Welcome back to This Week in Kickstarterland. A few great small scale projects shine this week like LED handbags, pocket surfboards and robotic straws. But then there are also lot of seen-it-all-before campaigns this week, especially home automation products. Plus … save Skymall!

Uncommon surfboard – A micro surfboard for body surfing like a champ.
Blynk – An app to provide a consistent user interface to all your microcontrollers.
Branto – Another home automation and security hub in a spherical shape. There is little new about this except the shape and the combination of a few features like 360 degree camera, but it looks pretty solid.
Oomi – Doing what everyone else is doing only claiming they are the only ones doing it. Sounds much like Branto and fifty previous projects. Prepare to be underwhelmed unless you are a fan of 3d renderings of imaginary homes.
Listnr – Boring name, silly product. “It’s a platform to better understand our environment.” No, it’s a platform to repeat some pretty revolutionary tech from the 1970’s.
LogIT – Log voltage, current and power for USB and PoE devices. Yes, I will promote any product made in Melbourne, even if it is boring.
Next Keyboard – A slightly improved iPhone soft keyboard. I am sure it’s better but not sure why it’s inspired so many people to share their wallet.
Uncommon surfboard – A micro surfboard for body surfing like a champ.
Vikaura Screen – The use of eInk is good but its hardly the first of its kind.
Displio – A mini eInk display with Wifi built-in with some nice design and interface touches and a visual editor.
Luxafor – Everyone should have this do-not-disturb light/sign on their desk. This is from the same team as the Displio above and delivering at the same time, which is concerning.
ATLAS 3D – A 3d printable 3d laser scanner. There is something poetic about it.
Blynk – An app to provide a consistent user interface to all your microcontrollers.
Exploding Kittens – I can’t get my head around why this is such a success but it is and I can’t ignore it.
AirBoard – Yet another Arduino clone this time small, low power and with remote programming via wireless shields. Absurd that they stuck with the ATmega328P processor.
Quirkbot – Part Arduino, part Strawbees, all robotics.
Fingerprint scanner – This just looks like good old-fashioned fun.
Dolfi – Wash your clothes and your jewellery at once. Surely if you can make a portable version you can make a full-size washer? Why isn’t Whirlpool making this?
Diabeto – This is an interesting and valuable project but why do they have to ruin a great video with an old guy saying his life is awesome because of this great product which hasn’t even been built yet. It is really good to finally see the Chilean accelerator programs delivering a success story.
LED handbag – You can’t knock them for trying.
McChi Luggage – A bag with a pop up table top. Apparently best for doctors who moonlight as cosmetologists. I like the built-in USB battery although I think 20,000 mAh is too much battery to take on a commercial plane.

Shitstarters

Personal Robot – I refuse to believe that this is even close to a thing. The base is a Roomba, the oval shaped screen is a no-no, the voice is a recording and the applications are insanely unlikely with this decade’s tech. This would be a total scam but for having Dave McClure’s name on the bottom. Instead it can go in the watch list with Jibo.
Scarab – This is the first video that doesn’t show the product in any part of the video (just some stills). This device monitors 16 invisible threats like UV, carbon monoxide and ambient light.
Hiris – This slick video set my bullshit sensors off (I wonder if Hiris has one of those sensors). Maybe I just don’t see the value in a wrist mounted computer that does everything.
Selfie Stick Pro – This guy can join the maker of the original selfie stick in the bottom of a bottomless pit.
G-muze Ellipsis – I am a fan of the concept but I don’t trust these guys. They don’t give off the “we will get this built and on time” vibe.

Left fielders

Save Skymall – With a million dollars this guy will save Skymall, which apparently is bankrupt.

As always, it’s limited only by your frigging imagination!

Welcome back to This Week in Kickstarterland, the first edition for 2015. I have great expectation that this year will be another big year for crowd funding. This week was a busy one with returning to full time work during the week and camping on the weekend. The result is some of the campaigns have already closed and the rest are absolute fruitcakes. Bonus – it looks like Indiegogo have returned the “Fixed” vs “Flexible” funding … they must have heard me swearing at them.

