Awesome Stuff: Smart Plugs

from the plug-away dept

For this week's awesome stuff post, highlighting various crowdfunding projects, we're going to look at three different smartplug projects, all of which connect to smartphones. I recognize that this concept isn't new, and you can find a few existing such products on the market already, but it's interesting to see three different smartplug offerings all hit Kickstarter at around the same time. Apparently something's in the air.

• We'll kick it off with the Zuli Smartplug which is mainly focused on how it can be used for lighting. If you plug a light into a Zuli, you get your basic energy monitoring on your phone, as well as on/off controls and dimming from your phone. It also does some location-based things, like turning on as you enter a room. The devices run $40 to $45, depending on whether the earlybird pricing is still available -- though some of the location-based info requires you to have 3 Zulis so it can triangulate where you are. So far the project has raised about $50,000 of the $150,000 it's shooting for in just a few days, with four weeks to go. It seems likely that it will hit the goal and probably jump past it by a decent amount.
• Next up is the Plugaway, which has a lot of similarities to the Zuli. It's also a smartplug that has a smartphone app to control electronics. It also monitors energy usage, lets you turn on and off lights and dim them as well. It includes some scheduling software as well, but doesn't seem to have the same location based stuff. One somewhat different feature with the Plugaway is that they're pushing the fact that their software and hardware is completely open, so others can take it and brand it as their own (they suggest interior designers, building developers or restaurant owners can customize the setup so it's "personalized"). I'm not sure how big that market is, but it's different. Perhaps more interesting is just the fact that they're hoping that developers build on it and share what they've done. So others can write apps and share them, and it can connect to outside services like the ever-popular IFTTT. These guys already hit their $50,000 Australian goal and have shot past it, and they also have about four weeks to go. The pricing on the Plugaway also seems a bit cheaper than the Zuli (especially when you take into account the slight difference between the US dollar and the Australian dollar). Also, while both have multipacks that cost a little over $100, the Plugaway comes with 5 plugs, while the Zuli only comes with 3.
• Finally, we've got the Smart Power Strip, which is pretty similar (again) to the other two, but (as you already guessed) comes in the form of a powerstrip, rather than a single plug. Feature-wise, you'll see the same basic things. See your electronics from your smartphone and be able to turn them on or off (including from remote locations, via WiFi in the power strip). Monitor your electricity usage. These guys are also looking to add other smart devices, but those don't appear to be ready yet. The design is definitely a bit more clunky and less modern and sleek than the other two, but that may be personal preference. These guys have about 70% of the $100,000 target, with a bit over a week to go. It may be close to see if they actually get across the finish line. The power strips run between $99 and $119 depending on if you get into the early bird. Considering the number of outlets, this seems on par with the two above, but without the flexibility of being able to install in multiple rooms.

That's about it for this week. Go unplug something.

Filed Under: awesome stuff, innovation, smart plugs

Stopping 23andMe Will Only Delay The Revolution Medicine Needs

from the you're-doing-it-wrong,-fda dept

Genetic testing is a powerful tool. Two years ago, with the help of my colleagues, it was this tool that helped us identify a new disease. The disease, called Ogden Syndrome, caused the death of a four-month old child named Max. But the rules and regulations for genetic testing in the US, laid down in the CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments), meant I could not share the results of the family's genetic tests with them.

Since that time, I have advocated performing all genetic testing involving humans such that results can be returned to research participants. This I believe should extend beyond research, and some private companies, like 23andMe, are helping to do just that.

For as little as US$99, people around the world can send a sample of their saliva to 23andMe to get their DNA sequenced. Their Personal Genome Service (PGS) analyses parts of a person's genome. This data is then compared with related scientific data and 23andMe's own database of hundreds of thousands of individuals to spot genetic markers, which the company claims “reports on 240 health condition and traits”.

