Category Archives: Motion

Say Goodbye To Old Fashioned Window Cleaning

winbot

Cleaning a window can be a difficult task, especially if you have floor to ceiling windows. But, imagine you had a robot that could do it for you. Winbot works indoors and out, so no need to hire window cleaners ever again. This little guy is designed to clean glass windows and mirrors until they are streak-free and spotless, all on its own. Winboat is very easy to use: all you need to do is place the robot on the window that needs to be cleaned, it will then calculate the size of the surface and map out the optimal cleaning path. When all is done and set, just press Start. Below is the gadget in motion:

What Sparks Our Fire: A smart robot can think for itself and save us from the hassle of window cleaning.

Are you ready to trade in your old cleaning tools?

Make Anything Your Speaker

SoundVibe1Have you ever wondered what the vibrations of an object sound like? Seaval Soundvibe, a speaker system, turns anything that can vibrate into a speaker. For instance, stick the device on a guitar, fridge, dashboard, or even a beer can, and convert these objects into a speaker. How cool is that.

Screen Shot 2014-09-15 at 9.54.03 AMWith a $58 USD price tag, the gadget is easy to carry around and comes in multiple colors. All you have to do is stick one end of the device against anything you think will make a nice sound and the other end into your phone or tablet to enjoy the unique tunes that emit.

What Sparks Our fire: A handy little piece of technology that can set the mood.

What are your favorite music accessories? Could this become part of your list?

 

Did You Find My Message?

phone2

Over the past few years there have been countless messaging apps that enable users to reach out to friends over new mediums in fun and useful ways. Facebook Messenger and Snapchat are the most successful, but they aren’t even relatively fun compared to this new app.

Traces is an app where you send messages that can only be retrieved by your friends when they get to a specific location. So, when you are sending a message you pick a place where the receiver has to go within a time limit that you set in order to open it. It’s like a scavenger hunt, but with messages. Traces lets you share messages, videos, and even songs. The only downside is that the app is currently only available in the UK where it is in beta – but they are planning on bringing it to the US soon, so for now we just have to hang in there.

What Sparks our Fire: A fun new way to message our friends

Where would you place a Trace?

Drive Into the Future

navdy-1

It’s important for us to be able to interact with our phones while driving in a safe and non-disruptive manner. Apple’s CarPlay is their attempt to fully integrate the iPhone into cars to make a seamless transition. But, what about an option for those of us who aren’t in the market for a new car right now?

Navdy is here with their device, “Google Glass for your car, but without the glasses”. Navdy is mounted on your windshield and connects to your phone to provide notifications in a safe manner. The device also comes with it’s own software, providing navigation and voice and motion control capabilities. This device might not let your car drive itself, but it sure does make staying connected while driving both easier and safer. Navdy is available for preorder now at $299.

What Sparks our Fire: Innovation everywhere.

Will Navdy bring your car into the future?

 

Go Explore

screen shot 2014-07-24 at 9.26.27 am

There are countless apps out there that offer great location-based services. Yelp and the recently redesigned Foursquare are two of the best out there when you are looking for something to do nearby. But one of the giants has entered the market and is poised to take them down.

Google announced a new feature for its Google Maps app for iOS and Android that allows you to explore your area. The feature offers you suggestions on what to do based on your location, the weather, and time of day. For example, by just tapping the explore button while at my desk in the morning, it suggests the best nearby coffee shops, but when I check it before I leave work it recommends restaurants, bars, and movie theaters instead. When it’s raining out, you can be sure it won’t recommend that you go to the nearest outdoor swimming pool. If you aren’t looking for something right now, you can easily just enter the time of day that you are looking to go and explore.

What Sparks our Fire: An easy way to explore your city.

What do you think of Google tackling the nearby recommendation category with this update?