BioLite CampStove Provides USB Power While Cooking

It is that time of year where you might be thinking about vacation time. For some, the idea of getting away to the back country is the primary place for vacation and roughing it. Getting into the mountains or to the lake where there is no electricity and lights is the desire for many. But the fact remains that we desire to continue to stay connected even in remote locations. But, carrying extra batteries to keep your smart phone or tablet charged up is not exactly what you want to do. The BioLite CampStove might be the perfect answer for your next trip to the wilderness.

The BioLite CampStove is small enough to carry with you to provide a camp stove powered by small twigs to cook your food. The silver cylinder has a fan running in the bottom to quickly get the fire going and keep it hot. That may require you to add more branches while you are cooking. And it has the strange orange attachment which captures energy from the heat while you are cooking with the BioLite. The orange attachment is where the heat from the fire is converted into energy which can then charge up your smart phone. The How It Works shows all the technical pieces associated with the process.

But, basically, the BioLite CampStove technology has 2 purposes. One is the ability to charge up your smart phone and the other is to power the fan that is running at the bottom of the fire. And that fan takes the priority. So while charging your smart phone, you need to make sure that you have a decent fire going. Otherwise, the fan will take the priority and you will not be charging your phone. That is a minor issue, but for some it may be a big problem.

The BioLite CampStove weighs in at 33 oz. and the size of it is 8.25 inches tall and 5 inches wide. It should fit in nicely for those weekend trips that some like to take. And you do not have to bring any fuel along as you are using twigs and small branches for fuel. With the BioLite CampStove, you can leave your solar charges and extra batteries at home and lighten your load. One of the key things to have is the ability to charge up a smart phone when you are out camping. That is the one thing you must have in an emergency and you must have the ability to charge it up. The BioLite CampStove gives you that ability to add to the charge and gives you peace of mind knowing that. And you can use it to cook on.

DragonFly Drone: BionicOpter Controlled By Your Phone

Drones have become of great interest this year and that does not look like it is going to slow down any time soon. That is because they are growing smaller and a drone will be affordable for just about everyone. The ones on the market right now are much smaller than the drone we think of which the military uses. But, if you look at the consumer drone of today, there are even smaller ones making there way to market this year.

The DragonFly Drone, BionicOpter from Festo, is the kind of product which will be showing up for sale and will be one that everyone wants to have. This drone is only 17.3 inches long and has a wing span of just under 25 inches. Pretty impressive based on how well it flies and it weighs about 6 ounces. The video below shows you just what it can do. And best of all, you can control this with your smart phone. If you do not have a smart phone to use for this, there will be a wireless controller available.

With the 4 wings, the BionicOpter drone can easily hover and move about in any direction including backwards with ease. All of the details on this drone are available from the company in a PDF which is located in Germany. All of this is building on the previous flying drone from the company which is called SmartBird which demonstrated they could have realistic flight for a bird. This was shown at TEDGlobal in July 2011.

While there has been no announcements yet about when they might release this drone to the public, it may be that a much smaller model could become available to the public. That would reduce the costs and make this one more affordable. Exactly when that might be is an unknown, but with the successful presentations this month, it is only a matter of time before other companies jump in with cheaper models and attempt to grab the market. We would assume that some form of the BionicOpter drone will be coming to market this year.

YikeBike - Ultra Compact Fold Up Electric Bicycle

If you are considering an electric bike for transportation, you might want to take a look at the YikeBike. While this may look like the strangest electric bike that you have ever seen, it is also one of those which is using some very interesting techniques to go along with it. While it has the expected 2 wheels, you do not see any pedals on it as you do with the majority of electric bikes. That is because they did not start with a bicycle as the starting point for creating this. And looking at the YikeBike, it is not like anything else you have seen in electric transportation. And it sure does look awkward to ride on.

But, as the video below shows, it is one of those things that you can adjust to very easily. And just like the Segway, once you quickly master the balancing act, you are ready to go and travel as far as the battery will take you. Which for the YikeBike is not very far. The lowest model (Fusion) will take you about 6 miles, which for people leaving in San Francisco will be able to take you to work in the downtown area without any problems. You can then charge it up for the trip home. And since the bike folds up to be a very small package (about 30 pounds for the heaviest model), you can take it into work with you. Check out the folding video.



