Kickstarter is on everyone's lips these days, and no wonder. It began as a service with a goal is not entirely clear, but now, there you can find ideas that tempt users and encourage them to invest in future products, moving millions of dollars in the process. Some of these ideas have already been through ItsAnews before, but the common element in the projects you see here is that they have managed to surpass the million-dollar mark, or have flirted closely with that amount.
In recent times, virtually any project that does not find a place in the market, a remake that is not adopted by any producer of video games, daring or idea that can not overcome the "risk threshold" of investors, Kickstarter ends. Now, the truth is that there is no such thing as a guarantee to publish something in Kickstarter. Persons responsible for the site frequently updated their statistics, which indicate that the percentage of "success" in the projects just over 44 percent, and in his four years, the projects that were funded successfully reached some $ 252 million . In other words, who has an idea to redirect the effort to convince investors to convince potential customers.
I prefer to identify Kickstarter with the term "collaborative investment." The user / customer / user is no longer a sponsor, and reward, rather than a specific monetary interest, is the privileged access to a product / service, which can be obtained several times below the planned cost. Who organizes a project knows that's not enough, and that's where the rewards come over. Trips, parties and private meetings with the creators of the project are some of the things that are given to those who demonstrate a greater financial commitment. In some cases, this commitment has been outstanding. The million dollars is presented as "magic barrier" for many reasons, and Kickstarter is no exception. Some projects were very, very close to the million, while others went over like a stampede. Today we will take a look at some of those who have been economically more relevant so far.
Pebble: $ 10,266,846
Oddly enough, the most successful project in the history of Kickstarter is a clock, but not just any clock. The Pebble is a "smart clock" that its capacity has the function to connect to devices via Bluetooth Android or IOS, and run applications. It can also be customized, and even used as a remote control to control various functions of a smartphone. $ 99 was the minimum that enabled access to a pebble on an estimated price of $ 150. The demand was so great, that should limit the pre-sale orders. The first deliveries will be in September.
TikTok + Lunatika: $ 942.578
No, Ke $ ha thankfully has nothing to do with it. The latest generation iPod Nano is priced at $ 129 U.S. (125 euros in Spain). It has incorporated a significant amount of features compared with previous models, but someone felt he could do even more, and that someone was responsible for the TikTok and Lunatika. Convert the sixth generation iPod Nano into a watch may not be as attractive to the naked eye, but more than $ 940,000 said the opposite. Both products are already on sale, and the developer has created two variants, in addition to funding another project in Kickstarter: A stylus tablet that doubles as a pen.
Research carried out by scientists from the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, with the Centre for Organic Photonics and Electronics at the Georgia Institute of Technology, is leading to a theoretical framework that can improve dramatically the performance of devices based on what is known as "Plastic Electronics", among which are found as leading to OLED displays and certain types of organic solar cells. The paper talks about a method used to eliminate "energy traps" which falls a percentage of electrons, while the current flows within these polymer semiconductors. Find out all the details of the find in this article.
During his tenure in semiconductors, while giving rise to the phenomenon we know as "current flow", there is a proportion of electrons that are "stuck" in certain load traps are no longer useful, lowering the efficiency of OLED devices , for example. "This process reduces electron capture the circulating current (appears as a resistor) and generally, this type of energy traps are moved toward the center of the device, where the electrons are converted into photons or vice versa, for the For solar cells, "the team from the University of Groningen and the Georgia Institute of Technology. Although several mechanisms, or simulation models have been proposed to explain the workings and nature of such traps, until now, no one knew for sure how it occurred, its nature, nor how it could build an antagonistic mechanism, capable of neutralizing its negative effect in normal operation of a traditional semiconductor element.
"We set out to solve this puzzle by comparing the properties they acquired these traps in nine different types of polymers. The comparison showed that the traps in all materials, had a similar energy level," said Herman Nicolai , author of a paper on the subject in Nature Materials ("Unification of trap-limited electron transport in semiconducting polymers"). As part of development work, the Georgia Tech group, led by Jean-Luc Bredas, used as models to study the electronic structures in a wide range of possible pitfalls. "What we found out of the calculation is that the energy level of traps, measured experimentally, coincided with the effects that might induce a complex (or combination) of water and oxygen.
