“Didn't take off”: 6 unusual audio gadgets
The desire of audio brands and start-ups to stand out among competitors and offer an unusual gadget does not always find a response in the hearts of thousands of buyers.
Today we will talk about six audio units, which never “took off”.
Our microformat - Telemania channel "Audiomania"
Photo Wikimedia CC
The Japanese company Nissin Foods, engaged in the production of instant noodles, came up with a fork Otohiko, which muffles champing while eating.
According to etiquette, in Japan, it is allowed to ingest when eating certain types of food (such as noodles or ramen). However, this Japanese habit can be unpleasant for foreigners. And in 2020, a large number of them will come to the Olympic Games in the Land of the Rising Sun.
In Nissin they decided to solve the problem with a cultural feature by creating a “noise-canceling” plug. They were inspired by the idea of the device Otohime TOTO, which is installed in many toilets in Japan and reproduces the artificial loud sounds of the drain.
The dimensions of the plug are impressive - 4.4 cm (width) and 15.2 cm (length). A narrow microphone is built into the thick grip of the device , which captures the sound of sticking. Then the plug transmits a signal to a mobile phone, and that one reproduces an audio series that masks a potentially unpleasant sound for others. This audio range can be customized in the app — a choice of simple gray noise, sound of running water, xylophone, etc.
Otohiko could be pre-ordered for about $ 130 in Japan. However, the device did not go on mass sale - only 5 thousand of such plugs were released. Now Nissin is promoting a new gadget - glasses for eating noodles with a fork on a magnet and a built-in fan from fogging lenses.
Another Japanese invention is a gadget for “silent” karaoke singing Noiseless Karaoke Mic. A microphone made of polymer is put on the microphone , which covers the mouth during the performance of the songs. The device connects to the iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch through an adapter, to which the headphones also cling. As planned by the creators of the gadget, singing will be heard only by the performer himself, and not by those around him.
The device did not find popularity. Users say it breaks fast. Also in the network there are reviews , the authors of which question the ability of the device to muffle loud sounds. Does not add to the popularity of the gadget and its price tag. At the start it cost about $ 93, and now on Amazon you can buy it for $ 72.
The small round speaker TeleSound was conceived as an emoji messenger. It connects to the smart phone via Bluetooth and voices all the emoji that the user receives in the chat.
TeleSound turns on automatically when it is located less than 10 meters from the “paired” smartphone or tablet. If the user does not want to be disturbed, he can turn off the device simply by turning it over.
Judging by the campaign on Kickstarter, the creators did not manage to collect the necessary amount of funds to implement the idea. Of the $ 100 thousand. They scored only $ 14 thousand. The project never saw the light, and the creators shot a “farewell” video .
Gadget Google Nexus Q is a digital media player in the form of a black ball with a glowing diode strip. The device was first introduced in June 2012 at the Google I / O Developer Conference.
Nexus Q was created to work with media services of the company, such as Google Play Music, Google Play Movies & TV and YouTube. Users could stream content from these applications to a TV (via HDMI) or a speaker system (even an amplifier was built into the Nexus Q). The remote control for the decision of Google was a smartphone or tablet on Android.
After being released to the US market, the project was criticized for its low functionality, in particular, it could not work with third-party music streaming applications. In this case, the device was quite expensive - $ 300 at the time of launch. Because of the criticism of the community, the project was quickly shut down, but everyone who pre-ordered Nexus Q got the gadget for free.
Engineers from England have developed a smart speaker, which is made in the shape of the head of the killer robots T-800 from the "Terminator". The gadget has impressive dimensions - 45 cm in height. Both “eyes” of the device are lit in red, and the left one is additionally equipped with an HD camera. Recording is activated automatically after movement sensors trigger or manually. At the same time, the video is broadcast either to the user's smartphone, or stored in the cloud.
The speaker connects via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and using an AUX cable. The bundle includes Alexa, the AI voice assistant of Amazon. When connected to a mobile phone using the column, you can make and receive calls.
The developers conducted a fundraising company at Kickstarter, but their product was not a success. It was not possible to collect the required amount, despite the fact that large Internet resources were writing about the project .
In 2007, Sony created a digital music robot player and launched it. Sony Rolly fits in the palm of your hand, has 2 GB of internal memory and plays music, rotating to the beat of the melody.
Photo Wikimedia CC
Sony Rolly can play music from a cell phone, computer or MP3 player. Before loading songs into the player, a special program Rolly Choreographer analyzes the tracks and creates motion files for the dance. To store them together with the music track files are used in the format .mtf. However, the player is able to dance with streaming music - without preliminary preparation - but the result is worse.
At the start of sales, the player cost $ 399, did not have a display and a headphone jack. And he never managed to gain popularity. Now the gadget is no longer sold officially, but it can be found on eBay as a collectible.