Since the batteries are easy to get to, you can bring additional batteries with you to extend the range that the YikeBike can travel. And with traveling speeds well over 10 mph, you can move along at a good clip towards your destination. And unlike a regular bike, the YikeBike comes with included lights on it so people can see you.

As with any product, there is always going to be something which is a problem. With the YikeBike, it is the fact that it is not based on a bicycle. If the battery runs down, there are no pedals to power you on to your destination. You would have to fold up the YikeBike and find another method of transportation. The other problem that we see is the price for the YikeBike. With 3 different models, the prices range from $2305 (Fusion) up to $4040 (Carbon) at the YikeBike America web site. This is a very different product and worth a look.

Cycle Atom - Pedal Power To Charge Up Your SmartPhone

KickStarter Friday - Battery charger powered by your bike

Here in California, riding your bike for exercise and pleasure is a big deal. There are bike lanes clearly marked in numerous cities to provide for the ability to ride to work and spare the air from driving your car. And that is an important part of taking care of the planet. Now, we need to figure out a way to use that pedal power while riding to do something else very important. Like charge up a battery or even charge up your smart phone while your ride. Now, that would be a really great product to have. And as a matter of fact, we have found one which is coming soon.

This week's KickStarter project is the Siva Cycle Atom which can provide you with both a battery charger and charge your phone at the same time. With 27 days remaining, it looks like they are going to exceed the goal of $85,000 with the current pledges at over $64,000. The idea is a great one. Place a charger on your bike attached to the rear wheel so that it cannot be stolen unless they are able to steal your rear wheel and include a small battery to be charged up.

While you ride your bike, you generate kinetic energy which the Cycle Atom converts into electricity. That can be use to power the battery so that you have something to charge up your smartphone at work. The battery is easily detached to take with you. Or you can attach a USB cable to the battery that is being charged and then connect it to your smart phone and charge your phone while you are riding. The Cycle Atom seems to be an answer for the problems with battery life on our smart phones while you are riding.

Being able to charge up USB devices while you are riding is a big deal. Many cyclists go out for all day rides and this would insure that they have the use of their smart phone and do not have to worry about a low battery. For avid cyclist, weight and balance are a big concern. The Cycle Atom only weighs 10 ounces and measures 7.5 inches by 3 inches so it will not be in the way. And with the 1300 mAh battery, you will have what you need when away from your bike to get enough power to your smart phone for use. Multiple purposes for a really great idea.

If you pre-order the Siva Cycle Atom, it will cost you $95 as part of the KickStarter promotion. When it comes to market, the price will be $105. For what the Cycle Atom is delivering, this seems like a really great deal on a product that is powered by pedal power while you ride.

Double Robotics Lets You Be There From A Distance

The idea of having robots in our every day lives is starting to become reality. Some of them are like toys which can be played with in games at work. But, the robots are now becoming far more sophisticated in their design and applications. Many of us have the ability to work from home which does create some problems when it comes to meetings and seeing everything which is going on. There is a growing number of products which can make it seem as though we are there attending the meeting. Some are fixed in place and can turn to show those in the meeting. The real value can come from being able to move about at will to go to other locations in the office when you are still at home.

Another robotic company is bringing Double Robotics to market and is one of those items that you should pay close attention to. This provides you with the ability to be in the office without actually being there. Robots are the future and this provides you with one that has an iPad attached to the top of it. While this does not come with an iPad which you have to supply, it does come with the motorized unit which is controlled through the iPad. It has two wheels to move about and even a kickstand to hold it up when not moving. Reminds me of the Segway. With the Double Robotics which you control remotely, it can be navigated throughout a building as long as there is a level surface.

You "drive" yourself to a meeting and once there, you can move the robot around to see things and people in the meeting. You can even adjust the height of the iPad on the top which is a plus. With the live streaming of video and voice between you and the location of the Double Robotics, you are an active participant. And, with you own iPad, you can connect to other Double Robotics and move them around as though you are actually there. All of this is made possible by connections over the web and the connected iPad controlling the Double Robotics.

We previously talked about the VGo Robots which are being used in hospitals and schools, but comes with a much higher price tag. With anything new, the prices tend to come down as others enter the market. The VGo starts at just under $6,000, making the Double Robotics seem like a bargain.

