The Misfit Shine looks like a smoothed-out river rock and it’s about the size of a quarter. It’s designed to track your activity over the course of the day, making sure that you’re being active enough. You can wear it with the wristband, a clasp or a brooch. The Shine is made from strong aluminum and should be able to withstand daily abuse, including being waterproof.

The cool thing is that if you just tap on the Shine, it’ll display your progress by lighting up a series of LEDs. What’s more, it syncs with your iPhone without using any cables or wires. Just put the Shine on your iPhone with the app running and it does the rest. You don’t even need to pair it. I’m not at all sure how that works, but that’s awfully cool. The battery lasts about six months.

The Indiegogo campaign had a funding goal of $100,000, but as of this writing, they’ve already well exceeded $350,000 in support with nearly a whole month to go. You can secure your own with a minimum contribution of $79 with delivery expected for March 2013.

The post Video: Misfit Shine Wireless Activity Tracker appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

The KOULE, at least in prototype form, looks a lot like a high-tech hamster ball. Inside that plastic sphere are a number of gadgets and gizmos, including lights, sounds, and touch sensors, as well as the ability for autonomous movement. The KOULE has been pre-loaded with a series of games that can help with child development, including active play, learning through play, and encouraging group play. For those with autism, the KOULE is specifically designed to help here as well thanks to its autism-specific applications.

In the video below, President & CEO of Que Innovations Dr. Tamie Salter explains several of the key features of KOULE, like how you can load your own applications and how the KOULE can adapt and grow with your child.

Head over to the Indiegogo page (it’s like Kickstarter) for more information and to contribute to the funding campaign. They’re looking for $200,000 by December 25. A minimum contribution of $499 will get you a special first edition KOULE with estimated delivery by December 2013.

The post Video: KOULE Smart Ball with Autism-Specific Applications appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

While devices like the TransPhone and PadFone 2 attempt to simplify our lives by creating a smartphone that can transform into a tablet with a special dock, why stop there? A new Indiegogo project is dreaming far beyond this, transforming instead into a full desktop all-in-one, a laptop, a tablet and – of course – an ordinary smartphone.

The NexPhone uses essentially is an Android smartphone and tablet, but it becomes much more when combined with the NexLaptop or NexMonitor. Using these larger displays, it activates Ubuntu for Android and becomes a full-screen PC running the Ubuntu OS.

While this is an interesting idea, I’m not sure how practical it really is. According to the estimates for NexPhone products – if and when they get beyond the concept stage – the following prices will be in place:

• NexPhone & NexDock will cost $499
• NexTablet Dock will cost $149
• NexLaptop Dock will cost $199
• NexMonitor Dock with keyboard & trackpad will cost $199

The total investment of $1046 might be cheaper than buying all these devices separately, but keep in mind that the PC and laptop you get with this solution will run an ARM processor and we have no idea how quick it will be. Many modern desktops have 6-8GB of RAM packed in and dual/quad processors. Something tells me that this doesn’t.

Nonetheless, I like the idea and think this is worth at least looking out for. What do you think?

[ source ]

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A new product by a start-up business on Indigogo is reshaping the way cases interact with our smart phones. This case isn’t just about protecting your iPhone; it’s also about turning it into something that makes the extra thickness do more than just add an extra layer of padding.

“This iPhone case is the type that gets handed to James Bond by Q before he heads out on a mission.” Says a writer for Inqmind, and with its plethora of features, he might just be right.

The designers have clearly tried to make the case fit hand-in-hand with the functionality of the iPhone, creating something that compliments its simplicity, instead of hiding it in a layer of well-manufactured plastic.

The case, which has been dubbed The Ready Case will come with 6 handy features making you all the more ready for action with your new iPhone 5.

Headphone Clip

The headphone clip helps to keep everything nice and tidy, so that when you’re out for a walk going for a jog, you can wrap any excess wire around the clip and you’re good to go.

USB Drive

The USB drive fits straight into the case itself, making it part of the plastic infrastructure. But when you need to quickly transfer files between a non-portable drive and something you can keep with you on the move, this adds a small and lightweight alternative to traditional USB drives. The best thing is that unless your lose your iPhone 5, you won’t lose the USB drive. You’re not going to lose your iPhone 5, are you?

Kickstand

If that’s not cool enough, pop the USB out, and attach it to the Ready Case to use as a kickstand, useful for keeping your phone upright. You can attach it to either the landscape or portrait kickstand ‘ports’ which can be adjusted to change the angle of the device.

Lens Ring

The lens ring gives you the opportunity to take photography on the iPhone 5 even further. You can add a variety of lens to change the viewing image of your iPhones camera, letting you take photos in a new perspective.

Multi-Tool

If this doesn’t sound useful enough already, the Ready Case also has a detachable multi-tool, making this iPhone case the gadget geek’s Swiss army knife. The multi tool includes a standard knife, serrated knife, a flathead screwdriver and a bottle opener.

The multi-tool comes in either black or silver and you’ll have a choice between an 8GB and 16GB USB drive.

Watch the video below and check out the project on Indigogo, this would be a great fit for James Bond or Mac Gyver.

The post The James Bond 007 iPhone 5 Case appeared first on Mobile Magazine.