Additional reading:
Today we will talk about six audio units, which never “took off”.
Our microformat - Telemania channel "Audiomania"Photo Wikimedia CC
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Noise canceling plug
The Japanese company Nissin Foods, engaged in the production of instant noodles, came up with a fork Otohiko, which muffles champing while eating.
According to etiquette, in Japan, it is allowed to ingest when eating certain types of food (such as noodles or ramen). However, this Japanese habit can be unpleasant for foreigners. And in 2020, a large number of them will come to the Olympic Games in the Land of the Rising Sun.
In Nissin they decided to solve the problem with a cultural feature by creating a “noise-canceling” plug. They were inspired by the idea of the device Otohime TOTO, which is installed in many toilets in Japan and reproduces the artificial loud sounds of the drain.
The dimensions of the plug are impressive - 4.4 cm (width) and 15.2 cm (length). A narrow microphone is built into the thick grip of the device , which captures the sound of sticking. Then the plug transmits a signal to a mobile phone, and that one reproduces an audio series that masks a potentially unpleasant sound for others. This audio range can be customized in the app — a choice of simple gray noise, sound of running water, xylophone, etc.
Otohiko could be pre-ordered for about $ 130 in Japan. However, the device did not go on mass sale - only 5 thousand of such plugs were released. Now Nissin is promoting a new gadget - glasses for eating noodles with a fork on a magnet and a built-in fan from fogging lenses.
Microphone for "silent" singing
Another Japanese invention is a gadget for “silent” karaoke singing Noiseless Karaoke Mic. A microphone made of polymer is put on the microphone , which covers the mouth during the performance of the songs. The device connects to the iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch through an adapter, to which the headphones also cling. As planned by the creators of the gadget, singing will be heard only by the performer himself, and not by those around him.
The device did not find popularity. Users say it breaks fast. Also in the network there are reviews , the authors of which question the ability of the device to muffle loud sounds. Does not add to the popularity of the gadget and its price tag. At the start it cost about $ 93, and now on Amazon you can buy it for $ 72.
Speaker to send emoji
The small round speaker TeleSound was conceived as an emoji messenger. It connects to the smart phone via Bluetooth and voices all the emoji that the user receives in the chat.
TeleSound turns on automatically when it is located less than 10 meters from the “paired” smartphone or tablet. If the user does not want to be disturbed, he can turn off the device simply by turning it over.
Judging by the campaign on Kickstarter, the creators did not manage to collect the necessary amount of funds to implement the idea. Of the $ 100 thousand. They scored only $ 14 thousand. The project never saw the light, and the creators shot a “farewell” video .
Google MediaCare
Gadget Google Nexus Q is a digital media player in the form of a black ball with a glowing diode strip. The device was first introduced in June 2012 at the Google I / O Developer Conference.
Nexus Q was created to work with media services of the company, such as Google Play Music, Google Play Movies & TV and YouTube. Users could stream content from these applications to a TV (via HDMI) or a speaker system (even an amplifier was built into the Nexus Q). The remote control for the decision of Google was a smartphone or tablet on Android.
After being released to the US market, the project was criticized for its low functionality, in particular, it could not work with third-party music streaming applications. In this case, the device was quite expensive - $ 300 at the time of launch. Because of the criticism of the community, the project was quickly shut down, but everyone who pre-ordered Nexus Q got the gadget for free.
Wireless speaker terminator
Engineers from England have developed a smart speaker, which is made in the shape of the head of the killer robots T-800 from the "Terminator". The gadget has impressive dimensions - 45 cm in height. Both “eyes” of the device are lit in red, and the left one is additionally equipped with an HD camera. Recording is activated automatically after movement sensors trigger or manually. At the same time, the video is broadcast either to the user's smartphone, or stored in the cloud.
The speaker connects via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and using an AUX cable. The bundle includes Alexa, the AI voice assistant of Amazon. When connected to a mobile phone using the column, you can make and receive calls.
The developers conducted a fundraising company at Kickstarter, but their product was not a success. It was not possible to collect the required amount, despite the fact that large Internet resources were writing about the project .
Sony Dancing Player
In 2007, Sony created a digital music robot player and launched it. Sony Rolly fits in the palm of your hand, has 2 GB of internal memory and plays music, rotating to the beat of the melody.
Photo Wikimedia CC
Sony Rolly can play music from a cell phone, computer or MP3 player. Before loading songs into the player, a special program Rolly Choreographer analyzes the tracks and creates motion files for the dance. To store them together with the music track files are used in the format .mtf. However, the player is able to dance with streaming music - without preliminary preparation - but the result is worse.
At the start of sales, the player cost $ 399, did not have a display and a headphone jack. And he never managed to gain popularity. Now the gadget is no longer sold officially, but it can be found on eBay as a collectible.
Additional reading:
- Microformat - our Telegram channel
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- 5 places in the world to hear
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