6 Super Bowl tech facts you’d like to know

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Amid “deflate-gate” speculation, entertaining commercials and press coverage, the real spotlight is on the technology. 

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The stage is set for Super Bowl XLIX, and we’re just hours from Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots doing battle. Over the years, there has been a noticeable shift in the way digital technology has enhanced the professional sports world — both on and off the field. Just fire up the live Twitter feed on your smartphone, sink into your sofa, flick the remote and immerse yourself in a multi-screen experience. Not only are fans tuning in on ultra high-definition (or 4K) TV sets and staying connected with the game more than ever before, but with the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT), we’re now also seeing stadiums and sidelines become increasingly ‘smart’ coupled with sensors, embedded devices and real-time data streams.

1. Surface on the sidelines

It looks like coaches have traded in those paperback books for Atmel powered Surface Pro 3 tablets to review plays and draw up the X’s and O’s. Together, Microsoft and the NFL are collaborating to usher in a new era of technology that’s more useful for players, more manageable for teams, and more enjoyable for fans.

2. No dunkin’ in the dark this year

This will actually be the first Super Bowl to be entirely lit by LED bulbs. The University of Phoenix Stadium recently upgraded over 780 metal halide fixtures with 44,928 Cree LED lights. And while it sounds like the new setup would draw far more power, it turns out those LED fixtures need a mere 310,000 watts of power to glow, compared to the 1.24 million watts required by the metal halide bulbs. That’s 75% less power.

3. Big game calls for big data

People used a lot of data during last year’s Super Bowl at the MetLife Stadium, with data usage reaching 624GB for AT&T and 1.9TB for Verizon.  In order to keep up with demand, an intricate indoor distributed antenna system was installed that was comprised of 228 antenna locations, each with its own antenna and remote amplifier unit, connected by roughly 150,000 feet of cable. This is expected to accommodate up to 4TB of data usage.

4. Connectivity is key

The host stadium, which is also the home of the Arizona Cardinals, has rolled out a major upgrade to its wireless network that will ensure that fans attending the game can stay connected with social media, stream instant replay videos and much more on their mobile devices. In addition to the 1,200-somewhat Wi-Fi hotspots, phone recharging stations have been situated throughout the venue as well.

5. 4K all the way

NBC Sports is deploying a number of 4K cameras to capture the game, enhancing the images even for people with HD sets. The 4K images are so clear that they can be blown up many times over, which as you can imagine, makes it an ideal technology for instant replay. In addition, there will be over 46 “regular” cameras and 100 microphones in use to bring the matchup to millions of fans at home.

6. Tag, you’re it

With the help of RFID tracking devices from Zebra Technologies, both the Patriots and Seahwaks are now able to monitor real-time, location-based information of its players. During the championship, 22 sensors have been lined up along the catwalk 150 feet above the field, each tasked with obtaining data from chips on the athletes’ shoulder pads as well as in the game balls. This is then relayed to the broadcast booth and displayed in forms that fans can consume, such as infographics and replays.

What’s next?

While today’s game will have cable-mounted systems that hover over the field and follow the action as it happens, perhaps in the coming years drones will be able to capture the coverage. After all, the NFL Network has already considered the use of remote-controlled aerial vehicles to snap images of training camps and several college football teams have begun to use camera-equipped UAVs to record practices… so time will only tell.

11 smart crowdfunding campaigns you may want to back this week

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Every Friday, we’re taking a look at some of the smartest, most innovative projects that have launched on Kickstarter and Indiegogo in the last seven days. 

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EasyPlug Air

This shield enables Makers to wirelessly connect their Arduino in under a minute. inXus interactive is currently seeking $20,000 on Kickstarter.

Akolyt

This smart sensor plugs right into your car and gathers important data enhancing both safety and convenience. Drust is currently seeking €30,000 on Indiegogo.

Hive

This automation system wants to make smart home devices, security, and entertainment accessible for everyone. Hive is currently seeking $100,000 on Kickstarter.

Safeti

This personal security device is designed to keep you safe in any situation by tracking your exact location and guiding you through any emergency situation. Safeti is currently seeking $60,000 on Indiegogo.

