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Let the solar system tell you the time of day

The Galaxy Magnetic Clock from Brando is a unique wall or table top timepiece that mimics the rotation of planets in the solar system to tell the time of day. The circular clock holds three magnetic balls which represent planets and the sun.

In the center of the clock is the sun and Earth, Venus, and Mars orbit around it by a hidden mechanism that uses magnets.

The blue Earth ball is the hour “hand”, Mars is the minute “hand”, and Venus is the second “hand”. The motorized clockworks is powered by 1 AA battery which is not included.

The Galaxy Magnetic Clock is priced at $56 and can be purchased from Brando.

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Let the solar system tell you the time of day originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on July 22, 2017 at 2:21 pm.

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#ad Xeric’s Fifth Kickstarter Proves Crowdfunded Watches Are Here to Stay


This post is sponsored by Watches.com

As retailers and marketers have gained expansive access to new markets through the internet in the past couple of decades; there has been growing distance between big brands and consumers that can result in “lost markets.”

The rise and rise social media, mobile and the struggling challenges of reaching millennials has lead to massive changes in the way consumers make purchases and interact with brands. 

To stay competitive and thrive in this new landscape, companies need to evolve the way they do business. Now more than ever, customers are longer passive observers but have become active participants, educating themselves about products and services before ever engaging with a brand. A traditional business that does not adapt will simply get left behind.

Kickstarter and social media allow businesses a return to the consumer by establishing a template for a direct relationship during every part of the process. And it does this not only by assisting businesses in jumpstarting their projects, but also in keeping an active and open line of communication through which ideas, feedback, and even criticism can be leveraged and brought back to a market where consumers could are able to vote with their money on the products that they truly want to be a part of.

A Tradition Built On Success

Xeric sees themselves as a design centric, Kickstarter first, brand. Unlike traditional swiss watch brands which design watches in silos and then market them using standard channels, Xeric turns to crowdfunding and social media to find out what their audience likes. They’ve resolved to talk directly to these consumers, find out what satisfies them (and what doesn’t).

Xeric is founded behind the team responsible for Watches.com. The family run team has seen considerable success from their followers for the crowdfunding campaigns.

The response to the Xeriscope, Xerics initial Kickstarter campaign, was positively humbling. The campaign quickly overtook its modest $40,000 goal and went on to raise $444,370 in pledges from 1,148 backers. Encouraged by their success, they began work on designing the Halograph and Soloscope. With expanded variation in limited-run designs, they once again saw that their idea of a unique, modern-but-timeless mechanical watch brought something to market that had, up until then, been hard to find in a wristwatch. 2015 and 2016 would see the Soloscope Kickstarter receive $679,310 in support from 1,623 backers, and the Halograph an incredible $885,593 in pledges from 2,409 backers.

In the course of their Kickstarter campaigns, they’ve received over $2M in backing for their designs. Clearly, what they were doing had struck a chord.

Xeric attributes a measure of this success to a three key factors:

• People just want to stand out – Xeric’s distinctive design flair and limited-edition mechanical watches were sure to be peerless in nearly any room full of people.

• Price and value are a factor for the buyers – customers want both superior artistry and high quality from their timepieces, and Xeric’s lower-than-luxury price-point was an ideal fit for this market. This notion of affordable luxury has been a driving factor for them in all of their subsequent watch designs.

• Design and aesthetic must not be lost in the presentation – Such a large part of the appeal of their watches, Xeric’s in-house photographers and videographers stopped at nothing when it came to bringing their designs to life in every intricate detail. Not only are the watches themselves beautiful; but the presentation of their watches online is near perfection.

The team also learned more about the audience they’d resonated with:

• Approximately 60% of their backers were from outside the US, indicating a wide international audience.

• The cities of Singapore, Tokyo, London, Melbourne, Sydney, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Brisbane, and Toronto were their top markets.

• Roughly two-thirds of their backers had already backed another Kickstarter campaign before backing Xeric’s.

