Top tech crowdfunding campaigns of the month: June 2014

Many of us have dropped our smartphones at some point, and sadly unlike the bricks of the past, screens are fragile things prone to breaking.

Screen protectors and cases help prevent damage, but it seems that consumers want a more lightweight option — and so have supported Puracoat on Indiegogo.

Puracoat is a nanotechnology-based fluid that can be applied over an entire smartphone to protect the gadget from scratches and water damage — while retaining full smartphone functionality, which sometimes is lost when applying air-trapping sticky screen protectors. The makers say the protective liquid is "undetectable by the naked eye" and is "synthesized to be next only to gemstones in hardness."

Once a bottle is opened, the liquid has a shelf life of 18 months.

At the time of writing, over $23,000 has been raised of a $500 goal.

Via: Indiegogo

Related Links:

• Six Clicks: Last year's most exciting crowdfunded tech devices
• Tile co-founder Mike Farley on the perils of crowdfunding
• 10 fascinating tech projects that crowdfunding has made possible

VoCore is a wifi-enabled Linux computer the size of a coin.

The tiny computer, which also works as a router, runs on OpenWrt and is equipped with 32MB SDRAM, 8MB SPI Flash and uses RT5350(360MHz MIPS) chips, as well as an ethernet and USB port. The creators say you can use VoCore with wireless and USB devices including scanners and printers, and the computer can also be used as a portable VPN router, wireless speaker, offline downloader and for the remote control of Arduino.

At the time of writing, over $76,000 has been raised of a $6000 goal.

Via: Indiegogo

Sherlybox, touted as a "private and shareable cloud on your desk" is a gadget for sharing files, but keeping data on your own drives. The makers of Sherlybox say the system works in the same manner as cloud computing, but focuses on privacy by allowing for file sharing with friends — but keeping files on your own storage system.

Any size files can be shared without sending them to public clouds, but only with those you invite personally. The basis of this security is GatelessVPN, a type of virtual private network that works without central servers.

At the time of writing, over $100,000 has been raised of a $69,000 goal.

Via: Kickstarter

Related Links:

• Six Clicks: Last year's most exciting crowdfunded tech devices
• Tile co-founder Mike Farley on the perils of crowdfunding
• 10 fascinating tech projects that crowdfunding has made possible

Titan 1 is one of many 3D printers geared towards the consumer sphere — and one that has captured the interest of the crowdfunding community.

The 3D printer, touted to be two times faster and offering the largest printing size of stereolithography (SLA) competitors, can print up to 9.5” tall with a 7.54" x 4.25" build base at 100 micron XYZ resolution, and can print multiple objects at the same time. The printing speed is roughly 2.7 inches an hour.

At the time of writing, over $470,000 has been raised of a $50,000 goal.

Via: Kickstarter

Related Links:

• Six Clicks: Last year's most exciting crowdfunded tech devices
• Tile co-founder Mike Farley on the perils of crowdfunding
• 10 fascinating tech projects that crowdfunding has made possible

Jumping on the wearable technology bandwagon, iPal is a glasses-based headset that lets the user use eye gestures to take and share photos and film on social media including Facebook and Instagram.

The makers say the headset tracks your eyes automatically, and rather than holding a camera to take a shot, you can move your eyes around an object in order to focus the headset on a particular scene, zoom, and capture an image.

iPal is equipped with two 5MP HD scene cameras, has a 120-degree field of view, and can record HD 720p video. In addition, the headset can be paired with Android, iOS and Windows devices. 8GB of content is stored locally, and this can be boosted due to an embedded SD slot.

At the time of writing, over $88,000 has been raised of a $50,000 goal.

Via: Indiegogo

Related Links:

• Six Clicks: Last year's most exciting crowdfunded tech devices
• Tile co-founder Mike Farley on the perils of crowdfunding
• 10 fascinating tech projects that crowdfunding has made possible