Qmote

Access your smart devices with just a click of this water-resistant remote. Qblinks is currently seeking $20,000 on Kickstarter.

Luna

This mattress cover will make any bed smart, ranging from intelligently managing temperature to tracking your sleep, and integrate with your existing connected home devices. Luna is currently seeking $100,000 on Indiegogo.

EinScan-S

The EinScan-S aims to serve as the world’s first high-resolution desktop 3D scanner that gives Makers industrial-grade resolutions. The team is currently seeking $50,000 on Kickstarter.

Coolbox

A complete reinvention of the toolbox, this latest product packs all of the classic storage compartments a handyman would expect — along with several next-gen features. Coolbox, in partnership with Project Copilot, is currently seeking $50,000.

Wishbone

Read your baby’s temperature with the world’s smallest, easiest-to-use and smartest thermometer. Joywing is currently seeking $20,000 on Kickstarter.

Flicks

This portable boombox projector wants you to bring the party anywhere you go with big-time video and sound. Dashbon is currently seeking $50,000 on Indiegogo.

Glow

The world’s first smart headphones glow with laser light while pulsing to the beat of your music or rhythm of your heart. Glow is currently seeking $100,000 on Kickstarter.

Puppy given the ability to walk thanks to 3D printing

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3D printing lets another two-legged dog run around with his four-legged friends.

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A 3D-printed wheelchair has enabled a dachshund puppy, born without front limbs, to walk again. This heartwarming story is just the latest example of how the additive process is helping our friends from the animal kingdom get a second lease on life. Last year, we saw an adorable Chihuahua nicknamed TurboRoo roll around in his 3D-printed cart, while fellow canine Derby was given modified front legs that let the husky run for the first time.

In this case, the six-month-old dog’s owners Trevor Byers and Elissa Smoak decided to build their beloved pup a wheelchair in an effort to help Bubbles get around in a much easier manner. To do so, the couple used a “combination of carbon fiber, model airplane, and 3D printed parts with the hope that others would be able to utilize the same design for their own dogs in need of a wheelchair,” 3ders.org writes.

Byers uploaded the life-changing design to MakerBot’s Thingiverse for other pet owners in a similar situation seeking assistance. “Bubbles is the reason I bought my printer in the first place and she loves the freedom it has given her,” the Maker explains.

The design features a torso support combined with an axle and two wheels. Once again, the prosthetic creation proved to not only be a more affordable option, but is more accessible than existing wheelchairs on the market today. Additionally, a pet owner can customize the size and weight of the contraption depending on the dog’s needs.

So, whether it’s a seven-year-old boy, Stumpy the turtle, or Quack Quack the duck, 3D printing has the potential to change the lives of humans and animals alike. The latest string of projects merely scratch the surface of the technology’s wide-range of uses, and more impressively, how localized manufacturing will only require one person to create a model and for the entire world to benefit.

Doctors create a trachea using a MakerBot 3D printer

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3D printing has helped Feinstein Institute researchers create cartilage designed for tracheal repair or replacement.

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It’s not so much a question as to if 3D printing will be an integral part of medical procedures in the future, it’s more so when. And apparently, we are closer than ever before. While we’ve seen everything from 3D-printed splints to prosthetics to organs, a team of researchers at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research has made yet another medical breakthrough using a MakerBot Replicator 2X.

This time, the scientists created cartilage designed for tracheal repair or replacement. Also known as the “windpipe,” the trachea is the tube that connects the upper respiratory tract to the lungs. Never before has a regular PLA filament been used to print custom tracheal scaffolding, not to mention combined with living cells to create a tracheal segment. Traditionally speaking, there has been two traditional means of reconstructing a damaged trachea — both of which present a number of constraints. Both treatments have involved removal of the affected tracheal segment.

As a solution to the growing problem, Feinstein Institute investigator Todd Goldstein along with Dr. Daniel A. Grande of the Orthopedic Research Laboratory inquired as to whether 3D printing could be a suitable alternative.

