Wallets with an eject lever, a fidget toy from the moon, a toolbox for your pocket and more – Notable crowdfunding campaigns

This week I’m bringing you info about five Kickstarter crowdfunding campaigns that I think you might like to read about because they all look like products that I’d buy and use myself. Click through to see this week’s collection of notable crowdfunding campaigns.

Fantom Wallet – The Quick Access Slim Wallet

What is it?
The Fantom is a minimalist wallet that will be available in either aluminum or carbon fiber. It has been designed to hold standard sized plastic credit cards and will come in three versions that can hold up to 4-7, 6-10 or 8-13 cards each depending on if the cards are embossed or smooth.

The Fantom is RFID blocking and features an ultra cool eject lever on the side that lifts and fans the cards for easy viewing and retrieval.

There will even be versions with a built-in coin slot that can hold coins, keys, micro SD cards, etc.

Why do I like it?
I like the Fantom Wallet because it’s slim and it has that cool card eject feature. Some minimalist wallets that are on the market look very cool but end up being a pain in the you-know-what to use because it is too difficult to remove and reinsert cards. The Fantom does not have that problem and is very easy to use. I know because they sent me a pre-production version of the Fantom 10 to try out. It can hold 4 smooth cards and 4 embossed cards perfectly.

I’m not a huge fan of the attached money clip, but that’s because I rarely use cash these days and it adds some bulk to the wallet. It can be removed though if you have an Allen wrench.

This is one that I look forward to checking out when they have production versions of the wallet available this fall.

Where can I find more info?
With 31 days left in their campaign, The Fantom Wallet campaign has already met their funding goal of $4,504. You can pre-order a Fantom Wallet starting at $49. After the Fantom Wallet campaign ends, rewards are estimated to start shipping in October 2017. Visit their Kickstarter page for all the details.

FLATPAC: Just Pack & Unpack In A Second

What is it?
The FLATPAC is a lightweight bag that can be carried as a messenger bag, over the shoulder bag or a backpack. It features a unique zippered drawstring design with interior pockets that let you easily separate your gear.

Why do I like it?
I like the FLATPAC because you can just throw all your stuff in the center of the pad, zip it up, pull the drawstrings, and go. But if you like to be a little more organized, you can put items in the eight small pockets and very large items in the one full-sized pocket.

Where can I find more info?
With 24 days left in their campaign, The FLATPAC campaign has already met their funding goal of $4,500. You can pre-order a FLATPAC starting at $23. After the FLATPAC campaign ends, rewards are estimated to start shipping in June 2017. Visit their Kickstarter page for all the details.

MOONDROP- Fidget desk toy displaying gravity on the MOON

What is it?
The MOONDROP is a fidget toy that simulates gravity on the earth, Mars or the moon.

Why do I like it?
I like the MOONDROP because… well just look at it. Who wouldn’t like it? First of all, it looks cool, and secondly, magnets! If you are a fan of The Gadgeteer, you know that I love magnets. I also like that the MOONDROP is pocket sized, but you can add the desktop stand so you can easily display it. I would be careful leaving it on your desk at work though as someone is bound to “borrow” it forever.

The MOONDROP is made of Aerospace grade Aluminium and comes with a slider that is made of the same material or of copper depending on the model you choose. Inside the MOONDROP are neodymium magnets which interact with slider to create the gravity-defying effect.

Where can I find more info?
With 28 days left in their campaign, The MOONDROP campaign has already met their funding goal of $6,141. You can pre-order a MOONDROP starting at $24. After the MOONDROP campaign ends, rewards are estimated to start shipping in June 2017. Visit their Kickstarter page for all the details.

Bit Bar : The Pocket Friendly EDC Screwdriver

What is it?
The Bit Bar is a small screwdriver and hex bit holder made of fiberglass reinforced nylon or Grade 5 Titanium that’s pocket-friendly and TSA compliant. The Bit Bar looks like a 1/4 hex bit holder that can hold up to 8 standard bits (8 black oxide bits are included), but it also turns into a full-length grip.

Why do I like it?
I like the Bit Bar because it has a clip and the perfect shape for easy pocket carry, gear bag carry or glove box storage. The Bit Bar also comes with a leather case and a 60mm extension that lets you get into tighter spaces.

Big Idea Design knows there stuff. I’ve reviewed two of their pens including my current daily favorite the Big Idea Design Ti Arto pen. I have no problem recommending their campaigns because I know they deliver exactly what they promise.

Where can I find more info?
With 47 days left in their campaign, The Bit Bar campaign has already met their funding goal of $10,000. You can pre-order a Bit Bar starting at $55. After the Bit Bar campaign ends, rewards are estimated to start shipping in August 2017. Visit their Kickstarter page for all the details.

Delphin: World’s Smallest Underwater Wearable

What is it?
The Delphin is a small waterproof Android device that has Bluetooth, WiFi, Spotify, Pandora, Audible, Netflix, Google Music and other apps. It also has external buttons for navigating playlists.