Continued Success Through Kickstarter

Having already traveled the world to collect unique watches for their retail collection, the international nature of their consumer base was no great surprise. But that two-thirds of their support was from returning Kickstarter backers seemed to lend credence to what they had suspected all along — that Kickstarter represents entire groups of consumers who want something they simply cannot find anywhere else.

It’s something they feel so strongly about that the team is already looking forward to continuing this relationship with the Kickstarter audience through establishing a regular release of new designs – as two campaigns are being launched in 2017. Q1 saw the launch of the Evergraph Automatic Watch — A unique mechanical automatic timepiece with a design blending classic and modern. Inspired by the past, designed for the future. For Q2, Xeric launched it’s fifth and most current Kickstarted campaign, One-Handed RQ & SQ Watch Collections. Complete with two different case shapes (round or square) and multiple strap options, there are over 30 different options to choose from giving the customers the one thing they care about the most – personalization.

Xeric have become the authority in using the response from crowdfunding to drive the products that they create and introduce to the market, and their continued success coupled with innovative new designs (and campaigns) prove that crowdfunded watches are here to stay.

This post is sponsored by Watches.com

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#ad Xeric’s Fifth Kickstarter Proves Crowdfunded Watches Are Here to Stay originally appeared on on June 22, 2017 at 9:42 am.

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Juuk wants your Apple Watch to take flight with their aircraft-grade aluminum Ligero watch band


 

Ever since I purchased my Apple Watch I’ve become obsessed with watch bands for it.  Now, I don’t own that many YET, but I love to peruse all of the new and unique designs that come out. Juuk has designed a band that’s made of aircraft- grade aluminum. A watch band made out of the same material that’s used to make planes! That caught my attention. 

Juuk Design’s owner Eugene Ho thought that changing watch bands on the Apple Watch should be like changing songs on a jukebox, based on mood or preference. Hence the inspiration for the companies name Juuk (pronounced “juke”) as in jukebox.

Ligero is the third and most recent of Juuk’s Apple Watch band collection. It’s an aircraft-grade 6061 series aluminum link band that comes in eight different vibrant finishes. Each a perfect compliment to the aluminum Apple Watch Series 1 and 2.

The robust 6061 series hard anodized aluminum is not only used in aircraft, its also used in the automotive, boating and diving industries, yet it’s so lightweight that it weighs like plastic. And because Juuk uses aluminum instead of steel it allows them to more closely match the aluminum Apple Watches colors.

Juuk designed the bands so that they’re easily customizable.  They customized their own concave capsa pins and adjustment tool, which comes with every band. This makes it easy to make size adjustments right out of the box. Juuk also includes a microfiber cloth for cleaning the band and Apple Watch.

With its horizontal single-link design and beveled edges, this band has real character. Perfect for going to the gym, office, or out to dinner.

The Ligero is offered in Cosmic Grey, Silver, Ruby, Obsidian, Cobalt, Cadmium, Tyrian and Viridian. All bands are available in both 38mm which sells for $119 and 42mm which sells for $129. Juuk is also doing a real cool thing, for a limited time they’re selling a Rainbow colored Ligero band. What makes it cool is that $20 from each band sold will go to Amnesty International Hong Kong to support their efforts to combat discrimination. So not only is it an awesome looking band it also supports a good cause. The Ligero Rainbow is only available thru juukdesign.com and is priced at $159 – $169

For more information or to check out the Ligero and other Apple Watch Bands Juuk has to offer, visit them at juukdesign.com  . Bands can be purchased on their site and on Amazon.

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Juuk wants your Apple Watch to take flight with their aircraft-grade aluminum Ligero watch band originally appeared on on May 8, 2017 at 9:27 am.

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Martian mVoice PTL 02 Smartwatch review


If you think that smartwatches only come from companies that have a fruit or a green robot as their logo, then let me introduce you to Martian smartwatches. While they may not be a true smartwatch with a color touch screen and the ability to run apps, Martian watches offer a basic set of functions and some fun extras too. It’s time to take a look at the Martian mVoice PTL 02 Smartwatch and all it has to offer.

What is it?