“Three-dimensional printing and tissue engineering has the potential for creation of a custom-designed tracheal replacement prosthesis in the lab so that the affected tracheal segment can be ‘swapped out’ instead of removed,” explained Goldstein. “Our results show that three-dimensional printing can be combined with tissue engineering to effectively produce a partial tracheal replacement graft in vitro. Our data demonstrate that the cartilage cells seeded on the graft retain their biological capability and were able to proliferate at the same rate as native cells.”

Similar to earlier efforts we’ve seen around bioresorbable splints that have saved the life of infants, The Feinstein Institute’s research combined two emerging fields: 3D printing and tissue engineering. Tissue engineering is like other kinds of engineering, except instead of using steel or computer code to make things, living cells from skin, muscle or cartilage are the raw material. Already knowing how to construct cartilage from a mixture of cells called chondrocytes, nutrients to feed them and collagen, a 3D printer can craft scaffolding, which can be covered in a mixture of chondrocytes and collagen, which then grows into cartilage.

“Making a windpipe or trachea is uncharted territory,” noted Goldstein. “It has to be rigid enough to withstand coughs, sneezes and other shifts in pressure, yet flexible enough to allow the neck to move freely. With 3D printing, we were able to construct 3D-printed scaffolding that the surgeons could immediately examine and then we could work together in real time to modify the designs. MakerBot was extremely helpful and consulted on optimizing our design files so they would print better and provided advice on how to modify the MakerBot Replicator 2X Experimental 3D Printer to print with PLA and the biomaterial. We actually found designs to modify the printer on MakerBot’s Thingiverse website to print PLA with one extruder and the biomaterial with the other extruder.”

Demonstrating the cost-effectiveness and efficiency of Atmel based desktop 3D printers, The Feinstein Institute had previously sought out a number of machines that could extrude living cells; however, such devices run upwards of $180,000. This would be fine and dandy, except for the fact that the researchers hadn’t even proven the concept nor confirm it would indeed be a viable option. Luckily, the MakerBot Replicator 2X Experimental 3D Printer only set them back $2,500.

“The ability to prototype, examine, touch, feel and then redesign within minutes, within hours, allows for the creation of this type of technology,”  said Lee Smith, MD, Chief of Pediatric Otolaryngology at Cohen Children’s Medical Center. “If we had to send out these designs to a commercial printer far away and get the designs back several weeks later, we’d never be where we are today.”

Originally, the team thought that a special PLA would be required in order to maintain sterility and be dissolvable within the body. However, in light of time, they decided to try regular MakerBot PLA filament. Through testing, Goldstein found that the heat from the extruder head sterilized the PLA as it printed, so he was able to use ordinary MakerBot PLA Filament.

The process consisted of extruding bio-ink he bio-ink to fill the gaps in the PLA scaffolding, which transforms into a gel on the heated build plate. Once the bio-ink adheres to the scaffolding, it goes into a bioreactor to keep the cells warm and growing evenly.

“The research being done at the Feinstein Institute is exciting and promising,” noted Jenny Lawton, MakerBot CEO. “We are continually amazed by what is being created with 3D Printers. To know that a MakerBot Replicator 3D Printer played a role in a potential medical breakthrough is inspiring.”

The results of the study illustrate how the 3D printed windpipe or trachea segments held up for four weeks in an incubator. According to Mr. Goldstein’s abstract, “The cells survived the 3D printing process, were able to continue dividing, and produced the extracellular matrix expected of tracheal chondrocytes.” In other words, they were growing just like windpipe cartilage.

While the work still remains a proof-of-concept, the researchers still have their work ahead of them before establishing a new protocol for repairing damaged windpipes. According to Dr. Smith, at least one patient comes through the North Shore-LIJ Health System each year who can’t be helped by the two traditional methods. What’s more, he expects in the next five years to harvest a patient’s cells, grow them on a scaffolding, and repair a windpipe. This customized approach may prove to be especially useful for treating children.

“Do you remember the Six Million Dollar Man?” Dr. Grande asks. “The Bionic Man is not the future, it’s the present. We have that ability to do that now. It’s really exciting.”

