Have 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.
With 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?
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Sometimes you find yourself in need of a little help. And when your network of friends who are skilled enough and willing to lend a hand runs out, you need another resource on where to turn. Fiverr has raised around $30 million for their website that can simply lend a hand when you need it.
Fiverr allows you to hire someone to help you with a specific service, starting at just $5. Need someone to design your business a logo? Record a jingle for you? Or review your resume for you? All of these services can be found on Fiverr. If you choose to pay more than just $5 you can get even more extensive services.
We aren’t suggesting you rely on Fiverr for every service you need. But, it’s great to know that for just five bucks, you could easily find someone to lend a hand.
What Sparks our Fire: Seeing new services that can ultimately help with anything
What would you use Fiverr for?
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We so heavily rely on our cell phones that it has become impossible to live without them, and signal outages can cause major issues. For example, during Hurricane Sandy, many family members were unable to contact with their loved ones to let them know they were safe because of downed cell towers. Or sometimes, although less serious, it’s SO important for you to get that video of Jay Z and Beyonce to all of your friends from their crowded concert.
goTenna is an awesome device that allows you to send text messages without Wi-Fi or cell service. The device can connect to your cell phone via bluetooth, and by using the associated app, allows you to send a text from anywhere. So now, when you go to text your friends while at a crowded venue, you won’t have any problems. It also allows you to easily share your location in the event of an emergency, and has a “Shout” feature that allows you to contact anyone within range.
If you preorder now, it is available for $149.99, which is 50% off. Check it out, and never have issues getting out a message again.
What Sparks our Fire: Being able to text anyone, from anywhere, no matter what.
Will you buy a goTenna?
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Okay, so maybe this only applies to those attending Lollapalooza this summer. It isn’t officially time to rid ourselves of those green bills just yet. But, that does seem like a reality we are getting even closer to.
It was just announced that attendees of the three day music festival will be given wristbands to replace their wallets. Festival attendees will log their credit card information into a system and receive a bracelet using near-field connectivity technology allowing them to touch their wrist to the screen, enter a pin number and make a payment at all vendors. The wristband also function as the entry ticket for attendees so there is no way around not having one.
This is a great move forward for mobile payment systems. Not only does it make it easier for concert goers not to have to worry about carrying cash and credit cards around with them, but it’s a great sign for the future uses of devices like smartwatches. We could be approaching a time where something like a wristband will completely replace the credit card and leave cash even further behind in the dust.
What Sparks our Fire: Seeing an organization take advantage of new technologies and paving the way for innovative payment gateways at music festivals.
Where do you see the future of payments going?
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We love music. At Canopy we are constantly searching for new and different ways to access it. Streaming services, such as Spotify and Pandora, have become increasingly more popular. But, when it comes to curating personalized playlists and sharing our music, there are some limitations.
Bop.fm, which is still in beta, is an awesome service that streamlines the process of sharing songs and playlists. Instead of signing up for each service individually, you can use Bop.fm to play music from Spotify, Beats Music, Rdio, Soundcloud and/or YouTube. Playlists can be shared through social media, and unlike other streaming services, these playlists can be enjoyed by anyone, with or without an account. The playlists are embedded into Twitter and can be played without leaving your feed.
We’re excited to announce we’ll be sharing our office playlists on social media starting this Friday, be sure to check them out!
What Sparks our Fire: An easy way to share music with our dedicated followers.
Will you share your playlists using Bop.fm?
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Next up at CES and in your smart house: blast your music with a simple tap. It’s an elegant little dial on the wall, kind of like the Nest thermostat we reviewed a while back. It’s linked with almost anything you want it to be, such as your Spotify and Apple accounts, and they call it the Bang & Olufsen BeoSound Essence.
You might be thinking “All that is great, but what’s the big deal?” Well, the big deal is this little circle doodad links via low-energy RF to the central control box which in turn links to your music source using a wi-fi connection. The whole setup is attached to speakers via proprietary Bang & Olufsen RJ-45 jacks (limiting you to only Bang & Olufsen speakers, but if you’re already dropping the $995 for the Essence, you’ll probably have the liquid assets to back that up).
The Essence uses your phone as a source, but the objective is to have you pull out your phone less and less, turning on the music the same way you’d turn on a light.
What Sparks Our Fire: Another smart elegant, kind of prohibitively expensive product from CES, but it’s a sign of where technology is headed.
Do you think listening to music needs this kind of upgrade?
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I feel like I missed out, because I never got to give my best girl a mixtape of all the Norah Jones and Counting Crows songs I felt described our relationship. Instead, we’d listen to an iPod with one earbud each, which of course is adorable, thank you, but somehow doesn’t seem to measure up.
Milktape captures the essence of giving someone music you enjoy in the modern age, in a way emailing a playlist just doesn’t. It’s just a cassette-shaped USB drive, but has the sort of retro charm vinyl records and handlebar mustaches evoke.
What sets it apart from other USB drives is that it’s customizable and rewrite-able, so it can be both a keepsake and a shareable device, in the same way the original tape cassettes were.
What Sparks Our Fire: Revisiting old-style technology in a new-world way.
Would you give a Milktape to your significant other?
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However, right now we’re not going to discuss the music, or the concept of a “visual album” or how Beyonce’s hair is “OMG SO PERF. I JUST WANT TO BE HER. UGH.” as 23,000 twitter users have posted in the last twelve hours. No, we’re going to discuss the ramifications of how a product can become a resounding success with literally no lead-up or advertising.
In this instance, we are referring to Beyonce as a brand, in addition to an individual. With a single post on Facebook, this brand flexed social media muscles that most can only dream of. They don’t need to dedicate any money to advertising this album because the rest of the world is doing it for her. Without any critical review or coming attractions, the album has been labeled as “good” and “worth sharing” by default. This is because, as a brand, Beyonce has released quality, popular bodies of work. As well, Beyonce has cultivated a likeable, personable offstage personality, accentuated by her marriage to rap star Jay-Z and birth of her daughter Blue Ivy. In addition, she has remained in the public eye over the last decade, from her time in Destiny’s Child, to her solo career, up until her recent “photobomb”.
Incidentally, not a photobomb, rather a request, but you get the point. Beyonce is well-liked, highly followable, and is a strong thought leader, which allows her the social clout and discussability to create a media storm without the need for advertising or singles or anything else that goes along with normal music releases. This is power on an extraordinary level, and we who advertise are extraordinarily jealous.
What Sparks Our Fire: The biggest positive media firestorm in recent history, caused by a quality brand suddenly releasing what is sure to be a critically acclaimed revolutionary product. It’s what we like to see in brand management.
Why do you think Beyonce has this sort of power?
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In just four and a half minutes, 17 year old Sungha Jung turns hard rock classic “Sweet Child o’ Mine” into a beautiful, melodic, acoustic guitar journey. The technique he uses, known as fingerstyle, is notoriously difficult and takes years to master. Sungha Jung is nothing short of a prodigy who, along with his prodigious technical ability, also has an incredible artistic sense, keeping the overall structure of the song while adding his own artistic spin to the creation, achieving an almost perfect balance between Guns n’ Roses and his own musical voice.
What Sparks Our Fire: In a world of overproduced pop songs, there are still virtuosos who can inspire us.
Do you find yourself inspired by extraordinary people like Sungha Jung?
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