Why do I like it?
I like the Delphin because it reminds me of Apple’s iPod Nano – the gen 6 model. Of course, the Delphin is infinitely more powerful than the nano. It’s basically an Android smartwatch without the watch band. But the Delphin is waterproof (use up to 10 feet underwater) and has been designed for swimmers. It will even come with waterproof headphones.

Where can I find more info?
With 28 days left in their campaign, The Delphin campaign still has a climb to make before reaching their funding goal of $50,000. You can pre-order a Delphin starting at $180. After the Delphin campaign ends, rewards are estimated to start shipping in August 2017. Visit their Kickstarter page for all the details.

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Wallets with an eject lever, a fidget toy from the moon, a toolbox for your pocket and more – Notable crowdfunding campaigns originally appeared on on March 2, 2017 at 7:20 am.

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Reverb lets Amazon’s Alexa live inside your Mac, iOS and Android devices

Now you can use Amazon’s Alexa virtually anywhere you want using Reverb, the new free app from Rain Labs. The app connects to Amazon Echo services and allows you to use Alexa through your Mac, desktop, IOS and Android phones or tablets. And you don’t need to be connected to wifi to use it.

When you open the app on your chosen device you’re prompted to sign into your Amazon account. Now you’re ready to use Alexa. The familiar blue Alexa ring appears on the screen, you activate Alexa by clicking the ring with your mouse or holding your finger on it and giving a command. It’s that easy. You can also access Reverb directly from your favorite browser. 

The new version of the Reverb app uses Alexa v2, which gives you access to news flashes, timers, weather, alarms and more. It also enables Smart Home Skills so you can control your Alexa compatible smart devices. Unfortunately, the one key feature you can’t access is playing music, due to Amazon’s restrictions placed on using their music service on apps.

Reverb even allows you to use your installed Alexa skills. So you can say “Alexa play ocean sounds”, “Alexa play Jeopardy ” or my personal favorite “Alexa order a pizza from Dominos”.

Possibly the best thing about having the app on your phone, tablet or computer is you won’t have to buy multiple Echo devices for each room in your home or office – And it’s FREE.

Reverb, from Rain Labs is available for download now for Mac at the Mac App Store, for iPhone and iPad at the iOS App Store, and for Android at the Google Play Store.

Filed in categories: Android, iOS, News

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Reverb lets Amazon’s Alexa live inside your Mac, iOS and Android devices originally appeared on on March 1, 2017 at 11:37 am.

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Dress your Apple Pencil in leather

Brian Holmes over at Pad&Quill says that their all-new Leather Apple Pencil Grip solves every problem you never knew you had with your Apple Pencil. Made from the same full-grain American leather that P&Q uses in their other bags, the two piece Leather Apple Pencil grip is hand-sewn using a baseball-style stitching technique and has an attached lightning charger cap holder and a stainless steel pocket clip. The leather grip is available in three colors, is priced at $49.95, and is backed by a 10-year warranty. It starts shipping in April and you can check it out now at padandquill.com.

Filed in categories: Cases and Covers, iOS, News

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Dress your Apple Pencil in leather originally appeared on on March 1, 2017 at 7:30 am.

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Amazon gives the world over one million reasons to smile

Three things I love – Amazon, smiling and shopping!  (:  If you love to shop and you have an account at Amazon, you can do some good while you shop by helping to support a charitable organization of your choice.  It’s absolutely free to you.  The most difficult part will be deciding which of the almost 1 million 501(c)(3) charities you’d like to support.  You just need to visit smile.amazon.com, pick a charity, and make sure you are at the AmazonSmile page each time you buy so that $0.5 of your eligible purchases goes to your charity.  You are free to switch your charity each time you purchase if you’d like so you can spread the wealth around a little bit.  Every time you log in to shop, you will see your impact on the Amazon homepage which makes you feel good about being the informed consumer that you are!  That oughta make you smile.  For more information visit AmazonSmile.  (If you’re having trouble picking a group to support, there is a cat and dog foster care network called Up-Cycled Pets you could choose which is the one I support.)

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Amazon gives the world over one million reasons to smile originally appeared on on February 27, 2017 at 6:24 am.

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Become a doodling wizard with these How to Draw Cool Stuff books

If you’ve ever wanted to learn to draw but thought you had no talent, you can forget about that. You don’t need talent, you just need to exercise your drawing muscles and these books from Library Tales Publishing by art teacher and professional artist Catherine V. Holmes will help you do just that. There are three How to Draw Cool Stuff books which include Holidays Seasons and Events, Shading Texture Pattern Optical Illusions, and A Drawing Guide for Teachers and Students. Each softbound book includes easy step by step instructions like you see in the image above, that will walk you through roughing out the object’s shape, adding details and then shading the final product.

Catherine makes drawing fun and easy. You’ll learn to draw buildings, basic anime characters, animals, and pretty much anything else you can think of. With the tutorials included in her books, you’ll learn skills that you can use to create your own original artwork.

The books are priced at $18.99 – $19.99. Find out more at howtodrawcoolstuff.com and purchase Catherine’s books on Amazon.

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Become a doodling wizard with these How to Draw Cool Stuff books originally appeared on on February 26, 2017 at 5:51 pm.

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