The Maker Movement has used Atmel powered 3D printers, ranging from MakerBot to RepRap, for quite some time now — but it is abundantly clear that the next-gen technology is quickly entering a new and important stage. Interested in learning more? You can read all about the project on MakerBot’s official blog, as well as watch the video below.

Misfit Flash will soon control your smart home

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Goes to show, the age of connected living has arrived. 

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Back at CES 2015, wearable technology was once again smack dab in the middle of all the buzz. This time, the focus shifted towards its role in the burgeoning Internet of Things, most notably connected living. Among the notable companies leading the pack was Misfit, who revealed plans to move beyond fitness tracking with particular attention towards the smart home.

Released last year, Flash is an entry-level wearable boasting a sleek and sporty design that measures your activity and sleep and syncs with your smartphone. That same connected functionally will soon serve as remote control for in-house devices as well, ranging from the lights to the thermostat and beyond. Flash will be compatible with a wide-range of smart home platforms and services, including IFTTT, Logitech’s Harmony API, Nest thermostats, August Smart Locks, as well as Misfit’s own Bolt light bulbs. For instance, double-clicking the band’s lone button will allow wearers to start a Spotify playlist or turn on the lights, while holding it down can set the mood or a desirable temperature.

Seeing as though it only has one button, Flash’s interactions with other smart devices may be limited. Needless to say, the integration definitely demonstrates how wearable tech and the Internet of Things can work together. Hendrik Bartel, an analyst at Gartner, told the Wall Street Journal that Flash’s app and smart home controls are a testament to the progress of the so-called IoT. “Sometimes it may feel like Misfit doesn’t have much of an identity, because they make fitness and sleep trackers and smart lightbulbs. But, really, that’s how the Internet of Things is. It’s the Internet of Everything. And we’re still in the early stages of that.”

Made In Space completes first round of 3D prints on the ISS

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After four months, here are all 25 parts that have been 3D-printed in space.

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November 24th at 9:28pm GMT is a moment that Made In Space and the entire Maker community will never forget. It was the day that the crew completed the first functional 3D print outside of the Earth’s atmosphere. The historic Zero-G 3D printer arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on September 23, 2014 and was activated on November 17, a week before making the replacement plastic faceplate for the machine’s own extruder system. Now a couple of months later, the Silicon Valley startup has revealed that has indeed finished its initial round of objects ranging from a calibration coupon to a ratchet. (The ratchet actually marked the first time in history an object had ever been emailed into space as well.)

“Although there were only 14 unique objects printed, 25 parts were printed in total. Duplicates were printed in order to determine the consistency of the printer over time,” the team wrote in a recent blog post. “The part that was printed the most was the ‘calibration coupon’ for a total of five times. Like a calibration page that standard inkjet printers print out when connected for the first time, the calibration coupon was used to verify that the 3D printer was working as expected. The ‘tensile test; was printed four times and both the ‘compression test’ and the ‘flex test’ were printed three times. Everything else was printed once.”

While the delivery of the 3D printer was an accomplishment in itself, the project demonstrates the basic fundamentals of useful manufacturing in space. Generally speaking, the devices extrude streams of heated plastic, metal or other material, building layer on top of layer to create three-dimensional item. By testing a 3D printer using relatively low-temperature plastic feedstock on the ISS, NASA hopes that one day astronauts will be able to create objects on-demand, rather than having to carry them into orbit. This will allow for a reduction of spare parts and mass on a spacecraft, which can ultimately change exploration mission architectures altogether. What’s more, astronauts can print these pieces from emails and downloaded files of 3D designs.

Aside from becoming the first demonstrate of additive manufacturing in space, NASA researchers say that the project provides:

• A detailed analysis of how acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) thermoplastic resin behaves in microgravity
• A comparison between additive manufacturing in Earth’s gravity and in consistent, long-term exposure to microgravity (insufficient in parabolic flights due to “print-pause” style of printing)
• Advance the TRL of additive manufacturing processes to provide risk reduction, and capabilities, to future flight or mission development programs
• The gateway to fabricating parts on-demand in space, thus reducing the need for spare parts on the mission manifest
• A technology with the promise to provide a significant return on investment, by enabling future NASA missions that would not be feasible without the capability to manufacture parts in situ
• The first step towards evolving additive manufacturing for use in space, and on Deep Space Missions

“Based on visual inspection and crew interaction, there were no significant print failures. If you have ever used a 3D printer before you probably realize just how incredible that first sentence is, especially when you then consider the fact that this 3D printer had to first withstand the forces of a rocket launch before printing anything. The successful printing was an incredibly rewarding outcome for the NASA and Made In Space engineering teams who strived to build a robust and hassle-free printer,” the Made In Space crew writes.