This week, however, as I had feared, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has ordered 23andMe to stop marketing their service. In a warning letter, FDA said: “23andMe must immediately discontinue marketing the PGS until such time as it receives FDA marketing authorisation for the device.” By calling PGS “a device”, the FDA fears that people may self-medicate based on results they receive from 23andMe.

Somehow the US and UK governments find it acceptable to store massive amounts of data about their own citizens and that of the rest of the world. They are happy spending billions on such mass surveillance. But if the same people want to spend their own money to advance genomic medicine and possibly improve their own health in the process, they want to stop them.

There are many diseases that appear to occur in the presence of genetic mutations, with large effect in certain populations. A case in point is that of deltaF508 mutation in the CFTR gene, which is known to predispose people to cystic fibrosis, which causes scarring inside organs.

The expression of cystic fibrosis in each of these people is highly variable, but the presence of the mutations can certainly raise suspicion for this illness in individuals with any such symptoms. This is particularly the case when there is an already known instance of cystic fibrosis in the immediate family.

This is why carrier screening in families with diagnosed cases of such diseases is advocated. And yet, such screening is not commonly performed, even though it could decrease prevalence of affected infants.

Genetic data (or genotype) on its own is of little use. It is the correlation of how those genes manifest in people, which is their phenotype, that makes genotypes useful.

I dream of a world in which we have phenotype and genotype data on millions of individuals, so that we can really begin to better understand genotype-phenotype relationships.

Instead, we still live in the medical world described in the Pulitzer prize-winning novel Arrowsmith pubished in 1925, where doctors pretend to know far more than they actually do. The sad fact is that there is no way the FDA can evaluate and regulate each and every genetic variant in the billions of letters which make up the human genome that get variably expressed in trillions of cells in every human body.

We need to collect billions of data points for analysis by computers. The only company in major contention to do this soon is 23andMe. With FDA’s latest attempt to stop 23andMe, all it is really doing is delaying, or worse stopping, the revolution that today’s medicine desperately needs.

Gholson Lyon is an Assistant Professor in Human Genetics at the Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory. He does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations.

This article was originally published at The Conversation. Read the original article.

Filed Under: data, fda, genetic testing, genomics, innovation, medical research, research
Companies: 23andme

Awesome Stuff: Goofy Looking Scooters

from the getting-around dept

Remember the hype around the Segway before it came out? Before people even knew what it was, people talked about how they were going to "re-architect cities around it." There were all sorts of rumors about what kind of magical device it might be... and then it came out and people saw it was a kind of googy looking scooter, with funky gyroscopes to keep it upright. It didn't quite change history the way some predicted. However, apparently "goofy looking scooters" is becoming something of a market niche, and here are a few such projects currently being crowdfunded.

• First up, we've got the kubo from Lit Motors. You may recognize Lit Motors from the tremendous hype they've received over the past few years for a different vehicle, the C1 an astoundingly awesome looking half-motorcycle/half-electric vehicle that rides on two wheels but is nearly impossible to tip over. Apparently, while they're still working on bringing that to life, they've also been working on a "side project" to create a goofy looking scooter, whose main selling point is "it has a ton of cargo space." They describe it as "the pickup truck of scooters" and that's probably the best way to think of it. This one just launched a few days ago, but has already brought in about 10% of its $300,000 goal. The pricing of these scooters seems a bit steep, frankly, as it starts at $5k to get one. I may not be the target market, but even if I was a scooter rider, how often do I really need huge storage? Then again, I'm not a pickup truck driver either, so maybe I'm just not the right person for this.
• Next up, we've got the Acton M Scooter, a goofy looking electric scooter whose main selling point is that you have the choice of sitting or standing when you ride it. I hadn't realized this was a big concern for scooter riders, but having choices can be a good thing. Part of the idea is that it's also fairly compact, so you can store it pretty easily. At a $999 starting price, it'll run you 1/5 the kubo above, though you're trading the storage space for that sit/stand option. This project is seeking $55,000 and they're just a bit short, with a week and a half to go. It looks like they're close enough that they'll probably reach the target, but it might be close.
• Hey, remember, that not all scooters are powered by motors. That brings us to our final goofy looking scooter: the Bowboard, which takes your basic kickscooter and adds a... "bow" arch thing to it, to propel the scooter by pushing the bow down with your weight. It's... um... tough to describe without watching the video. As goofy as it looks to ride, I will admit it looks like quite a bit of fun too. These are starting at $299, which is certainly a bit more than your run of the mill Razor kick scooter, but obviously this is something more than that (and the pricing puts it on par with some basic electric powered scooters). Still, so far this project looks like it might have trouble hitting its goal. They need $150,000 and are only around 5% after over a week, with a little less than a month to go. Perhaps the project will get some shot of publicity, but otherwise it might be difficult to make up that gap.