"Although the devices were fabricated Nicolai studied in an atmosphere of nitrogen "these" impurities "(water-oxygen), can easily be introduced during manufacture of semiconductor material, even if the process is done under controlled conditions. Nitrogen can not prevent the contamination with small amounts of oxygen and water. " According to these results, the traps that are now known to effectively thanks to these studies, have a similar energy level, therefore the flow of electrons in different plastic materials can be estimated more easily, and opens a possibility stronger to support the design and building materials free of traps.
"The energy of the trap is in the forbidden energy gap," said Nicolai. This interval is the gap (space) representing the energy difference of the outside of the circle in which electrons orbit the nucleus in its ground state, higher orbit and why they should move (or move) to become mobile charge carriers (those forming the electron current). For example, when a moving electron flows in the vicinity of the area inhabited by a "trick" that is mentioned in the energy space, fall into this trap because it has a lower energy level. "From this research, if the chemicals could (or could) design semiconducting polymers where the energy of the traps is greater than that of the superior orbital in which electrons move through the material, they would not fall into the traps reaching the effectiveness of a material far superior to those of today. "said Nicolai.
In both devices, LEDs, plastic and plastic solar cells, "The flow of electrons should not be hampered by power outages. From now on, with our discovery, the designs can be made with more efficient results." The experimental work was conducted at the Institute for Advanced Materials Zernike (ZIAM) in the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Groningen in the Netherlands.
Apple launched the iPhone 5 and iPad Mini, both products of the second part of the year, on 12 September and will sell the 21 as one of the hundreds of rumors circulating on the internet on both devices. iMoore says his sources are reliable. The Guardian also ensures that the presentation will be in mid-September. Last year, the iPhone 4S was announced on October 4, and put on sale 10 days later, on 14. This time, if the rumor is confirmed, the event will move up by two weeks.
In the case of mini iPad nothing is yet known with certainty, except that more and more sources in the technology sector are assured that Apple will compete with the Nexus 7, Google and Amazon Kindle Fire with a smaller version (and cheaper ) of its successful iPad. Google has already exhausted the 16 GB version of the Nexus 7 in the U.S. market. The iPad Mini, if the forecasts, it would be just like today, except for size.
Any release of Google always comes accompanied by hundreds of rumors, surely part of Apple's strategy to keep their brands in dance every day. To see if iPhone and iPad mini arrive in mid-September, only six weeks left.
Apple announced last few dates the financial results for the third quarter of fiscal 2012, ended June 30, 2012. The company sold 26 million iPhones during the quarter, representing growth of 28 percent in number of units over the same quarter last year. In the same period placed on the market Cases 17 million, which represents a unit growth of 84 percent over the same quarter last year.
I swear when I first saw all the memories I have of "Patlabor" came running from a dark corner of my mind, and just ran over me. We have heard and read several times about a Japanese project that sought to create a wick pure and simple, but it seems that you no longer need to explore further. Suidobashi People Heavy Industry presented its prototype Kuratas, a 4.4-ton robot can be yours ... for just over a million euros.
It is assumed that someone has to do first. And that something is a fuse (or mech) Functional sold in the market. We have absorbed a lot about exoskeletons and hydraulic systems. We have also seen developments of robots that can move using two legs and adapt to the complexities of the terrain. But there is no wicks. We do not see "Labors" building buildings or armies that use something like Gundams or armor tactics as Gasaraki. They may not be more than a delirious unfeasible at present, but the same was said of both cars and airplanes. And now comes the Kuratas, or rather, "Suidobashi Kuratas Heavy Industry." Wick has to name.
Four meters high, 4.4-ton diesel propulsion, thirty hydraulic joints that allow movement of arms, legs and torso. V-Shido interface to control their movements, even from a smartphone over a 3G connection. You can shoot rockets (water, grrrr ...), and compressed air guns that can fire up to six thousand bullets per minute, using as trigger the smile of the pilot. In Suidobashi are looking for ways to mass produce, and the price that has transpired is 1.35 million dollars, something like 1.1 million euros. Whoever decides to buy a Kuratas can change the exterior color (16 available) and access other extras, such as a coaster.
I admit I felt a little disappointed to see that the Kuratas moves using wheels, however, apparently bipedal version is in the plans of the engineers. The official site Suidobashi allowed customize the wick in different ways, but guess what? Anyone who attempts to receive a huge 503. Perhaps few will have a million euros to buy a Kuratas, but this makes it clear that many people want to have a fuse. Tony Stark in his armor to stay if you want, and do not care much if Suidobashi presented to Kuratas as "piece of art" rather than an actual match. Every step brings us closer to a VF-1, is welcome.
