“Wait, teal green notification!” – grabs neck and begins to perspire, “only 150 likes on my newest head-cocked-to-the-side, shirtless Instagram post? Something is wrong here,” mumbles the young teenager. “It’s OK,” replies Tiffany, “I’ll get my L4L brigade on it in 30 seconds, but I have to pee like nobody’s business.” The young teenager then thinks to himself as he closes his eyes, and drops thumbs-only into his jeans,”Zen-mode time, baby. Life couldn’t be more peaceful now that my wrist is blinking in neon colors and Tiffany has cleared her bladder. #teambreezy”  The story of two EMBRACE+ customers, in love. The end. 

Ready for a world filled with glowstick-esque blinking notifications? EMBRACE+ wants you to be. This product is a re-launch of a previously failed attempt at bringing wrist notifications to the mainstream. As you can see from the pictures above, and an excerpt from the next great novel, you’ll soon be able to set up calls, texts, Facebook messages, Instagram pings, and other notifications to appear in any shade of color through a Nike Fuelband type of rubber wrist accessory.

The EMBRACE+ works with both Android and iOS, lasts for up to 10 days on a single charge, is fully waterproof, and can be yours for just $50.

Look, this thing is just plain silly, if you ask me. But hey, clearly there is some sort of a market for it, as it already has more than 1,800 backers in around 10 days. I’m just not so sure I’m ready for a world where completely intrusive blinking lights are flooding my conversations, meals, and meetings. Then again, Google Glass is out there too.

Here is the promo video describing the experience:

Via:  KickStarter

Cheers David!

EMBRACE+ Kickstarter Crushes $80K Goal in 10 Days, Brings Ridiculous Glowing Notification Light to Your Wrist is a post from: Droid Life

Having a separate and completely portable MicroSD card reader for your Android phone/tablet could be very beneficial given the right circumstances. On Kickstarter, there is a new project that is already fully funded almost four times over, for those exact unforeseeable circumstances. It is a tiny SD card reader that you insert into the MicroUSB slot of your device. You pop in the MicroSD card, then you have access to all of the files on said card. You may not need it all of the time, but you never know when having it could come in handy.

Pledges start at just $12 to receive a reader, which seems like a steal. To learn more about the project, follow the via below.

Via: Kickstarter

Kickstarter for the Mini MicroSD Reader for Android Devices Looks Sweet is a post from: Droid Life

When your keyboard pops up on your device as you tap inside of a text box, do you ever get frustrated over the fact that it covers up precious real estate or hides objects that you would rather see? You are not alone. A new keyboard, which is hoping to see funds through an IndieGogo campaign, is attempting to fix this problem. It’s called Minuum. 

Minuum wants to promote “delightfully fast sloppy typing” through its shrunken QWERTY keyboard. You see that image above? That’s it. It takes up all of one row (or “single dimension”), but is able to pack in the power of an entire full-blown keyboard. Thanks to a “specialized auto-correction algorithm that allows highly imprecise typing,” you can tap as fast as your fingers allow and still produce correct messages.

The keyboard is resizable, can be moved around your screen to any position (think tablets), and can be taken outside of touchscreens to gaming controllers, motion typing, etc.

Here are some of the keyboard’s benefits:

• Recovering more than half of the usable touchscreen space you lose when you type on traditional virtual keyboards
• Allowing you fast text entry when your typing is sloppy
• Providing you with letter magnification for precise typing—especially useful if you have large fingers
• Giving you the benefit of smart auto-correction
• Respecting your familiarity with the QWERTY keyboard so you don’t have to re-learn the keyboard layout
• Providing convenient access to everything you’d expect in a keyboard (such as, punctuation, space, backspace, and enter) without stealing your screen space
• Letting you type anywhere—with a keyboard you can move around your touchscreen

If all of that wasn’t making Minuum clear enough, watch the video below to see it in action, then think about backing it for $5. The project currently sits at just over half of its funding goal of $10,000.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Via:  IndieGogo

Cheers Adam!

Minuum is a Bold Attempt at a Minimal Keyboard in a “Single Dimension” is a post from: Droid Life

One of Kickstarter’s success stories is now live on Google Play, thanks to public funding. The game is called Pixel Kingdom and as you could probably guess, is made up entirely of pixelated medieval characters in a pixelated medieval world.

It is an RPG-based defense game, kind of like Plants vs Zombies. As you advance you unlock special units which have different powers, each having their own special effects against opponents. There are knights, wizards, and other infantry characters to use how you see fit.