That's all for this week. Next week, we promise that whatever we put in the awesome stuff will not include any description of something being "the pickup truck of x."

Filed Under: awesome stuff, scooters

Awesome Stuff: Sound And Technology

from the hear-it dept

Another week of awesome stuff crowdfunding projects. This week we've got two interesting projects that involve people hacking together cool, but very different, devices to let you do stuff with sound.

• First up, we've got the Touch Board from Bare Conductive. It's very difficult to describe just how many cool things can be done with this, so I very strongly suggest watching the video below to get just a sense of what you can do (there are lots of examples in the video). But, in short, it's an Arduino-compatible sensor board that has a bunch of features that can easily be built into a variety of different projects. Among the features: touch sensing, distance sensing, mp3 player and it works with electric paint. Seriously, just watch the video and think about all the stuff you can do with this thing: This project blew past its goal of £15,000 pretty quickly and is hovering around £75,000 with a little under two weeks to go. It would appear that people have lots of ideas for cool things you can do with such a platform.
• A few years ago we wrote about a great musician named Moldover, who came up with a creative way to get people to buy his album (and pay a lot more than album prices for it). He turned the CD jewel case into a fully functioning virtual theremin. I bought it and it's awesome (as is the album...). I actually used to bring it to conferences all the time when I was speaking about cool things that musicians were doing, but I got worried that an overeager TSA agent would take away the weird CD case with all the electronics in it (though, no one ever questioned it the times I did take it). Moldover's back and he's working on a new album and a new instrument. This time, the instrument is what he calls a "voice crusher," which basically does exactly what you'd expect something called a "voice crusher" to do -- and it fits into a cassette tape case. The video below also has the traumatic story of what inspired this latest album. With about two weeks to go, Moldover's already surpassed his $20,000 goal, but even he admits he really needs a bit more to make this all work to the level he wants. Moldover's a great musician, who's also working on really cool projects, and giving fans a real reason to buy. Check out the project and see what you think.

That's it for this week, go hack together something awesome.

Filed Under: awesome stuff, moldover, sound

Awesome Stuff Goes Dark: Dark Mail And Dark Wallet

from the sometimes-it's-good-to-be-in-the-dark dept

This week we've got two projects for our awesome stuff post that have to do with some of the topics we've been discussing lately: secure email and Bitcoin.

• Last week, we were the first to report that Ladar Levison was planning to release Lavabit's code as open source (including dark mail capabilities Levison is working on with Silent Circle) and to put up a Kickstarter campaign. That campaign is now live. It's worth pointing out that respected security guru Moxie Marlinspike wrote an interesting criticism of Lavabit, but also that Levison provided a detailed response. It appears that many people are believers. In just a few days, the campaign managed to bring in over $75,000. That's still short of the $196,608 being sought, but it seems fairly likely that he'll get there. It's interesting to see that one person has already agreed to give $10,000.
• Moving on from dark mail, we've got Dark Wallet, an interesting IndieGoGo project to create a simple and easy-to-use, but secure, Bitcoin wallet. The folks behind it are hoping to build a series of useful Bitcoin tools down the road. The IndieGogo campaign has raised a little over $30,000 towards its goal of $50,000, but as a flex funds campaign, the goal doesn't really matter. The money will go to the developers either way. Of course, they also have it set up so you can donate separately, using Bitcoin -- and have already brought in over 55 Bitcoins, which, depending on what exchange rate you use, means that's probably worth another $15,000 or so (though, that can change fairly rapidly in either direction).