Campfire in a Can – I could have used a campfire in a can this weekend. This really looks like a great grass roots creation.
Depth VR – This is not the first product to use this technique but it works really well. The only real issue is that only one viewer is trackable.
Viewbox – Everything works better in Neoprene, even a Google Cardboard clone.
Linkio – Yet another smart home hub, this time with a French twist.
Hyper-B – Hyperboloids, wrapped in a toy. This is just plain cool.
Timer Toppy – Little timers you stick on everything that spoils. Nice idea.
BitCube – One of the better looking technology kits similar to littleBits. I hope they pick up some momentum.
Hifi-Skyn – Less a skin, more a brick. I don’t understand why anybody would want to do this to their phone, but they do. I hope it sounds good and you don’t want to upgrade your phone for a while.
Daily Companion – An emergency alert system and medicine reminder system … upgraded to 2005 technology. The staff involved (including the attendant answering the calls) look older than the patients – that’s scary. Other than looking like it was design 20 years ago and the video getting a bit over the top with the emotional tugs and references to himself (the guy with an old dad, the airforce officer, the project manager AND the engineer), it generally looks ok.
Emoi – Yet another Bluetooth light / speaker. Blah, blah, blah. At least the video has some really good looking, happy people in it.

Shitstarters

Cooki – Cooking with the click of a button. These clowns are a long way from having a product of any value, even if their goals are noble. They shut down the campaign in three days. Let’s see what they come back with.
Tool2Find – For grandfathers that sneak out of the old age home and TNT couriers that keep losing their cars. It’s actually not a terrible product, just a terrible video. It uses GPS and GSM but is too expensive for most people.
Cool-K – He actually has an image that says “The future is here”. This keyboard is so virtual, it doesn’t exist. Nor does he have a budget for an assistant to help him make a video. I am not really sure the Lottery idea is going to fly either.
ThymeWarp – And I thought Cool-K was bad … this video is scary bad. I am not quite sure what he is selling, but I think he believes he invented internet video or video messaging. He needs to seek help soon … maybe from his “wisdom coach”. But he does have some pretty hockey-stick graphs.
Flip Keyboard – This guy should consider a career in marketing. He has nailed it.
Spintronic Generator – Another clearly senile project owner. All the loons are coming out today. This one wants to “convert the ether into electricity by spinning and flipping electrons” because they are “changing the paradigm of energy with truth and integrity.”
Guardoor – The cheapest security system in the world could probably be the worst. Get a dog, they are better.
Patron – “Genius” TV uses facial recognition and pattern matching to guess what you want to watch before you pick up your remote. I hope it turns the volume of the porn down.
WIFIER – A USB to Wifi bridge for suckers.
MobilePlus – A tablet with a built in scanner. I think not baby puppy.
FiiV – An iPad backpack with a GSM/Wifi access point. This is a product looking for a problem to solve.
Voucher – Connected receipt printers are a great idea (Grabble built this in 2010 and sold to Walmart when they went broke) but I can’t see these guys selling a solution to Best Buy.

Left fielders

Foot Hammock – Another first-world problem that must be solved
Porn Charity – Porn actors collecting money for STEM eduction by screwing on camera. Why the hell not!?
MiaMaxx – The worlds longest thrusting pleasure toy. They should have added Bluetooth support.
Ladodeya Elixir – Hair removal product for naked women with beards and women who hump trees.

As always, it’s limited only by your frigging imagination!

Welcome back to This Week in Kickstarterland. Forgive me father for I have sinned. It’s been a couple of weeks since my last confession. In that time I moved from Silicon Valley back to Australia and my priorities lay elsewhere. Not surprisingly this is a big collection but there are an unusually high number of shockers.  I am trying to be generous but it is really hard.

