kickstarter

Simple.TV started as a darling of CES 2012, but recently it's been faced with the more pedestrian realities of launching a new product, such as raising money via Kickstarter and meeting its release dates.… Read more

You're waiting for your flight at the airport. A snuffling sound emanates from behind you. It's getting louder. You turn to look. An eldritch creature emerges from a gray pod! Oh wait, it's just a fellow traveler removing his Ostrich Pillow. No need to panic.

The Ostrich Pillow looks a bit like a giant garden squash gone soft. It has a hole for your face so you can breath and two side holes to stick your hands in.

The Kickstarter project page refers to it as "a micro environment in which to take a comfortable power nap in the office, traveling, or wherever you want." … Read more

Kickstarter has been barraged by questions regarding its responsibility to people who fund projects on its platform, and today it addressed many of these concerns.

The crowd-sourced funding platform announced that project creators must now address the risks and challenges of their projects, can no longer use renderings of their proposals, and cannot give mass quantities of their finished products to funders.

"It's hard to know how many people feel like they're shopping at a store when they're backing projects on Kickstarter, but we want to make sure that it's no one," the company'… Read more

Stanford engineer Debbie Sterling has seen a boy bias in toys like Lego and Erector sets. Lego's recent attempts at appealing to girls seem to be a little off the mark. So how do you get girls interested in engineering toys?

Sterling's answer: a Kickstarter project called GoldieBlox. It's a construction toy paired with a storybook, "GoldieBlox and the Spinning Machine."

The main character is Goldie, a kid inventor. She is joined by a cat, a dolphin ballerina, a sloth, a bear, and her dog Nacho. The construction set has a pegboard, wheels, axles, blocks, a ribbon, a crank, and washers.… Read more

Just when you didn't think your purse or wallet had any more space for plastic, here's a concept that might convince you to make room. ClearShot is a card-size stand for your smartphone that seems perfect for snapshots, video, chatting, and time-lapse pics.

Designer Mike Carney, a Boeing engineer, calls it the world's most portable phone tripod, and has submitted a patent for the design. It's only 0.09 inch thick, about the size of three non-embossed credit cards.

With a pinch, it unfolds into a ready position and supports all iPhone models, as well as Windows and Android phones. It can also be used with the Samsung Galaxy S2, S3, and Note. … Read more

Check out ThingsWeStart, a Web site launched earlier this week that displays current Kickstarter projects on an interactive map. Users of the site can drag their mouse around and view local projects, or perhaps peep on an endeavor in a nearby city.

Aside from a general search by city, state, or ZIP code, the magnifying glass near the ThingsWeStart logo offers the option to filter by the type of Kickstarter project. This provides a unique lens to see ventures in lesser-known categories, such as fashion, theater, publishing, design, and so on. Clicking on a project lets you view the related video and a link to see the listing on Kickstarter. … Read more

Boosted Boards is promoting its electric-powered skateboard as the world's lightest electric vehicle. The Kickstarter project packs 2.6 horsepower onto a 12-pound longboard.

The skateboard is powered by lithium batteries, giving the rider up to 6 miles of range. It takes two hours to fully recharge the batteries and manages a top speed of 20mph. Regenerative braking helps the battery along when you're riding.

The skateboard works with a handheld remote control with a throttle, brake, and battery gauge. The remote is designed to tuck a finger through so you can hang onto it even while doing ollies.… Read more

In my limited observations, it seems that size, shape, color, and fabric constantly change in the evolution of fashion pouches, but the actual usefulness of a purse stays the same: you can put in whatever you can fit in.

Everpurse, an up-and-comer on grassroots-funding site Kickstarter, seems poised to take off by raising the idea of a clutch (or purse insert) that can charge an iPhone or Android smartphone through a built-in dock and battery. Why does it seem poised? It raised over $23,000 in one day. … Read more

Polaroid cameras used to be the coolest things. You'd huddle around a little square of weird photographic paper, waiting for the image to magically appear out of nothing. You just don't get the same thrill from capturing a photo on your smartphone. Until now.

I'm at the Kickstarter page for the Impossible Instant Lab, watching the pledge numbers rise in real time. Backers are jumping in on the $149 early-bird price (regularly a $229 pledge) for a device that turns photos from an iPhone into Polaroid pictures.… Read more