That's it for this week, we'll be back next week with something a little lighter, I'm sure.

Filed Under: awesome stuff, bitcoin, dark mail, dark wallet, email
Companies: lavabit

IBM Shows How Non-Innovative It Has Become: Threatens To Sue Twitter On Eve Of IPO Over Bogus Patents

from the but-of-course dept

You may remember that right before Facebook was set to go public, Yahoo decided to threaten and then sue Facebook over some patents -- in a move that was widely mocked, especially among engineers and technologists in Silicon Valley about just how far Yahoo had sunk. Yahoo's been struggling to regain any sense of being a place where actual innovators want to work ever since. It would appear that the folks at IBM didn't get the message. They apparently waited until the eve of Twitter's IPO to try the same strategy: threatening to sue Twitter for patent infringement over three very broad patents that never should have been granted in the first place.

• 6,957,224: Efficient retrieval of uniform resource locators
• 7,072,849: Method for presenting advertising in an interactive service
• 7,099,862: Programmatic discovery of common contacts

In recent years, IBM has, at times, pretended to support real patent reform, but its actions speak louder than words. It's been acting very much like a patent troll, making efforts to block real patent reform, while using its patents as weapons against companies much more innovative than IBM. It truly is living up to the old adage about how young companies innovate, while old companies litigate. Sad legacy it's leaving.

Meanwhile, the company they're targeting, Twitter, not only has built a service that so many people find useful (when has IBM done that?), but also has made it clear that it won't be able to do what IBM is now doing, by giving anyone who gets a patent while employed by Twitter the ability to block the patent from being used as a weapon against others -- something that actually has helped attract numerous engineers to Twitter, since they want to work for innovative companies which actually innovate in technology, rather than abuse the legal system to shake down others.

Filed Under: engineers, innovation, ipo, lawsuits, patents
Companies: ibm, twitter

Awesome Stuff: Sweet Dreams

from the are-made-of-this dept

Arianna Huffington has been talking about the importance of "sleeping your way to the top" for years now, though in just doing a search to find some of her earlier speeches for that I see Huffington Post, just yesterday, ran another article on this. Of course, she means the importance of getting a good night's sleep (which is exactly what you thought, right?). For this week's awesome stuff, we've got three crowdfunding projects related to sleep and dreaming.