The Martian mVoice PTL 02 is a “smart” watch disguised as a retro airman’s analog watch. It features a small OLED display that shows SMS text messages, emails, incoming calls, and other info. Other features include making and receiving calls directly through the watch, a notification LED that can be used as a flashlight, a remote camera shutter button, stopwatch, phone finder, and a leash feature that alerts if you accidentally walk away leaving your phone.

What’s in the box?

Martian mVoice PTL 02 Smartwatch
micro USB charging cable

Design and features

At first glance, the Martian mVoice PTL 02 Smartwatch does not look like your typical smartwatch. You might not even realize that this watch has smart features by just looking at it because it looks like a traditional analog watch with an anti-scratch glass crystal and a 42mm black resin case.

The Martian mVoice watch is IPX4 splash resistant and features a Miyota quartz movement, a stainless steel back cover, and a 22mm Italian leather wristband that’s thick and sturdy while remaining comfortable on your wrist.

The watch has a crown that is used to set the time (yes, the old-fashioned way) and two function buttons. The top button (the one on the right) initiates the voice control feature and the bottom (left) button cycles through info and options on the OLED display.

There’s a small noise canceling microphone next to the function buttons.

On the opposite side is a covered micro USB charging port and a directional speaker. The mVoice has two batteries. There’s one battery that powers the timekeeping function of the watch and another battery that powers the smart features. The battery for the smart features is a lithium polymer battery that is charged through the micro USB port. This battery will last for about 5 days on a charge. The battery that powers the analog watch will last for about 2 years.

 

I took the back cover off the watch to see if the analog battery was user replaceable and I’m happy to report that it is. Under a little foam cushion is a Sony SR521SW coin cell battery which are inexpensive to replace.

The watch face features a bright orange dial and hands that include a sweep second hand. Unfortunately, the hands and numbers do not glow in the dark.

There’s a status LED located directly below the 9 o’clock location on the watch dial. This LED glows red while the watch is charging and turns green when charging is complete. The LED can also double as a (weak) flashlight and a notification LED.


Along the bottom edge of the watch face is a bright 96 x 16 pixel white on black OLED display that is used to display scrolling notifications and other info.

Tip: The Martian’s watch face and hands don’t glow in the dark, but if you want to see the time in the dark, you can enable the world time feature and set it to your current location. You would typically use the world time feature to keep track of time in a different location, but it’s handy for viewing the current time in the dark when you press the bottom button.

Setup

The Martian mVoice PTL 02 watch doesn’t come with any instructions on how to set it up other than a sheet of paper that points you to visit a web page where the setup instructions can be viewed.

Setup isn’t difficult. The first step is to install the mVoice app for iOS or Android.

You will be asked to allow permissions for push notifications, microphone access, Bluetooth access, and calendar access. It then guides you through the pairing process with your mobile device which is initiated by long pressing the top button on the watch.



After the watch is paired with the phone and the app, you can customize some features like deciding which apps are allowed to show notifications on the OLED display on the face of the watch. By default, calendar, incoming calls, missed calls, low battery, and text message notifications are enabled. You can add other notifications like Gmail, and some games.

Each notification’s vibration pattern can also be customized so that you will know the type of notification before even looking at your watch.

Voice control with Alexa and others

Using the Martian mVoice PTL 02 like a miniature Amazon Echo Dot is one of the main selling points of this watch.


You don’t need to already own an Amazon Echo or Echo Dot to use this feature. You just have to link the mVoice app with your Amazon account. After you do that, you can ask Alexa questions by pressing the button in Alexa button in the mVoice app, or by holding the top button on the mVoice watch.

There are a couple things to keep in mind with this feature. First of all, you have to hold down the top button on the phone to launch Alexa. If you just press the button and let go quickly, the Siri or Google Now voice assistant will launch instead. This might be annoying, but it’s really important to have both voice control options.

Alexa voice control is useful for controlling IoT items in your home and Siri or Google Now is useful for making your phone do what you want like making calls, navigating to locations, etc.

It’s also important to know that at the time of this writing, the Alexa voice control feature is only supported in the US and UK.

