.
Broadcast – A tshirt with a display and touch sensor. This could be fun. I wonder how hot the LEDs get?
Issa Mikro – A baby and child toothbrush with a seriously talented young presenter.
Ember – A Bluetooth controlled, heated lunch box. I am not sure who would pay $199 for a lunch box, even if it is a cool one.
Enki Stove Wild – A clever camp fire system which uses pyrolysis to burn fuel efficiently, without smoke and apparently environmentally friendly.
Udoo x86 – A lot of grunt for a tiny price tag plus Arduino compatibility to boot
Kuvee – I didn’t really know that keeping wine fresh was such a global problem but apparently there is a solution
Floatti – A smart suitcase with wheel suspension, USB charger, Bluetooth tracking, scale and a handbag dock.
SeeNote – I like all products built around ePaper displays. This is one I have been hoping to see for a while.
Brixo – Lego bricks with electrical circuitry.
Trainerbot – A table tennis training robot that won’t pick up your balls for you.
LoRaOne – IoT development board based on a small microprocessor and the LoRa wireless protocol.

Shitstarters

Tap Device – This was first created about 10 years ago and nobody wanted it then. Nothing has changed.
Helio Tent – Proof that more information doesn’t buy your more backers.
Bioo – Power from your plants? I doubt it.
Lighty – Why? Who wants a robotic projector?
Left Fielders

Field Phone – Telephone solutions for the zombie apocalypse
And remember, its only limited by your frigging imagination.