Great things can come from humble beginnings, and crowdfunding has led to some pretty wonderful ideas coming to fruition. Here at MEGATech News we realize the importance of getting the word out about these projects, and that’s exactly what Crowdfunding Corner is all about: sharing the news about cool and exciting new campaigns. Some of these campaigns have just begun collecting pledges, while others are well on their way and some have even sailed past their goals already. All campaigns are live at the time of this writing.
The Raised Desk
Hey, remember when all those studies came out about how unhealthy it was to sit on your butt all day? And then standing desks became a really popular and health-conscience alternative to sitting desks? And then remember how we all just forget or stopped caring about it? Yeah, that doesn’t mean it stopped being unhealthy. Sitting at your desk for long periods of time, let alone all day, isn’t good for you. The problem with a standing desk is that you’ll eventually want to sit down, and the problem with hybrid desks is that they’re just too expensive.
The Raised Desk functions just as simply as its name. It’s recycled aluminum that folds up to about the size of a laptop, and the tool-free assembly takes roughly 20 seconds. Twelve different shelving slots means that you’ll probably be able to find a height that’s perfect for you. Of course, it needs a table or desk to sit on, and it’s designed for laptops, not desktops, but it’s impressive given how simple it is.
The Raised Desk is at $1,129 of its $1,740 goal with 33 days to go. The early bird specials can you get you one unit for as low as $159, almost a hundred bucks off the (oddly steep) retail price of $239. The special pricing rewards all come with a Raised Desk branded wireless keyboard, for whatever reason.
HyperDrive USB-C Hub + 7.5W Qi Wireless Charger iPhone Stand
The HyperDrive USB hub (I’m not typing that full thing out all the time) has so many different ports that I literally got overwhelmed watching the video and had to rewind it just to catch them all. Here’s what you can plug in simultaneously: micro SD card, SD card, Ethernet cable, 4K HDMI display, USB-C device, and three different USB devices. And you can do all of this while wirelessly charging your iPhone or Android phone. And you can even prop it up, so you can view your phone’s display while it’s charging. That’s a lot of stuff.
The Kickstarter campaign has already blown past its $100,000 goal by raising over half a million dollars, which isn’t that surprising considering how much praise it’s gotten from big-name outlets. The Verge suggested that it might be the “perfect desk accessory.” It’s seriously good.
The campaign still has a couple weeks to go as of the time of this writing, and there are still plenty of reward tiers to jump on, with the cheapest being $109 for one HyperDrive. The expected retail price is $159 and they estimate the product will ship in May.
PocketSprite
What is it about tiny technology that enamors us so much? It’s undoubtedly impressive to fit so much power into such small real estate, but why is it so appealing? I’m not asking because I disagree, but because I, too, can’t shake my love for powerful things that fit in the palm of my hand. The PocketSprite is the perfect example. My sausage fingers would be clumsy at best and destructive at worst, and yet here I am, considering hitting that “Back This Project” button.
They’re coming in May, there’s no question. TeamPocket asked for $20,000 on Crowd Supply and they’ve already surpassed $30,000, with a whopping 40 days to go. While the $45 early bird specials are gone, you can still nab one for $55, and as far as I can tell there’s an infinite number available at that price. There’s also a “Hacker Edition,” which lets you physically put the device together yourself so you can see all its tiny, impressive guts. And then there’s the $199 Deluxe Edition made of aerospace-grade aluminium casing with a quartz screen protector, so you can be a real fancy pants.
Kevin: The World’s First Virtual Roommate
The video above is terrifying, as not only does it tell you that 1 out of 2 people in the US and Europe will experience a burglary in their lifetime, but it also outlines all the way that traditional security methods are ineffective. According to the folks at mitipi Ltd., the biggest deterrent against thieves is your actual presence. Unfortunately, we can’t be home every second of every day, so that’s where Kevin comes in. Ostensibly a smart speaker, Kevin will use a combination of lights and sounds to make it seem like someone’s home at all times, and it can be remotely controlled with its companion app.
Though I can’t find any confirmation of this on their Kickstarter page, Kevin is clearly named for Kevin McCallister, the pint-sized protagonist of the first two HOME ALONE films (a theory that’s reinforced by the folks of mitipi doing the famous cheek-slap-scream in their promo video). In both films, Kevin fooled intruders into thinking people were present by using combinations of recordings, music, an inflatable clown, cardboard standees, and what I assume was miles of string. The virtual Kevin is much more practical, using an intelligent blend of acoustics and shadows to really make your empty home come to life.
For roughly $265USD, you can secure a Kevin, which will ship in March of 2018.
GPD WIN 2: Handheld Console for AAA Games
If you’re into mobile gaming but the PocketSprite was too small for you, maybe the GPD WIN 2 will be more to your liking. The WIN 2 is essentially a handheld gaming PC. It’s loaded with an Intel Core m3-7Y30, Intel HD Graphics 615, 6 inches H-IPS technology, 8GB or RAM, and a 128GB SSD. Not the highest of specs, but no doubt impressive for such a compact device. It’s constructed with aluminum alloy and you’ll get 6-8 hours of battery life, depending on what you’re playing. Oh, and it runs Windows 10, so you can use it as a standard laptop if you don’t care about all that gaming nonsense, but you’d be dropping a lot of money on a very small, unnecessarily powerful laptop.
How powerful? Well in the video above, Austin Evans tries out a few games, such as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Overwatch, and gets decent results. Then he plays Grand Theft Auto 5, which GPD claims the WIN 2 can run at maximum settings and maintain 38 frames-per-second, and he experiences around 20fps on normal settings. To be fair, this was a demo unit and not the finished product. Then again, the WIN 2 might just be biting off more than it can chew.
Still, the WIN 2 is definitely on the right track. Over three thousand backers putting up almost 2 million dollars (over a much smaller $100,000 goal) can’t be wrong. You can grab an early bird price of $649 (which seems steep) before hey ship in May and go for $899 (which is definitely steep).
Crowdfunding Corner Continues
So those are our MEGATech picks for February 2018! Go mobile with the GPD WIN 2, and then go even more mobile with the PocketSprite, and then keep it all safe with the Kevin. If you see something cool that you think should be featured in Crowdfunding Corner or if you have a campaign of your own that you’d like considered, email me at duartedylan@gmail.com with “CROWDFUNDING CORNER” in the subject line and I’ll be sure to check it out.
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