If you don’t have an Amazon Echo device in your home, having Alexa on your wrist is cool. But, having to press and hold a button, listen for a beep to ask a question, and then wait for the reply takes too long for my liking. You also must have your phone within Bluetooth range of the watch for this to even work.

Taking and making calls with the Martian mVoice PTL 02 Smartwatch

Although I’d never make or take a call using this watch while in public, using it in the car while driving is like using a Bluetooth headset that’s on your wrist.

The Martian mVoice PTL-02 has four volume levels including Low (1), Medium (2), High (3) and Clear Voice (C) which is recommended for conversations. I found volume level to be pretty good, but it will depend on the noise level where ever you might be when trying to make or take a call with the watch. People on the other end of my test calls could tell that I was not talking directly through the phone itself, but they thought the audio quality was acceptable.

When a call comes in, the watch will vibrate, the LED will flash, and caller ID info will scroll across the display. To answer a call, you press the top button and to end or reject a call, you press the bottom button.

It should be obvious that the paired phone is doing all the work of receiving and placing calls. The watch is just a microphone and speaker.

Using other features

In addition to making and taking calls through the watch and seeing notifications, there are other features like a flashlight, stopwatch, remote camera shutter, find my phone, and weather features that are activated by continuously pressing the bottom button till you see the feature you like. You then press the top button to activate that feature.

The flashlight function turns on the built-in LED to shine like a flashlight. It isn’t bright enough for any real work, but it’s fine in a pinch.

The stopwatch feature shows a stopwatch in the OLED screen. Pressing the top button starts the stopwatch and pressing it a second time stops it.

The remote camera shutter feature does what you would guess it does. When activated, pressing the top button will launch a very basic camera app (it’s not the phone’s default camera app) that defaults to the front facing camera. Pressing the button a second time will snap the pic. If you hold down the top button, it will count down 3 seconds and then snap the image.

The find my phone feature will play a short tune through your phone’s speaker so you can find it.

The weather feature can be enabled through the mVoice app. It’s supposed to show the high and low temps at your location. This worked for me a few times but now it doesn’t even though it’s enabled in the app…

Other watch features include the leash feature, tap to see last notification, turn by turn navigation, and music playback control.

The leash feature will cause the watch to continuously vibrate and show a message that the phone is out of range when you put too much distance between the Martian watch and the paired phone. This is a safety feature to prevent you from accidentally leaving your phone when you leave a location.

The tap to see last notification will display the notification on the OLED display if you tap the watch face within 5 minutes of receiving the notification. If the notification was sent more than 5 minutes ago, you can press both the top and bottom button to see the last few notifications.

I wasn’t able to test the music feature because it is only available for iOS and I use Android. My test of the turn by turn feature wasn’t the correct way to test it. I plan to update this review with more info on the navigation feature in the next day or two.

What I like

I like the style of the Martian mVoice PTL 02 smartwatch because it doesn’t scream the fact that it’s a smartwatch. It just looks like a chunky retro analog watch with an easy to read large dial and numbers.

What needs improvement

I first set up the watch with an LG G6 Android smartphone and it worked flawlessly for a few weeks. But after I had to return that phone to Verizon, I then set it up on a Samsung Galaxy S8 and it’s not nearly as reliable. The watch frequently loses connection to the Galaxy S8 or vice versa. And even when it is connected, it doesn’t always show incoming text message notifications, calls, etc.

When notifications are working, the entire message is not displayed. I haven’t counted the number of characters that are displayed, but almost all my messages are truncated if they have more than a couple of words. But, the messages are preceded by the name or number where they came from so you can check your phone to read the full message when an important text is received.

I added Gmail and Words with Friends to the notification list, but have yet to see one notification come through the watch.

The voice control feature is temperamental.  You have to hold down the top button on the watch to activate Alexa. But if you hold it down too long or don’t immediately say your command, you’ll miss the listening window and will have to try again.

If you don’t hold down the button long enough, the Siri or Google voice control feature will activate instead. But that’s not a bad thing because I’ve found that Google actually works faster / better than Alexa. I did not test Siri.