The Double Robotics is currently on pre-order for $1,999 as part of the second production run. The regular price is $2,500. While it may seem expensive, you only have to consider the costs of commuting to work for a few months to see the value that this provides. Robots are coming and this one is part of the growing movement.

FireFox Phones Moving Closer To Release Date

Firefox OS phones broke onto the scene in February and they create a splash with the announcement they would be selling sometime this year. Given the powerhouse phones from Apple and Samsung, they will be facing an uphill battle to gain market share. There are so many brands out in the market and some, such as Blackberry having been struggling lately. But, a Firefox OS phone could just make the difference in taking advantage of a powerful name. As web based smart phone, it present something far different than anything we have seen before. Gone will be the very complex coding for apps on a smart phones. If you can code a web site, you can write an app for the coming Firefox OS phones. The idea of using open source code to drive a smart phone is nothing new and you only have to look back to Google and their Android OS. So, will a Firefox OS phone be popular?

Phones are currently selling for developers to develop their apps on and the first day of sales resulted in them selling out in a few hours the first 1000 units. More are planned to be made available for sale by today, but the quantities may not be enough to prevent another sell off. And these are not phones which are to be sold to the public as they are beta models of the hardware and FireFox OS. It is expected that the demand by developers for phones to test apps on will remain high for several weeks.

Based on the first day of sales, these are extremely popular among developers. This may not translate to actual consumer sales, but it does appear that developers will be buying models as quickly as they are put on sale. This will be the case for he next few weeks bolstering the idea of success for FireFox as an OS for smart phones. Multiple manufacturers are already lining up to build FireFox OS phones including Sony, Huawei and LG. The developer phones come in two models. The Keon, shown above, is selling for $119 and coming with a 3.5 inch screen, a 3 megapixel camera and 4 GB of storage. This sounds like a great price for an entry level smart phone and will do well in sales. The Peak, shown to the right is selling for $194. It comes with a 4.3 inch screen, 8 megapixel camera and the same 4 GB of storage. This one looks like a FireFox phone going after the heart of the smart phone market.

While we wrote about the FireFox OS coming to a crowded market back in February. But based on the rapid sell out on the first day, the market may not be all that crowded for a new entry into the market place. The developer models are being sold by GeeksPhone in their GeeksPhone online store. At the moment, they are still showing as sold out.

There is so much more to the FireFox OS phones in the future that we will continue to follow the story as it unfolds.

MeterPlug - Fighting Vampire Power Waste In Your Home

It seems that power bills get higher all the time, though that may be what it seems like and reality may not be that bad. With all the things that we plug in, there must be a way to reduce the cost for electricity. What has been coming out in recent years is the fact that many of the things we have in our homes use power 24 hours a day. That DVR is running 24 hours a day consuming power, but is required to do that in order to work correctly. And there are so many other devices which consume power when not in use. Your computer is taking power when it is turned off. And then there are the things which consume large amounts of energy, but you do not know just how much, such as your refrigerator. All of these things cost money and there needs to be a better way to figure out where all the power is being consumed.

The MeterPlug is going to be that device which can tell you what is going on with power consumption. It is a small plug that slips between the plug and the wall socket and once in place can provide you with valuable information. Think your xBox 360 is stealing power like a vampire sucking money out of your wallet? The MeterPlug will be able to tell you that. And the information is provided to your smart phone. This is accomplished via Bluetooth 4.0 on either an iOS or Android app you run on your smart phone.

As you can see here, they are showing you what it costs to run washing machine. Just by placing the MeterPlug between the power cord and the wall socket, you can start getting information. So many electronic devices continue to pull power even after you hit the power button and they all add up on your electricity bill. One of the features for the MeterPlug is the ability to turn off a monitored appliance or device so that it is drawing no electricity which right now is like a vampire draining power when it does not need it.

With their huge databases, they can even tell you the costs for using power so that you know what a single item is costing you. Or you can have devices for your home office plugged into a power strip and place the MeterPlug between the power strip plug and the wall outlet. You will then be able to know what your home office is costing you in energy costs. And that dreaded vampire drain after your power things down.

The MeterPlug started as an Indiegog project and is going to be shipping to the US in a matter of weeks with this get method of figuring out where your costs are for electricity. You can pre-order one now at StockNFind.com. The MeterPlug has a lot of intelligence built into it and as a result is not going to be cheap. They will cost you $50 per plug, but are well worth the cost in terms of the value you can get from them.