As for what the future holds, Made In Space plans on launching its Additive Manufacturing Facility (AMF) later this year, which the team says will not be a science experiment like its predecessor, but rather “a commercially available printer ready for use by anyone on Earth.” The AMF will be twice the size of the demo printer, and will be equipped to handle the manufacturing of larger, more complex objects with finer precision — and with multiple aerospace grade materials. Under the agreement for use of the commercial 3D printer on the ISS, Made In Space will own the machine, and NASA will be a customer paying to use it.

The initial success of the technology demonstration and the startup’s blueprint for the coming months provide a clear path forward in bringing advanced manufacturing capabilities into space. Interested in learning more? You can read Made In Space’s entire update, while also reviewing NASA’s report here.

Report: 1 in 5 cars will be connected by 2020

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The increased consumption and creation of digital content within cars will lead to sophisticated information and entertainment systems.

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If you buy a car within the next five years, it’s likely that it will be Internet-enabled. That’s the prediction Gartner has shared, anyway. The market research firm has released its latest report that expects there to be approximately 250 million connected cars on the road by 2020, paving the way for new in-vehicle services and automated driving capabilities. In other words, one in five vehicle will boast some sort of wireless network connection.

During the next five years, the proportion of new vehicles equipped with this capability will increase dramatically, making connected cars an integral element of the rapidly-growing Internet of Things (IoT) — an area Gartner forecasts will entail 4.9 billion connected things in use this year and will reach 25 billion by 2020.

“The connected car is already a reality, and in-vehicle wireless connectivity is rapidly expanding from luxury models and premium brands, to high-volume midmarket models,” explained James F. Hines, Gartner Research Director. “The increased consumption and creation of digital content within the vehicle will drive the need for more sophisticated infotainment systems, creating opportunities for application processors, graphics accelerators, displays and human-machine interface technologies. At the same time, new concepts of mobility and vehicle usage will lead to new business models and expansion of alternatives to car ownership, especially in urban environments.”

The proliferation of vehicle connectivity will have implications across the major functional areas of telematics, automated driving, infotainment and mobility services. Driving the adoption of connected car technology is the expansion of high-bandwidth wireless network infrastructure, rising expectations for access to mobile content and better service from smartphones and tablets. While many of the major automakers have rolled out connected cars in a number of limited models, in-vehicle wireless connectivity is rapidly expanding from luxury and premium brands to high-volume mid-market versions. Take for instance, General Motors, Hyundai and Chrysler, who have each partnered with telecoms AT&T, Verizon and Sprint, respectively.

By 2018, two automakers will have announced plans to become technology companies and expand their connected-vehicle value experiences to other industries and devices, Gartner said in a report last year. And over the next five years, at least one auto company will achieve 10% of its total revenues from connected mobility and service offerings.

“The increased consumption and creation of digital content within the vehicle will drive the need for more sophisticated infotainment systems, creating opportunities for application processors, graphics accelerators, displays and human-machine interface technologies,” Hines stated.

As the amount of information being fed into in-car head unit or telematics systems grows, vehicles will be able to capture and share not only internal systems status and location data, but also changes in surroundings in real-time, Computer World writes. Ultimately, your car will become just another part of your mobile data plan.

“To facilitate that kind of shift, connected-vehicle leaders in automotive organizations need to partner with existing ecosystems like Android Auto or Apple CarPlay that can simplify access to and integration of general mobile applications into the vehicle,” Gartner Analyst Thilo Koslowski shared in last year’s report.