• First up, we've got SHADOW, the Community of Dreamers. It's an interesting project, trying to build software and a community to help people "remember and record" your dreams -- and then share that data, such that it might become useful someday. Like many people, I will often wake up from an interesting/strange/amusing/amazing/frightening dream and think that it was so vivid that I'm bound to remember it, only to have it completely fade away within a short while. The goal here is to prompt people to record their dreams the moment they wake up (the app itself is an alarm clock that gradually wakes you up, like plenty of others on the market, but then prompts you to record your dream). And, then the information is "anonymized" (which sounds easy in theory, but isn't always in practice) and added to the database with some metadata (again, making me not so sure how anonymous it really is...). Still, an interesting project, though, I'm not convinced that there's any great global linkage to be gleaned from everyone's dreams, as the creators imply. It still might make an interesting research dataset though -- though, just wait until the NSA hacks into it. One oddity of this campaign is that they had different tiers based on which phone platform -- iPhone, Android or Windows -- you use, and the one that got the most supporters will be developed and released first. iPhone has this one beat, hands down, which might be a bit of a turnoff for supporters from other platforms. Still, the campaign shot well past its $50,000 goal and is over $80,000 now. It ends tonight, so there are just a few hours left until it closes.
• Next up, we've got Luci, the lucid dreamer inducer. When I was a kid, I first read about lucid dreaming in Richard Feynman's collection of memoirish stories, Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!, in which he talks about his own experience figuring out how to realize he was in a dream and then controlling the experience. Of course, today people probably think of the movie Inception or something like that. After reading about Feynman's experience, I tried to copy what he did with no luck, and even checked a few books on "lucid dreaming" out of the library -- and still no luck. So I gave up and really stopped thinking about it altogether. But I know some people get really into it, and there are a few devices on the market that claim to be able to help, with this being another one. However, most of the other products are masks that detect REM and then flash some lights in your eyes, which you then need to realize means you're in a dream. These guys claim that Luci does more by using brainwaves, and a voice telling you you're in a dream. I have no idea how effective this actually is. The company shows its own tests, but they appear to lack basic scientific rigor (even at the most basic level). The project is already way overfunded -- already breaking $200,000 (Canadian) of the $40,000 target with a week and a half to go. That's fairly impressive for a $150 device that may not work. Apparently there are a lot of folks willing to take a chance on controlling their dreams. Somehow, that's not too surprising.
• And, finally, we've got the other semi-obsession of many people I know when it comes to discussions about sleep: polyphasic sleep (sleeping in a bunch of shorter bursts, rather than getting a full night's sleep at once). There are a bunch of apps out there to help people who want to switch to a polyphasic sleep system, but SmartSleep is working on one that looks decent, with some cool features if you really want to try out polyphasic sleep. Unlike a lot of apps I've seen that are just alarm clock/nap timers, this one really seems focused on helping out with polyphasic sleep, including helping to automatically adjust your sleep schedule if you miss a nap and providing additional information on polyphasic sleep. This project appears to have just launched yesterday, so it doesn't have much support at all yet. They're seeking $35,000, which seems a bit steep -- especially as I'm not sure how big the polyphasic sleep community really is. Still, there's lots of time so maybe it'll get there.

That's it for this week. Sweet dreams.

Filed Under: awesome stuff, dreams, lucid dreaming, polyphasic sleep, sleep, sleeping

Awesome Stuff: Making Travel Better

from the or-just-more-bizarre dept

I've been trying to travel less often these days, but I still do way too much of it. Over the past few years, though, I've become more and more obsessed with perfecting my "travel gear" so that I can do things conveniently on the go. This week's awesome stuff post covers three new crowdfunding projects that attempt (some better than others) to create products for travelers that... are quite different than what's come before. Whether or not you agree that any of these are particularly useful, they're the kinds of ideas that will certainly surprise people.