The game is free on Google Play, so check it out.

Play Link

Kickstarter-Funded Pixel Kingdom Game Hits Google Play is a post from: Droid Life

Chameleon Launcher received quite the significant update this afternoon for Kickstarter backers and pre-orderees. In the update, we finally get phone support, so this app is no longer just a tablet exclusive. No, sir. We also get a brand new name, well, sort of. This is version 2 of the app, so it shall now be know as Chameleon Launcher 2. Clever. 

Phone support is clearly the biggest announcement here, but users across the board will find things like Folders and “Linked Folders,” app launcher widgets, redesigned contextual dashboards, performance improvements, and many updates to Chameleon widgets. There aren’t any new widgets per se, as the team was focusing on “strengthening the core experience.”

I will say that after taking a lengthy break from Chameleon, I can easily see the progress that has been made in this new beta. Transitions and menus are more fluid and beautiful, the feature set has really grown, and the overall product feels like a professionally done home replacement, something I wouldn’t be caught dead saying about it a few months ago.

Play Link

Click here to view the embedded video.

Video: Hands-on With Chameleon Launcher 2 for Phones is a post from: Droid Life

GameStick, the newest overnight Kickstarter-inspired portable Android gaming system sensation, announced today that they have signed off on a new design with the help of feedback from backers. After the initial and much squarer design was received with mixed feelings, this new version of the GameStick looks much more appealing to average and advanced gamers – well, according to its creators. 

Here is what they had to say:

As you will see we have rounded the edges quite a bit so that our controller feels better in the hand. We then lost the groove between the middle section of the controller and the top deck so that it feels smooth all round…we extended the palm grips so that they feel more substantial and also changed the magic ratio between the top and bottom edges, adding 3mm to the leading edge so that the controller sits more naturally in your hand…

We made the D pad rubber so it feels nice to touch and provides good levels of grip. We changed the PLAY buttons to XBYA to make it as easy as possible for developers to port their games. We improved the analog sticks to use full multi-way + switch systems and rubberized the mushroom caps. We support a full a 45 degree tilt angle so that you can very accurately control the games you love to play…

Beyond buttons and rounded edges, the GameStick team is trying to futureproof the device for both Miracast and wireless charging:

We hated the idea of having to keep plugging your controller in to charge it up (although it supports around 40 hours of game play on a single charge) and so we wanted to add a contact based charging system and also to support a full wireless charging solution that could be built in to the GameStick Dock…

At the outset of this project we wanted to be able to power the GameStick from its controller so that you could stream games directly from the controller to any screen that was Miracast enabled…We have been pioneering this work and to lay the foundation we wanted to ensure that our controller was future proof…

So you have a fully revamped controller, one that should be futureproof with next-gen Miracast and wireless technologies. I know we don’t seem to be seeing much of a middle ground when it comes to loving or hating these affordable Android gaming systems, but the portability of this one, along with the early dedication from the team to listen to its customers is always a good sign.

New Design

Via:  Kickstarter

GameStick Unveils New Design With Help of Backers is a post from: Droid Life

Uh-oh. Looks like the GameStick could be in some trouble. According to emails that backers are beginning to receive this morning, the GameStick is the center of an intellectual property dispute, which has forced Kickstarter to remove the project from their site. The GameStick was fully funded just 30 hours into the campaign, so if they are unable to take care of this business within 30 days, they’re screwed. 

The message from Kickstarter below:

Hi there,

This is a message from Kickstarter Support. We’re writing to inform you that a project you backed, GameStick: The Most Portable TV Games Console Ever Created, is the subject of an intellectual property dispute.

The law requires that we remove the project from public view until the process is complete or the dispute is resolved. If we are not able to re-post it within 30 days, we will cancel the project, all pledge authorizations will expire, and the project will be permanently unavailable.

If you’d like to manage your pledge, you can do so through the project page:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/872297630/gamestick-the-most-portable-tv-games-console-ever?ref=email

If you have any questions, we encourage you to message the creator directly. You can also do this from the project page.

Thanks so much for your patience and cooperation,
Kickstarter

There seems to already be a few products out there that are similar to GameStick, but there is no telling which other company is calling foul. We shall await more details and update you all as more info comes to light.

Update: GameStick has released a statement which pretty much clears up the situation and it looks like everything will be fine once they simply edit a video containing a game that wasn’t supposed to be there. Good job, GameStick!