GoTo Belt – Who knew the belt needed to be reinvented. My issue is with my waist, not my belt.
Onics – Dock your phone into the dash of your car. It becomes the hub for entertainment, climate control, data collection, etc. Cute but nobody will ever buy it.
Keewifi – It’s sorta cute but is Wifi configuration so hard? Isn’t this was WPS was supposed to solve?
Glacious LE – Another “first” ice sphere maker. I still like the idea but I doubt I will have the planning or patience to use it.
Water Hero – Detect and prevent floods in your home. Clever solution to a real problem for our generation.
ArduRF – Wireless shield for the Arduino. Oops, there goes the audio.
miaLinkup – Yet another Bluetooth ODB for tracking your teenager’s driving habits. Apparently the GPS has 1/2 mile accuracy but can tell you which floor you parked your car in a car park.
Somabar – Another Wifi cocktail robot. I don’t really drink cocktails but I really want one to pick up chicks. And it uses Lean and 6 Sigma principles so you know its affordable.
Foldio2 – A bigger version of Foldio1. This isn’t really a kick starter anymore is it? They have already raised more money than the first time around.
Kiband – Yet another kid tracker. If this guy would stop impregnating his wife he wouldn’t need to use a kid tracker. They actually have a “chief mommy officer.”
Uno Noteband – Yet another wearable status notification device. This one uses Spritz (which is growing on me) and helps you grow a massive beard.
Perfect Stop Sign – Stop signs aren’t good enough so add traffic lights to them. I suppose, maybe. You would really want to have good liability insurance!
PieceDuino – Because there is always room for another one.
iCamPro – The video throws out lots of technical jargon like “subpixel markers” and “2 megapixel lenses” but fails to actually talk about what the camera is useful for. I guess people can work that out for themselves. Maybe “Amaryllo is also the first company to offer free cloud storage to consumers” was the selling point … or maybe they are just hooking into YOUR Google Drive account?
WEPO – A novel approach to measuring air quality. Attach a big ugly device to your belt and pair it to your smart watch. But good on them for trying.

Shitstarters

101touch – No way am I ever using a virtual keyboard if I don’t have to. Typing on an iPad sucks. The video wins the most disingenuous presenter award (“it will unbelievably speed up everything you do”) AND the best fake hand award. Funny how their own developers don’t eat their own dog food. But at least it works in MS-DOS!
Mogics – If you are going to demonstrate your sound with unimproved recordings, at least choose ones that don’t sound like shit.
Kinetics – How many days or months before these guys slap themselves for what they have just produced. I wonder if they can see the word “NERD” tattooed to their heads? At least the backers can see past the nerds to the greatest gloving gloves ever.
eCanary – For those who aren’t sure if the air inside your car is polluted. Apparently this works so well that it can’t be sold in China or the government will crack down so they were forced to add a USB charging port. It must suck working for 10 months only to raise $3000.
Bpeer – Is this beer, pee or both? Neither, it’s an environmental sensor!
Myoki – These guys just don’t get it. Nobody wants an obscure watch that requires other people to have an obscure watch. Even pretty colours and digitally manipulated stock photos can’t change that.
Selfpree – I think it’s a printer. Who knows?
iCamPro – The video throws out lots of technical jargon like “subpixel markers” and “2 megapixel lenses” but fails to actually talk about what the camera is useful for. I guess people can work that out for themselves. Maybe “Amaryllo is also the first company to offer free cloud storage to consumers” was the selling point … or maybe they are just hooking into YOUR Google Drive account?

Left fielders

Keyboard Waffle Iron – Yep, this is a thing. A waffle iron shaped like a keyboard. Technically, it’s inverted.
Loop – Pelvic floor exercise bike. I wonder how safe it is to put Bluetooth transceiver up your whatsits? At least this one doesn’t vibrate.

As always, it’s limited only by your frigging imagination!

Welcome back to This Week in Kickstarterland. This is a bumper episode and my very last from Silicon Valley. In a few hours I am flying back home to Australia. This week’s highlights (pun intended) are the huge array of light-related projects. But we can’t forget the regular vibrator project.