• First up is the Aero-Tray -- a foldup stand mainly for laptops to actually make it easier/more convenient to work on airplanes. I'm often my most productive on airplanes, where I can just sit and focus for hours on end, but the cramped quarters and the fear of the person in front of you pushing their seat back (ugh!) can be quite a pain. The Aero-Tray looks like a pretty cool and unique way of trying to tackle that, while also making your "workspace" on a plane more usable. Of course, it doesn't just have to be for airplanes either. I see this as a possible replacement for the current travel laptop stand that I travel with already. They're also promoting this as a way to take a nap, though that looks kind of goofy. (Disclaimer: I've already backed this project myself, even though I'm a bit nervous about the weight and size of the thing -- but the possibility of being more productive on planes is really tempting). The project was seeking $23,667 (I have no idea why they chose such an odd number), and passed that relatively quickly. It's a bit over $30,000 with less than a week to go.
• Speaking of looking goofy during naps, last year, the really wacky "ostrich pillow" which let you stick your head into a giant pillow-like... thing in order to sleep damn well anywhere you please (if you can get over the embarrassment factor) got a ridiculous amount of attention, and ended up raising about $200,000 on Kickstarter. It looks like a gag gift, but apparently it's real. Either way, the folks behind it have now created the Ostrich Pillow Light. Honestly, if there had never been an Ostrich Pillow in the first place, I think most people would think the Ostrich Pillow Light looks insanely goofy. But, when you compare the two, the new Light one looks way less goofy. Thank goodness for relative goofiness. (Disclaimer: I wouldn't want to be caught dead in one of these, no matter how comfy they might be). Once again, like last year's project, there appears to be a fair amount of demand for this offering. They had a goal of £25,000 and shot past it. As I write this, it's around £60,000, with more than two weeks to go.
• Finally, the folks at Triposo, who make travel apps for mobile phones are offering a wacky travel belt. Basically, it's a belt that has little buzzers in four equally spaced places around the belt. You program into your mobile app where it is you want to go... and as you walk around some new city, it'll buzz you to tell you which way to go -- so you don't (1) look like a lost tourist and (2) miss all the sights while staring into the little map on your phone trying to figure out where to go. Conceptually, that's kind of neat. I'm one of those people who hates looking like a tourist somewhere, and almost always tries to memorize maps before heading out, rather than have to stand around looking lost (sometimes this works... sometimes... it doesn't). Still, the idea of a belt that guides you around still seems a bit far out there for me. (Disclaimer: I actually don't have a disclaimer on this one, but since I did one on the other two items, I felt the need to say something). These guys are trying to get $10,000, and only have about $3,000 as of this writing, with about two and a half weeks to go. That's right on the edge in terms of likely hitting the goal. Wouldn't surprise me either way. Funky product, but might be a really niche market.

That's all for this week. Safe travels.

Filed Under: awesome stuff, travel

How The Legacy Entertainment Industry Poisoned The Well For The Innovation It Desperately Needs

from the these-things-come-back-to-bite-you dept

Soon after the death of SOPA, we wrote about a great post from entrepreneur Tyler Crowley (which, sadly, seems to have disappeared from the internet) discussing his reactions to some entertainment industry execs trying to "make peace" with entrepreneurs. He does a great job discussing different "islands of opportunity" for entrepreneurs, noting that certain "islands" are very welcoming for enterpreneurs and developers:

For tech folks, from the 35,000' view, there are islands of opportunity. There's Apple Island, Facebook Island, Microsoft Island, among many others and yes there's Music Biz Island. Now, we as tech folks have many friends who have sailed to Apple Island and we know that it's $99/year to doc your boat and if you build anything Apple Island will tax you at 30%. Many of our friends are partying their asses off on Apple Island while making millions (and in some recent cases billions) and that sure sounds like a nice place to build a business.

But, of course, when it comes to "music biz island" the "natives" are not particularly welcoming. Even if you think "Apple island's" rates are too high, at least they don't try to destroy your business:

Now, we also know of Music Biz Island which is where the natives start firing cannons as you approach, and if not stuck at sea, one must negotiate with the chiefs for 9 months before given permission to dock. Those who do go ashore are slowly eaten alive by the native cannibals. As a result, all the tugboats and lighthouses (investors, advisors) warn to stay far away from Music Biz Island, as nobody has ever gotten off alive. If that wasn't bad enough, while Apple and Facebook Island are built with sea walls to protect from the rising oceans, Music Biz Island is already 5 ft under and the educated locals are fleeing for Topspin Island.

I'm reminded of this as Derek Khanna calls our attention to a footnote in Paul Graham's key post that discusses "What Happens At Y Combinator." If you don't know, Y Combinator is the leading startup accelerator out there. It's the place that many entrepreneurs strive to go to build up their startups and turn them into real companies. It has helped produce and/or jumpstart Reddit, Dropbox, AirBnb, Humble Bundle and more. Basically, if you want a pulse on what the best entrepreneurs are thinking about/working on, looking to Y Combinator is a good place to start.

