The motion-tracking Swivl smartphone dock is cool, except for the marker device that you have to carry with you always and also the hefty $179 price tag. But the folks at Satarii have just introduced a more basic version of the accessory called Swivl-it which is currently available for $129, although that marker is still needed.

In case you are new to the product, the Swivl comes equipped with sensors that track a marker you will be holding. You just have to dock your smartphone in it, grab the marker, and then start recording yourself or video chatting. When you move around in your room, the dock will automatically follow the marker horizontally or vertically. And iPhone users are able to use a marker which has a built-in microphone.

As you might have guessed by now, the new Swivl-it comes with fewer features. With this version, vertical tilting has to be done manually. And also the marker device won’t have a microphone, so you will have to make sure that you are in range of your smartphone’s mic. But you will be able to purchase a $49 microphone-packing marker later on, but then you should have just got the original Swivl.

And a price cut is important for the makers as there are other products out there like the Galileo which is coming with a lower price tag yet having cool features.

Head here if you are interested in the Swivl-it and here if you want to try your luck.

The post Swivl-it: The Cheaper Swivl Smartphone Dock appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Apple iPhone, meet the new robotic arm, Galileo. This uniqe arm is capable of tilting at a 360 degree angle with the swipe of your finger on a remote iOS device. Turning your iDevice into a video conferencing, video capturing, surveillance, and even photography tool.

Unfortunately it really isn’t clarified whether or not this system will work properly with existing camera, video, and chatting apps, but we do know an SDK is being offered to app developers. The Galileo will have an MSRP of $129.95 but on Kickstarter you can get a hold of a Galileo robotic arm for much less, in fact only a pledge of just $85.

With 28 days to go, and only 151 backers, the Kickstarter project for the Galileo has already managed to bring in $14,907 out of its $100,000 goal. So is Galileo for everyone? Probably not, but for certain niche uses like video conferencing it could certainly come in hand. Keep in mind though that the iPhone (or iPod Touch) doesn’t control Galileo without a remote device controlling the strings. The Galileo also charges your device through USB and has tripod mount system.

So what attaches to the Galileo? Either an iPhone 4 (and 4S) or a 4^th generation iPod Touch and higher. For remote control, another iOS device or simply a web browser should suffice.

[ source ]

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