The Gartner report follows recent revelations from IBM, who in the company’s Automotive 2025 study found that a majority of executives believe cars will become more personalized for drivers over the next 10 years, but autonomous vehicles and self-driving cars will not yet be ubiquitous. In fact, IBM anticipates that by 2025, vehicles will be intelligent enough to configure themselves to a driver and other occupants. In other words, cars will be able to learn, heal, drive and socialize with others on the road, and their surrounding environment through vehicle-to-vehicle communication.

Without question, the demand for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) is on the rise as well. According to ABI Research analysts, the market is expected to grow from $11.1 billion last year to $91.9 billion by 2020, hitting the $200 billion mark by 2024. Fueling that growth is the expansion of the technology from high-end luxury vehicles to more affordable cars and mini automobiles. One of the most popular systems on high-end vehicles, adaptive cruise control (ACC), will continue to gain popularity across all vehicle segments, with shipments experiencing a CAGR of 69% between 2014 and 2020.

 

NASA wants helicopter drones to scout for Mars rovers

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A new drone could triple the distances that Mars rovers can drive in a Martian day and help pinpoint interesting targets for study, says NASA.

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While 3D printing in space was truly out of this world, NASA is looking to take their Maker game to an entirely new level: Mars. As you’re well aware, drones are just about everywhere these days, from Necker Island to Hollywood to the X Games. Now, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at NASA is looking to bring them to Mars in the form of what they call the “Mars Helicopter.”

Though rovers have provided a great deal of information on the history and composition of the Red Planet, the high-tech tools lack in terms of orbital imagery and are limited to the view of its on-board cameras. Instead, NASA is hoping that its aerial robot scout can fly ahead of rovers, provide operators a much more in-depth look at the Mars, and allow them to “check out various possible points of interest and helping engineers back on Earth plan the best driving route.”

In addition, researchers could also use images from the ‘copter to seek features for rovers to study in greater detail. What’s more, the planet’s harsh environment and terrain means a drone needs to be engineered to be rugged enough to endure Martian conditions while remaining light enough to fly. The vehicle is envisioned to weigh 2.2 pounds and measure 3.6 feet across from the tip of one blade to the other. So far, the vehicle is a proof-of-concept with the prototype’s body resembling that of a medium-sized cubic tissue box.

Intrigued? Learn more about the NASA lab’s latest project here.

16 tech trends Andreessen Horowitz is most excited about

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This list lets you inside the mind of Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz. 

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One of, if not the, most prominent VC groups in Silicon Valley has revealed the hottest tech trends changing the world right now. For those wondering, that firm is Andreessen Horowitz and we’re referring to no other than its “16 Things” list. The breakdown, which highlights the most investable spaces at the moment, unsurprisingly includes Internet of Things, digital health, crowdfunding, and security — a couple of areas in which we know a little something about.

“We don’t invest in themes; we invest in special founders with breakthrough ideas,” Andreessen Horowitz writes. “Which means we don’t make investments based on a pre-existing thesis about a category. That said, here are a few of the things we’ve been observing or thinking about.”

While the list — which includes several themes that were evident throughout the CES 2015 show floor — will likely change over time, it does provide a nice glimpse into the firm’s thinking at the start of this year. Just in case you don’t feel like clicking through and navigating a16z in its entirety, here’s a brief overview of those breakthrough areas.

Virtual Reality

“VR will be the ultimate input-output device. Some people call VR “the last medium” because any subsequent medium can be invented inside of VR, using software alone. Looking back, the movie and TV screens we use today will be seen as an intermediate step between the invention of electricity and the invention of VR. Kids will think it’s funny that their ancestors used to stare at glowing rectangles hoping to suspend disbelief.”

Sensorification of the Enterprise

“For enterprise, the value of the sensors is in being a shortcut for the user interface, potentially even replacing typing so we can concentrate on the easy, fun, creative things.”

Machine Learning and Big Data

“The key here is in more automated apps where big data drives what the application does, and with no user intervention.”

Full Stack Startups

“The old approach startups took was to sell or license their new technology to incumbents. The new, ‘full stack’ approach is to build a complete, end-to-end product or service that bypasses incumbents and other competitors.”

Containers

“The next step in containerization is treating the datacenter, with all its containers, like one giant computer or server. Many applications today are really just distributed systems: Applications aren’t necessarily confined to just one container.”