Dear backers,

I’m sure you’ve all noticed that we have been temporarily suspended due to a copyright infringement notice. This does NOT RELATE TO OUR DESIGN OR PRODUCT – this relates to one of the games that was exposed in our UI demonstration on our videi that we did not have permission to use.
We are working to quickly edit this video to comply with Kickstarter and we hope to be back up and running as soon as possible. We’re sorry for any confusion or worry this may have caused you but we want you to know that we are on it!

Thanks for understanding.

Love,

GameStick

Update 2:  Everything appears to be fixed and back up for backing.

Were you a backer?

Cheers Shane and Eric!

GameStick Pulled From Kickstarter Due to Intellectual Property Dispute (Updated) is a post from: Droid Life

The bigger consoles may soon be taking the backseat, as more affordable and pocketable gaming platforms are emerging with the help of Kickstarter. The newest Android-powered device is called GameStick, and it certainly is interesting.

Being designed with portability and power in mind, it runs off of a thumb drive that plugs directly into your HDTV. To keep size down, the drive fits perfectly right into the controller itself. The team has a way to go in terms of being fully funded, but getting your hands on a GameStick is incredibly cheap, with early bird specials going for just $69. 

If you are feeling especially generous, you can pledge all the way up to $5,000 and even land a spot on the company’s product development team and steer the direction this device takes.

Any takers?

Via: Kickstarter

GameStick Kickstarter Appears, Another Affordable Android Gaming System is a post from: Droid Life

Say, “Hello” to Ubi. Ubi is short for ubiquitous computer because Ubi is always on and always listening. It is a truly hands-free device for your home that plugs right into an outlet on the wall, then connects straight to your home’s WiFi network. So, what can you do with Ubi? Ubi can do voice-based searches on the Internet, act as a personal assistant, control a home’s climate, be a baby monitor, and also act as a notifier for when receiving emails and other notifications. 

The team is hoping to have Ubi ready and shipped out by January of 2013, but needs your help to make it happen. Check it out on Kickstarter and let us know if Ubi is something that  interests you. It definitely has our attention as long as it doesn’t go all HAL on us and telling humans what we can and cannot do.

Via: Kickstarter

Cheers Leor and Dominick!

Ubi Kickstarter Begins, Always On Voice Activated Internet Device for Your Home is a post from: Droid Life

The Pebble E-paper watch was the talk of the town back in April as it crushed every Kickstarter record known to man. As an affordable “smart watch,” it claimed it could do all sorts of magic, thanks to an e-paper display that can last up to 7 days. It also has much of the same functionality that you will find in the MotoActv or Sony Smartwatch, except that at $115, it comes in at a fraction of the price.

In a recent update to the project, the Pebble team apologized for their last update, which briefly mentioned a delay in manufacturing (September is no longer happening), but to help make up for it, released this video that shows some UI elements. You can see that this is definitely still a work-in-progress. Emulators for real time developing have been created, however, they still have a ways to go before this thing is going to be ready for shipping. With said, I’m really liking the minimal styling that this e-paper display presents. 

Pebble Shows Off Watch UI Progress in Latest Video is a post from: Droid Life

Chameleon for Android, a Kickstarter funded tablet home replacement app, has entered into its beta stage, which means that the 7,000 people that pre-ordered it will soon get an invite to start testing. Others have been hand-selected to test the app, a group that we were lucky enough to be a part of.

As is customary around these parts, we like to take apps that have generated a substantial amount of buzz for a test drive to see if they can live up to the hype. While this is still beta, the Chameleon team is confident enough in it to at least let people start to play with it. 

It’s definitely feeling good, aside from a couple of minor bugs that shouldn’t be hard to fix. The quickness is there, the few widgets that are available look good enough, and some of the features like the scrollable app dock at the bottom are solid features. We are seeing some limitations as far as widgets, wallpapers and folders go, however, the only direction for Chameleon to go from here is up. There is definitely potential to be reached. Since this is a beta, this would be the time to start requesting features and reporting bugs.

To give you our first impressions on it, we tossed together this video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Video: First Look at Chameleon for Android is a post from: Droid Life

There has been an ever increasing number of cool projects popping up on Kickstarter, and L8 SmartLight is no different. With L8, you can use a box packed with 64 LED’s and one Super LED to give visual cues for notifications when hearing them is not an option. For example, you can personalize a color or pattern you want to see for incoming calls, emails, and text messages. This is definitely the most unique notification/light system we have seen.