Yet, in Graham's discussion of what happens at Y Combinator he explicitly tells startups to never bother doing a startup that in any way will need to involve record labels:

Except for the record labels, which are effectively a rogue state with nuclear weapons. There is nothing we or anyone else can do to protect you from them, except warn you not to start startups that touch label music.

I don't know how long that's been in there, but it's absolutely true. This is the exact time when the industry needs more innovation and entrepreneurial spirit, yet anyone who's been watching the space knows that actually trying to help legacy industry players is a ridiculous minefield. Earlier this year, I wrote about Michael Carrier's great research into the chilling effects that the recording industry's efforts have had on music entrepreneurs, leading to a massive chill in innovation in the space.

And, of course, even when a company can actually get through that gantlet, and actually provide a decent service, they get attacked by artists for not solving all their problems. It's a space where basically every one of the legacy players has made one thing clear to the innovators and entrepreneurs they need the most: stay out.

Filed Under: entertainment industry, entrepreneurship, innovation, paul graham, record labels
Companies: y combinator

Awesome Stuff: Hacking Your Car

from the about-time dept

While there certainly have been improvements in car technology over the past few years, the culture of "hacking" your car still hasn't become as popular as you might expect. We've been seeing a few recent attempts to let people get access to their own car's data, which hopefully will begin to open up this market, as new apps and services let you do a lot more with your car, in part just by accessing and understanding more information. A few months back we wrote about the Automatic Link device to get useful information out of your car's dataport and into your smartphone -- and this week's awesome stuff post is about two similar crowdfunding projects that focus on making the dataport useful to car owners.

• First up is the AutoAide from Park.IT. It does the basic stuff that you'd expect -- such as telling you what the various engine warning lights are referring to, and monitoring things like the car battery's health. It also claims to improve the GPS functionality of your phone, though it's not entirely clear how necessary that really is. The key focus, though, is for parking. As its name suggests, Park.IT already has an app that helps you find parking and also avoid parking tickets. And, not surprisingly, that's built into AutoAide. If a lot of people are using AutoAide and Park.IT (maybe a big stretch), it can even alert you when someone is leaving their parking spot. They're aiming for $50,000, but so far still have less than 10% of that with less than three weeks to go. It seems unlikely that they'll hit their goal this time around. To be honest, the parking app is still the cool feature here, and you don't really need the dataport device to make that work. It almost feels like these guys might want to spend their time partnering up with other providers of dataport devices.
• Next up, we've got Fuse, which is somewhat more ambitious attempt to make use of the car's dataport. Again, it does a lot of the expected stuff, tracking your driving habits, keeping track of maintenance and expenses, but then it also tries to connect with other apps and services. One feature is the carpool feature, which automatically classifies regular trips and can associate your contacts with the people you pick up, doing things like automatically emailing them when you're getting nearby. The company also promotes that the data is stored in a personal cloud -- and, like Park.IT above, it seems like the dataport device is partly promoting the company's "main business." In this case, Fuse is a product of Kynetix, which has an open source cloudOS, which Fuse users can use to store their own data under their own control. Fuse is looking for $60,000, and
  
  Fuse and they're about 20% of the way there with still about four weeks to go. To be honest, this one struck me as way too expensive for what you get. Not only is the device itself more expensive ($139 -- or $119 if you get in on the early bird), there's also an ongoing service fee. Getting in on the Kickstarter deal only gives you a 90 day free pass on service. So it seems like this could get expensive quickly, and it doesn't even look like the app is that well developed, or has that many features. Considering many of the other devices in this market are both cheaper and have no service fees, it's a tougher sell here (for example, the Automatic Link, which is getting very good reviews is $100 with no service fees).

I see these kinds of projects as really just a sign of what's coming down the road. Both of these projects really demonstrate more the potential of what's coming, rather than a full vision of where things can be. But, it seems like it's only a matter of time until people are both more in control over their driving data, but also able to do more with it as well, and to build useful applications on top of that data.

Filed Under: awesome stuff, cars, dataports