Kickstarter

The next superstorm could strike anytime. If you're concerned about having electricity, the MetAir Solstice packs a whopping 55,000 mAh of power.

This portable charger from QuantumSphere has power equivalent to 115 D-cell batteries under a 2 amp load.

It's being billed on a Kickstarter campaign as the world's most powerful portable device charger. … Read more

There's a certain sense of wonder and excitement that arises when keeping tabs on the latest and greatest Kickstarter and Indiegogo projects. Browsing those marketplaces, I often ask myself, "Will they stay, or will they go?"

The new Web site Outgrow.me features a visual directory of successful crowdfunded darlings, which you can browse according to availability -- such as projects available now or those still in preorder status. Any projects currently seeking money won't even show up on the site, meaning Outgrow acts as an easy way to wade through all of the noise and buy some potentially cutting-edge products ready for prime time. … Read more

LAS VEGAS--When the Luminae glass keyboard project concluded its campaign on Kickstarter in early 2012, it was pretty much just a glimmer in its creator's eye, more an idea than a product. That didn't stop it from nearly tripling its funding goal. Move ahead to CES 2013 and the Luminae from TransluSense is very much a real thing, and it's a thing of beauty.

A light pipe, infrared LEDs, and visible LEDs feed signals into the artfully curved glass. Three cameras look upward from below and see when your fingers break the light pattern. That's how it recognizes what you're doing on the glass. A smaller trackpad version will also be available.

So what's the purpose of a glass keyboard, especially one that costs $500? For starters, you'll never have to shake, toothpick, or vacuum crumbs out from under your keys ever again. Ultimately, the real answer is that it just plain looks awesome.… Read more

2012 was a banner year for Kickstarter, the crowdfunding service.

Last year, 2.2 million people pledged nearly $320 million to projects across the service. All told, 18,109 projects were successfully funded. To put that into perspective, $99.3 million was pledged via the site in 2011.

Kickstarter also shed some light on last year's power backers Nearly 571,000 people backed two more projects, but 50,000 backed 10 or more. And about 450 people backed 100 or more projects.

Kickstarter has become an online juggernaut, giving entrepreneurs, artists, and others the chance their pitch their projects … Read more

LAS VEGAS--We tech writers are constantly comparing real products to what we've seen in sci-fi movies. I'm still waiting for my Hoverboard, but at least we're inching a little closer to some "Minority Report"-style computer interfaces with the Mauz, a device that turns your iPhone into a mouse with special skills.

Mauz is like a combination of the Wii remote, the Kinect, and a desktop mouse. It involves a small device that plugs into your iPhone and an app that makes the magic happen.… Read more

Kickstarter continues to be the gamer's best friend. The latest project to blow past its goal is GameStick, a sort of Raspberry Pi meets Ouya creation that reached its $100,000 goal by day two of its crowdfunding campaign and has already ladled $70,000 more of green gravy on that figure with 27 days still to go.

GameStick is an open-source, Android-based, portable game console meant to turn any screen with an HDMI port into a gaming hub. The entire system consists of a basic handheld controller with a dongle that slides out to plug into the screen and communicate back to the controller via Bluetooth. … Read more

Want to be able to write directly on your iMac? You may soon have the right tool in hand, if the designers can generate enough cash.

Designed by the minds at Cregle, the iPen 2 is aiming to out-stylus its predecessor with a version for both the iMac and iPad. The current iPen lets you write and draw on the screen but only supports the iPad.

Cregle is trying to drum up the necessary funding for the new iPen via a Kickstarter project looking to bring in $360,000 by February 5.… Read more

I recently put together a new sound system for my living room. With a couple of chunky bookshelf speakers on tall stands, it hardly blends into the vintage expedition decor of the space. I should have held out for a Transparent Speaker.

The Transparent Speaker is a Kickstarter project that looks a bit like a cross between a sound system and a fish tank. It puts all the audio components you need in a glass case. This helps it blend into its surroundings, like an audio system version of a chameleon. … Read more

Too many great iPhone games suffer from digit interruptus: onscreen controls force your thumbs or fingers to block too much of the action. Plus, there's no tactile feedback. meaning you don't get the button-mashing goodness associated with the best console and arcade games.

Developers have proposed a variety of solutions to this problem. For example, ThinkGeek's iCade 8-Bitty gives you a Nintendo-style controller with a D-Pad and lots of buttons -- but it works with only a smattering of games. Plus it's a hassle to carry around.

The upcoming iMpulse controller is small enough to ride … Read more