Digital Health

“Tomorrow? To understand your personal diagnostic data, you might soon depend more upon an iPhone app developed in a garage than on your local MD.”

Online Marketplaces

“We’re continuing to see tremendous innovation in marketplaces. The first generation of net companies saw a few big horizontal marketplace winners like eBay and Craigslist. But entrepreneurs are continuing to create the next generation of online marketplaces.”

Security

“There are two things now driving the security industry: (1) The bad guys are already inside. (2) New platforms — cloud and mobile — have arrived… Both are forcing a different set of technologies, and the creation of new kinds of companies.”

Bitcoin (and Blockchain)

“The clock has just begun on Bitcoin’s acceptance more broadly. Crash or no crash, we should expect a significant increase in the level of institutional adoption this year. Specifically, a large number of companies will put together groups focused on what Bitcoin means to them.”

Cloud-Client Computing

“Endpoints aren’t just phones; they could be wearables and other small devices and screens connected to the internet. Beyond the devices themselves, it all adds up to a massive amount of compute power. The next decade of computing will be about doing something with it.”

Crowdfunding

“Crowdfunding is going somewhere it never has — into the mainstream. That, in turn, will change all sorts of other things.”

Internet of Things

“Something often overlooked when we talk about all the shiny new connected gadgets emerging out of the Internet of Things is what happens to all the old things. I’m fascinated by the power of adding multiple sensors to old things and then connecting them to the Internet…. With the IoT we’re headed to a world where things aren’t liable to break catastrophically — or at least, we’ll have a hell of a heads up.”

Online Video

“What we do know is that online video is far from done… so it will be interesting to see what even a little competition will do here.”

Insurance

“Insurance is all about distributing risk. With dramatic advances in software and data, shouldn’t the way we buy and experience our insurance products change dramatically? Software will rewrite the entire way we buy and experience our insurance products — medical, home, auto, and life.”

DevOps

“The rise of the hyperscale cloud datacenter has now made this job much harder as developers have had to hack together tools and complex scripts for pushing code to thousands of pancake servers. This complex cloud infrastructure — coupled with the growth of the DevOps movement today — has opened up many opportunities, starting with helping developers and companies to manage the entire process … to much more.”

‘Failure‘

“The goal is not to fail fast. The goal is to succeed over the long run. They are not the same thing.”

10 smart crowdfunding campaigns you may want to back this week

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Every Friday, we’re taking a look at some of the smartest, most innovative Maker projects that have launched on Kickstarter and Indiegogo. 

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The AirBoard

This thumb-sized, Arduino-compatible board is designed to rapidly sketch IoT prototypes. The AirBoard is currently seeking $10,000 on Kickstarter.

HIRIS

The only wearable built just for you – tracking, gesture-controlled and suited for any lifestyle. HIRIS is currently seeking $80,000 on Indiegogo.

PSDR

This pocket-sized software defined radio transceiver is perfect for those heading out into the great outdoors. The Hackaday Prize finalist is currently seeking $60,000 on Kickstarter.

Pinto

This device packs all of the things you love about cloud storage and flash drives into one wearable. Pinto is currently seeking $190,000 on Indiegogo.

smrtGRIPS

The world’s first connected grips not only makes your bike smarter, but safer and more enjoyable to ride without ever needing a display. smrtGRIPS is currently seeking $50,000 on Indiegogo.

Quirkbot

Now, you can make your own hackable robots out of drinking straws. Quirkbot is currently seeking $55,000 on Kickstarter.

Oomi

This out-of-the-box solution is hoping to redefine the smart home. Oomi is currently seeking $100,000 on Indiegogo.

DISPLIO

This highly-customizable Wi-Fi display can track and notify users on everything that is important to them. DISPLIO is currently seeking $65,000 on Kickstarter.

Blynk

This platform will let Makers develop an app for their Arduino project in under five minutes. Blynk is currently seeking $10,000 on Kickstarter.

Listnr

This gadget allows you to interact with their environment by sound like never before. Listnr is currently seeking $50,000 on Kickstarter.