Out of hundreds of helpful and outright crazy gadgets launched in 2015 so far, we select 9 that got us excited.
Galaxy Tennis
If you enjoyed playing Pong, wait till you see this
Galaxy Tennis (at least that’s what it says on the box) replaces the ball with an orb of light and the rackets with two wands. This contraption does away with flat surfaces, a physical ball and the need for gravity (which played a key role in the traditionally console-driven game). Instead, a projector powered by AAA batteries projects an orb of light onto the walls and ceilings. You and your opponent battle it out, swinging wildly (hopefully not knocking over a lamp), virtually hitting the orb across the room.
Specifications
Price: Rs. 3,000 (Approx.)
Length: 8-inch
Breadth: 5-inch
Height: 2-inch
Weight: 1 kg.
Battery: 4 AAA + 3 AAA
Atongm W008
Every brand wants a piece of the wearable segment and Atongm is determined to not be left behind. The W008 smartwatch is 2G capable and supports microSD cards of up to 32GB. Aside from the weird name, the device also has high-end features like Sleep Monitoring, Prolonged Sitting and Anti-lost. All of which has been packed into a really smooth and polished user interface. The stainless steel watchface and the rubber-polymer band makes the smartwatch very sturdy, surprisingly giving it a premium feel. You can use it with Android and Windows Phones alike and is available in four colours — black, white, orange, silver and orange.
Specifications
Price: Rs. 4,347 (Approx.)
Dimensions: 2.2 x 1.7 x 0.5-inches
Display: 240x420 TFT
Camera: 3.1 MP
Screen Size: 1.54-inch
Weight: 46 g
Battery: 350 mAh
The SkyProwler
Not just another drone
Developed by Krossblade Aerosystems (yes, that’s a very cool name), the SkyProwler (an even more badass name) is a “high-performance, multi-mission, VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing). It means the SkyProwler can take off like a helicopter and fly away like a jet. It comes with an internally balanced action cam that shoots 4K video at 30 fps. According to its Kickstarter page, you can also control the SkyProwler using your voice and the GPS coordinates of your controller. You can pre-order your almost-ready-to-fly kit with no video or radio for $479 (Rs. 29,829 – early bird) or spend $1,479 (Rs. 92,089) and fly this baby straight out of the box.
Specifications
Price: Rs. 18,500 ($299)
Bluetooth Profile: Human Interface
Battery: 3 cell Li-ion 5000 mAh
Top Speed: 134 kmph
Endurance: up to 40 minutes
Range: up to 69 km.
Sophia
Sophia, a Kickstarter project, is an attempt to make rope-jumping interesting by interfacing with a sports tracking app. It connects to your Android or iOS smartphone through Bluetooth, using a companion app that integrates with Google Fit or iOS HealthKit. The handles of the skipping rope contain a triaxial accelerometer and an optical module, which supposedly count the number of jumps with high precision.
Specifications
Price: TBA
Grip Material: Leather
Cord Material: High quality polymer
Display type: OLED
Weight: 164 g
Battery Life: One month @30min/day
Tissot Pocket Touch
While smartphones may very well phase out watches targeted at the average joe, they’ll never replace watches aimed at the uber rich. After producing the marvellous T-Touch, the watch with a touch screen dial, Tissot has now moved its latest offering from your wrist and to your pocket. The new Pocket Touch as a pocket watch with an analogue dial and digital display built into it. The sapphire crystal glass protecting the dial is touch sensitive and the 2 mm diameter chassis hides sensors that even your smartphone doesn’t have. This pricey $950 (Rs. 59,161) watch is waterproof up to 330 meters and comes with a snazzy chain that feels just right.
Ricoh NV-10A
You could be an enthusiastic nature lover or a budding spy, Ricoh’s new enhanced binocular is here to aid you. Using Pentax’s “Atmospheric Interference Reduction” technology, one button will clear out fog, rain or snow. The resulting image is actually a set of digital enhancements that include increasing colour saturation, de-noising and adjusting the image contrast. It also lets you capture images and videos , with image stabilisation and night vision. With the IP64 protection rating, it is clearly dustproof and waterproof.
Specifications
Price: Rs. 2,60,463 (approx.)
Dimensions: 225 x 166 x 83
mm | Aperture: 75mm to 150mm (f/2.8 to f/3.5)
Sensor: 1/3” colour CMOS Sensor
Display Panel (Eyepiece): 800 x 600
Video Format: Motion JPEG (720 x 480, 30fps, no audio)
Image Format: JPEG (720 x 480)
Magnification: 6.6x to 13.2x (approx.)
Weight: 1.3 kg
GuardBot
The evolution of drones is very much like that of dinosaurs. As time progressed, some evolved and took to the skies and others moved to the water. Now, they’re crawling out of the water, all guns blazing. Developed by a research team at Stamford, Connecticut, USA, the GuardBot is an amphibious drone capable of swimming across water and rolling across land and even take on steep inclines. It’s powered by a motor that swings back and forth like a pendulum to shift the center of gravity. The developers of this drone say it’s ready and can be scaled up to be as big as nine feet and scaled down to be as small as 10 cms.
Dashbon Flicks
We’ve always loved the idea of taking the movies with us wherever we go. To solve this exact problem, a bunch of engineers got together and developed a bluetooth speaker with a built-in projector. The Dashbon Flicks is a portable speaker with HDMI-in and Bluetooth connectivity, and easily works as your theatre under the stars. While the standard model will give you four hours of video and 28 hours of just music, the extended range battery which comes as an option gives you nearly nine hours of video and 60 hours of music. The built in subwoofer promises good sound quality but the 720p projector works badly in the daytime. However, inside a comfy tent it works brilliantly.
FiiO E11K Kilimanjaro2
The latest headphone amplifier on the block
The Kilimanjaro2, as the name suggests, is version 2.0 of FiiO’s portable headphone amplifier. It’s made of metal, has a 1400 mAh battery inside, a line-in, a headphone-out, a switch to toggle gain on/off, a dial to crank it up and a switch to either give you less bass or more bass. It’s rechargeable and will last upto 16 hours. A few hours with this gadget and you won’t ever want to go back to being without it.
Specifications
Dimensions: 91.2 x 56 x 13mm
Battery: 1400 mAh
Operating time: 16 hours
Weight: 92 grams
Price: $60 (~ Rs. 3,700)