Hasta La Gadget!

Doing your homework may net you more than just a good grade in school. Two young designers have just found out that it may lead to a big company snapping up your tiny design firm. Logitech announced that it has acquired Chicago-based TT Design Labs, the tiny startup behind the crowdfunded TidyTilt iPhone case that made it big on Kickstarter in late 2011. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Eric Kintz, Logitech’s Senior Vice President and General Manager, explained that, as the company continues to migrate from PC to mobile accessories, it is increasingly looking for products like the TidyTilt that bring design and technology together.

“We felt that TidyTilt was a really interesting product that met our trend of focusing on mobile,” Kintz explained. He went on to point out that the company is looking to crowdfunded projects as a potential new source of innovation.

The TidyTilt was born of a class project in 2011. At the time the company’s co-founders, Zahra Tashakorinia and Derek Tarnow, attended IIT Institute of Design, and were tasked with developing and launching a project on Kickstarter. The pair originally wanted to raise $10,000 on Kickstarter, but managed to net $223K in backer funding.

Since then TT Design Labs went on to design and launch two more products: The TidyTilt+ and the JustMount magnetic holder. Logitech will relaunch all three products this July while retaining the products’ original price point. Meanwhile, Derek will be joining Logitech as a product designer with Zahra coming on as a consultant.

This acquisition is exciting news for the crowdfunding community, although not that unique. Best Buy did the same thing when it purchased the crowdfunded PadPivot. In both cases the buyer is essentially purchasing an established product line that has a built-in fan base. Big companies with big checkbooks can sit on the sidelines and scoop up products and designers once proven by the masses.

If designers aren’t already, it’s time to start using crowdfunding as a living portfolio. Prove your worth by standing taller than peers. Even if the product/startup isn’t successful, the experience is invaluable. After all, as the common edict in Silicon Valley states, startup experience is more valuable than an MBA.

Do you think that students today are a whole lot more pampered compared to the students of yesteryears? Perhaps, but each generation always has their fair share of challenges and issues to contend with and work through. For instance, students of yore had to settle for heavy textbooks that could break one’s back if you were not careful, not to mention having to lug all of these along with their paper notebooks (mention notebooks these days and chances are folks will think that you are talking about a MacBook) to their respective classes. Well, schools these days have taken steps to jump aboard the paperless revolution – at least according to what their budget allows, that is, and some higher education institutes have started to purchase tablets like the Apple iPad for use in the classroom. These iPads certainly come in handy, where it takes testing, studying and note taking to a totally new level. The thing is, there are always two sides to a coin – where wireless keyboards for the iPad in a classroom would require teachers to simultaneously pair multiple iPads with multiple wireless Bluetooth keyboards. Good to know then that Swiss peripherals manufacturer have got your back with the Logitech Wired Keyboard for iPad.

The Logitech Wired Keyboard for iPad was specially designed to handle hassle-free plug-and-play connectivity, where it boasts of an integrated Lightning Connector or 30-pin Connector, allowing you as the student to just plug in the iPad and start to type right away. Sure, it might not have the kind of freedom as that of a wireless connection, but there is something reassuring about wired connectivity that ensures every single keystroke is registered without any exception.

The Logitech Wired Keyboard for iPad comes with full-size keys and has a spill-resistant design, ensuring it is able to live a long life, while boasting of a key lifespan of more than five million strokes. Expect the Logitech Wired Keyboard for iPad to arrive in the US later this summer.

Press Release
[ Logitech Wired Keyboard for iPad copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Logitech announced a new bluetooth speaker, the UE BOOM, which its dubbing a social music player.

Like It , +1 , Tweet It , Pin It Original content from Ubergizmo.

Logitech is introducing its wired keyboard for iPad to be used in classrooms.

Like It , +1 , Tweet It , Pin It Original content from Ubergizmo.

You know what’ll go perfectly with that waterproof Bluetooth speaker ball that a Billy Corgan doppelganger recommended a few years back? That odd tube you’re undoubtedly fixated on above. That’s the Ultimate Ears UE Boom, and those people underneath are presumably blitzed from a day of raving at [insert EDM festival here]. Parent company Logitech is calling this thing the “world’s first social music player,” but last we checked, it’s not capable of tweeting whatever you’re listening to. Instead, it’s seemingly engineered “to help you rage, riot, party and play the music you love, out loud.” Seriously — that’s in the description.

In order to do so, there’s a Bluetooth radio within, NFC support, a 15-hour rechargeable battery and an exterior that’ll turn away light splashes. Of note, you can wirelessly link two UE Booms together using an associated Android or iOS app to play them in either stereo-to-stereo mode or traditional left / right stereo mode. It’s expected to hit US and European shores later this month for $199.99, which means you too can take weird shots of yourself holding it at frat parties in the very, very near future.

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Comments

Source: Ultimate Ears