Roost – Upgrade your smoke detector by replacing the 9V battery with a Wifi Trojan Horse. I love this but they are in very early stages and every demo is a hack. They appear to be considering using BlinkUp?
OZoM – I have no idea what this is but it has an AWESOME video and supports the Imp (sort of).
Blossom – Copy of Rach.io
Sprinkl – Yes, another one! This one with meshed remote sensors.
The Mister – Turn your aircon into a swamp heater. Use water mist to precool the air going into your cooler.
Brio – An ugly GPO which senses connected plugs at 24V. I feel like putting my finger in a GPO. Uninspiring.
Tailio – Monitor your cat’s health by weighing the cat and it’s poo. Personally, I think they are all evil.
Zano – Another cute swarming nano drone.
Lo Fi SES – 8-bit music controller and platform.
Phoenard – Prototyping board in a game controller form factor.
Bracket – This has been done many times before. Apple clear doesn’t want you to have a dock and this model doesn’t scale well.
Hush – I have used many noise cancelling systems and none are this good (this is not an active noise canceller). Why do I doubt three pimply Daniels can do better than Bose? Anyway, let’s wait and see.
Whisker – Yet another prototyping platform. This time with a bigger antenna. It concerns me how much useless detail and how little useful info there is … not even a mention of what the protocol or frequency is being used. A lot more detail comes out in the comments where he claims that it “has the smallest security footprint of any cloud based IoT system available today.”
Halitron – Greatest eyebrows ever!
Amphiro – Another water monitor but this one has a naked woman in it. Buy, buy, buy!
Twist – It’s really not this hard. Really.
Anura – Pocket drone with a price coming down to earth.
Rope-O’Matic – Make your own ropes. Why didn’t I think of that?
Nimble Sense – Add your hands as an input device into the VR world.
Focused Sun – Solar harvesting for the 3rd world. Because the sun is widely in use but inefficient and expensive.
T-Band – Clever idea to put the smarts into the band not the watch. Slick video. I bet it never ships. They reckon they have raised $1.4m in presales plus series A VC funding yet only $26k of backers on IGG.
Nevo – An analog style connected watch for people with great legs and arms in awkward angles.
ecozy – Smart thermostat for hydronic heaters.
Tagsu – Conference badge for fun. Who doesn’t want one!?
Sinclair ZX Spectrum Vega – For those old enough (or British enough) to remember.
Jolla – Sailfish open source tablet sold by a genuine pirate.
Brewie – Expensive home brew beer but pretty slick offering. It would take me a while to cover the capital expense with savings in the operational expenses. I need to drink more beer.
Carbon Flyer – Makes the PowerUp 3 look old fashioned!
Mars – Levitating bluetooth speaker.

Look on the brighter side of life

BeOn – LED light globe that pretends you are in the house and other clever security features. I am not convinced they will deter robbers but I like them non-the-less.
L3D Cube – Finally a 8x8x8 NeoPixel cube with music detector and accelerometer. And it’s Wifi and stackable! There is a 16x16x16 but its $2000 😦
Light Dance – Hook your music into your LED strips.
AllPixel – USB controller for driving LED strips
Panlight – Remote control the direction of your remote flash or small camera.
Shade – Smart light switch which dims your lights when ambient light goes up.
Sunn Light – A light that mimics some of the sun’s behaviours.
LUNA – Sniff your ethernet packets with ease.
Hoku – “Hoku is the first table lamp that simply works”. Right. Those darn table lamps are real trouble makers.

Shitstarters

WiFiBoostGo – “We’ve Research and Developed the concept …” Awesome sentence! “How Does WiFiBoostGo work? WiFiBoostGo locks onto the available wireless signals.” Awesome explanation!
HardWire – Because huge ugly stuck on power outlets are so much better than extension cords. These guys are the first project I have seen seeking investors by publishing their “prospectus” (http://bit.ly/1u4jVcM) which is apparently confidentially.
Cubic – In what world does anyone believe that this shit will be built? Siri sucks and Apple has a slightly bigger budget than these guys.
Rimbit – Another crypto currency. Not worth mentioning except for the cute video. No idea why this was funded.

Left fielders

Slaphappy – Flexible vibrator because rigid vibrators are for rigid people. “It’s the fucking swiss army knife of vibrators.”

As always, it’s limited only by your frigging imagination!

Welcome back to This Week in Kickstarterland. It’s a huge episode because I was sunning myself in the Bahamas last week. This week’s standouts are a bunch of food related projects, brilliant smart luggage and some photography products.