Final thoughts

I hoped that the Martian mVoice PTL 02 smartwatch would make me want to wear a watch again, but I just ended up being disappointed due to connectivity issues and the reliability of some of the notifications.

The watch works great as an analog watch, but I think Martian needs to go back to school to improve its smarts.

Source: The sample for this review was provided by Martian. Please visit their site for more info and Amazon to order.

 

Product Information

Price: $215 MSRP
Manufacturer: Martian
Retailer: Amazon
Pros:
  • Analog watch with basic smartwatch features
  • Text, email and other notifications
  • Google, Siri, and Alexa voice control
  • Can make and receive calls directly through the watch
  • iOS music control
Cons:
  • Watch frequently disconnects from phone
  • Notifications stop even when watch is connected to the phone
  • Music control not available with Android

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Martian mVoice PTL 02 Smartwatch review originally appeared on on May 4, 2017 at 4:24 pm.

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Sandman 4 Port USB Charging Alarm Clock review

How many of you wake to sounds from your smartphone, charging on or near your bed? How many of you still have a clock in your bedroom for timekeeping (not for decoration)? These two questions will determine your interest in the latest gadget to cross my review desk: the Sandman Alarm Clock.

Note: Photos may be tapped or clicked for a larger image.


We all sleep, and most of us are cursed with the necessity of having to be awakened at a specific time. For this, most of us use some sort of alarm clock or alarm app. While we’re sleeping, most Gadgeteers also plug in their phone, tablet, watch, or another device for charging. The result has made for a lot of tangled confusion on and under nightstands the world over. A company called Palo Alto Innovations has developed something to tame some of this with the Sandman alarm clock. They sent one to me for testing, and I’ve done so with great enthusiasm. (Anything that includes me sleeping is met with great joy.)


The clock itself resembles any of the thousands of LED clocks you’ve seen over the years: black plastic face with large numerals and small dots nearby to indicate alarm status and AM/PM. There are buttons to allow you to change the time, set the alarm, etc., on the back. There’s also a built in backup battery in case of power outage. The Sandman, however, features a multi-level brightness adjustment on the display, which means you’ll actually have a dark room to sleep in once more. (My youngest actually puts an index card over her current clock to dim the display.)


The other secret superpower this clock brings to market is four USB charging ports across the back. No longer do you have to flail about under the bed and nightstand for that cable to plug in your device(s) at the bedside. In fact, since it’s right there on the nightstand, using a short cable or one with several tips makes lots of sense.


With these features, what’s not to like, right? Well, a few things. First, the buttons have no way to lock. So, in the middle of the night, you reach to turn the clock around and read it, and you’ve grabbed the button to change the time. Or you’ve turned off the alarm if you grab the other side. Second, setting the alarm takes a lot of twiddling to get the hang of. With only three buttons, you’d think they could have made some other location for them, or built up a collar around them to make it more difficult to change or add a lock button. And holding the snooze bar while holding one of the buttons on another plane means this is never a one-handed operation.


The sound is loud enough to wake me, but I’d like to change the sound or make it louder on those days I’m going to need some added encouragement to rise. These things should be easy enough to add for the next version, but without them, the addition of USB ports is not quite enough to make me change from my current clock.
How has what you keep on your nightstand changed in the last 10 years? How about the last 15? That question brings into sharp relief the changes brought about by cell phones, iPods, smartphones, and our move from needing clock radios to using phones to wake us. This could be an interesting social science study, actually. Let’s discuss it in the comments.

Source: The sample for this review was provided by Palo Alto Innovation. Please visit their site for more info and Amazon to order.

 

Product Information

Price: $44.99
Manufacturer: Palo Alto Innovation
Retailer: Amazon
Requirements:
  • AC outlet
Pros:
  • Variable brightness levels
  • USB port allows charging up to 4 gadgets
  • Backup battery
Cons:
  • Time and alarm status are easily changed when picking up clock
  • No control over alarm sound or volume level
  • Fiddly controls for setting alarm and time

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Sandman 4 Port USB Charging Alarm Clock review originally appeared on on March 23, 2017 at 12:23 pm.

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