It does much more than just notifications though. Through an application that gives you complete control of the light and color output, you can use it to set the mood with special lighting and even turn it into a strobe for your next rave. It has a proximity sensor, can show temperature levels thanks to another sensor, connects via Bluetooth, informs you of new social network updates, and will express your mood in a variety of fashions.

With manufacturing and delivery expected to be done by November of this year, this is just in time to become a nice Christmas present for a tech lover (wink). Check the video below to see the wide variety of tasks that you can use the L8 SmartLight for.

Via: Kickstarter

L8 SmartLight Kickstarter Project Can Turn Your Notifications into Visual Cues is a post from: Droid Life

My two biggest gripes with mobile Android gaming are as follows: I don’t have a reliable controller for most of the games, and the screens are too small to really get immersed in. Kickstarter is hosting a very promising looking project called OUYA (pronounced ooh-yah) that looks to take mobile gaming back to the living room, and rival the big console makers. This Android powered console is calling on the powers of Android’s open development platform and the free-to-play model of gaming that has been all the rage recently. Can this grassroots program rattle the cages of Sony and Microsoft?

Update:  And within a couple hours of posting, OUYA went from about $600K to over $1 million and is now past their goal with 29 days still to go. That was insanely fast.

The OUYA team has created a prototype console that is based off our favorite OS and even uses parts that you might find in your phones today:

• Tegra 3 quad-core processor
• 1GB of RAM
• 8GB of flash memory
• HDMI connection to the TV, with support for up to 1080p HD
• WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
• USB 2.0 (one)
• Wireless Controllers
• Ice Cream Sandwich

All the games that work for Android now will work on OUYA and the developers of the console are hoping to entice game developers to make games just for their console, that are made to play on the big screen in your living room. Games like Shadowgun and Dead Trigger will look and play great on your TV and even Minecraft will be included in all this fun.

One interesting note from the developer states “We’re handing the reins over to the developer with only one condition: at least some gameplay has to be free.” F2P has taken off in PC gaming recently with most games going free and then allowing you to buy upgrades to the game for real money. Microtransactions are now funding Team Fortress 2 and League of Legends, even though some players never pay a cent to play them. It’s an interesting demand but in the long run it could be beneficial for any owners of the OUYA.

OUYA is looking to raise money through Kickstarter and their goal is $950,000 to get the project up and running fully. At the time of this post they are near half that already, with 29 days to go. You can reserve a username for as little as $10 but if you want to get a console for yourself, $99 will get you an OUYA before they hit stores. This little console definitely has a lot of potential and could redefine gaming on the Android platform, we’ll just have to see how we eventually get there.

Via: Kickstarter

OUYA: The Android-Powered Gaming Console That Wants to Take on the Big Boys (Updated) is a post from: Droid Life

Chameleon, the home replacement solution for tablets that was all the rage back in mid-May, has relaunched today through Kickstarter after running into a funding situation the first time around. According to its creators, one of their team members, who had initially setup the Amazon funding solution through Kickstarter, left the team which caused them to have to close the original project. Since the backing and funding process through Kickstarter involves credit card information, setting up a new project and simply transferring everyone’s backing amount was not an option. Hopefully that made sense.

What you need to know, is that this new Kickstarter page is live and you can head on over and back it today if you’d like. They still expect to have it ready for backers by the end of August.

Via:  Kickstarter

Cheers Brian!

Chameleon Launches New Kickstarter, Hopefully This One Works Out is a post from: Droid Life

Click here to view the embedded video.

We recently came across the Sensordrone project on Kickstarter, and frankly, it looks pretty awesome. With the sensor hardware that connects through Bluetooth to your device, checking the carbon monoxide levels in an area, natural/artificial lighting, and even your BAC is made possible. The hardware comes with a ton of various sensors onboard which is what makes some of the following things possible:

Application examples:

• Air quality
• Breath alcohol
• Color matching
• Non-contact thermometer
• Weather monitoring
• Crowd sourced Sensor Data
• Games (totally new concepts)
• Flatulence (use gas sensors for both serious and not so serious measurements)
• Totally new applications/Multi-sensor mayhem!

To receive a beta of the Sensordrone you only have to donate $99, which isn’t too bad. The project has already reached its goal, so this will in fact come to fruition. Does checking your BAC before you drive home from the bar interest you at all?

Via: Kickstarter

Cheers Isaac! <3

Sensordrone for Android, a Kickstarter That Actually Looks Worthy of My Money is a post from: Droid Life