Trunkster – Seriously cleverly designed luggage.
Imp – Another Pi clone.
Flow – A bluetooth rotary dial with gesture and touchpad controls.
Printed Light – An LED desk light with gesture control.
iMovR Omega – Another standing desk. This time with a tilted keyboard tray.
Readydesk – Yet another standing desk, this time under $150.
Versa Bricks – LEGO bricks that connect to Hot Wheels, K’nex and alike.
MagSphere and MagBounce – Rubbery flash diffusers and bouncers for your SLR.
ClockOne – ePaper wall clock. What a great idea.
Lumera – Pretty spiffy camera add-on adds wifi, BLE, remote live view and control, timer lapse, one-click share, usb storage and other stuff.
Thingsee One – A very expensive sensor device for paranoid parents and other hackers. Wifi, bluetooth and 2G GPRS.
Memo Box – Connected medication box that reminds people to take their medication.
Point – Stalking your Airbnb guests.
SnapJet – Poloroid printer for any smartphone by using screen capture.
Lumino – Connected light switch. Really not sure what to think of this but the audience is certainly not listening.
iPin – Fricken laser beams from your iPhone.
Lantern – Satellite connected, solar charged, information device. This would make a great propaganda distribution device.
Flic – Bluetooth connected button for when picking up your phone is too much like hard work.

Food, glorious food

MAID Oven – Finally, a connected microwave oven! I am not sure I want to get recipes from my microwave (how stupid is this photo!?) but it’s good to see some innovation.
Tim3 Machin3 – Smart (but not connected) rice cooker, slow cooker and steamer. Excellent price point.
Pantelligent – Bluetooth connected frying pan. Could be interesting if they can actually deliver.
B4RM4N – Connected cocktail shaker and mixer. Because mixing drinks is too hard without technology.
Piconizer – Extra storage for your iDevice. Clever guys if they actually nailed this but the photos and videos are a bit vague.
Root – A connected food grower for people who don’t want to eat farmed vegetables.
Plantui – Another food grower that is going to change the world. Ho hum.

Left fielders

MoonTracker – No, this doesn’t track the moon. It matches women’s cycles to the moon.
6th Finger – For smartphone gamers who need to take a break once in a while. WTF?
Doorbell Phone – Connect your doorbell to your old analog phone ringer. This might have been worth doing about 10 years ago but who has any analog phones lying around anymore?
HUM – An intelligent vibrator thats going to make the world a better place and your man irrelevant.

Shitstarters

Flat Attack – Another battery charger this time claiming 60 minutes talk time on a single AA battery. Worst campaign I have seen in a while.
Appiom – Control your kids internet access. Pity your kids are way smarter than you. These products have NEVER worked on kids over about 12 years old.
FonePhrog – Words couldn’t do this project justice. You have to watch the video to really appreciate the brilliant utility of this device.

As always, it’s limited only by your frigging imagination!

Welcome back to This Week in Kickstarterland. After last week I didn’t expect much excitement this week and I wasn’t disappointed. Who knew that things could get so bad that a popcorn bowl could be the highlight?

Popcorn Ball – Hmmm… popcorn.
Skoog – You can never have too many ways to input.
Headless Ghost – Make your computer think you have a hires HDMI display.
Ghost Drone – Another very expensive quadcopter with some smarts and no controller.
Wolfpack – Backpack and frontpack in one. Clever design if a bit dorky.
Fireside – Like Pandora for your pictures only stupidly expensive.
uHoo – Connected air quality monitor.
Open Sesame – There is nothing inherently wrong about a bluetooth garage opener, but these guys make it look just icky.

Shitstarters

IglooStay – Way to promote a cleaning service through crowdfunding. Indiegogo, you are so awesome.
VITAphone – This guy thinks if he puts more details people might believe its not just his home hacking project. He also clearly misunderstands what a stretch goal is. No, you cannot take my money.
BitBite – Sorry Etai, I am not shoving another Bluetooth earpiece into my ear to count my chews. I can already see it going down and I don’t need your help. But at least you have a big team of skinny people working for you, making great Kickstarter videos.

As always, it’s limited only by your frigging imagination!

My weekly newsletter has gotten so popular I needed to expand to a platform that could both handle the load and meet the needs of the wider community. WordPress will be the new home of Kickstarterland and, if I get it all right, the emails should still come from Mad Mimi.

Each week I trawl through the technology projects on Kickstarter and Indiegogo and pick out the most interesting. I break them down into Kickstarters, Shitstarters and Left Fielders. I might write a few words of opinion on them but generally I leave it up to you to explore.

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