Crowdfunding Corner: AZIO Fokal Keyboard

A wireless mechanical keyboard with a multi-functional control knob plus 7 layers of customization.

Where innovation meets classic style, AZIO, (https://aziocorp.com/ ), the company that brought you the AZIO Original Retro Classic Keyboard, is introducing a stylish, more futuristic follow up called Fokal, a vintage mechanical backlit keyboard that comes with a multi-functional control knob for ultimate efficiency.

As a leading company building premium and creative computer peripherals, AZIO has created its own market segment with its retro-styled modern keyboards. After the successful launch of its Original Retro Classic (Vintage Typewriter inspired) Keyboard, AZIO took on the challenge of improving its next keyboard model in all aspects, including aesthetics, functions, user scenario, and user environment. With the attractive combination of advanced technology and designing products with the perfect blend of elegance and performance, AZIO created the Fokal Keyboard, inspired by the iconic 1960s sleek rangefinder camera, to help users work smarter, without sacrificing style.

The Fokal Control Knob is a unique feature that separates AZIO’s keyboard from other competing models. Most other conventional keyboards currently have at most a single wheel to control volume. Fokal’s Control Knob is multi-directional, giving users the ultimate freedom of use and customization. It is a seven-way control knob, enabling the top crown two ways of infinite spin control for volume, light brightness, or any other two-way commands. The middle section of the control knob contains a button for control mode change, and the third function of the control knob serves as a joystick with 360-degree control. Users have the freedom to fully reconfigure all the keys and the control knob within the accompanying software.

Fokal includes premium and creative computer features and comes in two units sold separately. The central unit is an 81 keys format keyboard, and the number pad is a 21 keys mini keyboard. They can be used together or separately, but both units can connect to four different devices. The mode dial at the top left corner for the main keyboard and at the right top corner on the number keyboard can be used to select which devices to link to.  

“We are a collective of bold and curious individuals who are passionate about developing inspiring, functional tools by reinterpreting iconic and nostalgic objects with our creative synergy,” said David Shiue, president and CEO of AZIO. “We honor the past while incorporating modern-day innovation into the tools we offer. The result is a line of intentional, artful, and practical tools, all to equip and empower the user unlike any other.”

Benefits of the Fokal Keyboard include:

•         Innovative Function: Fokal is completely customizable, allowing the user to map any of the keys and knob to their individual needs. It enables the user to have up to seven assigned keyboard settings and is essentially seven unique keyboards all housed in one polished design. The control knob uses the HID-IO software for custom functionality.

•         Classic Inspiration: Fokal drew its design inspiration from the vintage rangefinder camera for its simplistic, well-crafted appearance. Specifically, the lens housed numerous features in a body composed of metal, leather, and composite material harmonically. The high-grade aluminum frame and top-grain leather accents perfect the balance of hard and soft materials.

•         Futuristic Technology: Fokal easily connects wirelessly through RF or Bluetooth 5.0 and can connect up to three Bluetooth devices. The keyboard comes with advanced HID-IO software by Input Club. The control knob and keys can all be fully reconfigured within the software, and seven individual profiles can be saved all through the HID-IO cloud. The main keyboard and the number pad can also connect, either together or separately, to four different devices through one RF and three Bluetooth profiles.

•         Premium Built Quality: Fokal is built with an ultra-durable structure of solid iron plates. The aluminum plates are beautifully finished with a bead blasted anodized surfacing process. The embossed logo and lettering are lacquer filled, diamond-cut knurling on the dial for better handling, and specialized locking screws at the bottom showing true craftsmanship. The lighting and brightness of the keyboard are adjusted with one touch of the crown knob. There are four different light modes, each comes with seven preset colors and one RGB mode. Gateron mechanical switches provide satisfying haptic and sound feedback with the best RGB backlit visual presentation.

•         Long-Lasting Power: Fokal has a certified battery built with the highest safety standards. It has the largest battery in its class of using Li-ion polymer battery in 5000 mAh capacity with a safety board to prevent hazardous situations and can last up to four months on a single charge.

“AZIO is still the only premium keyboard maker to use authentic materials such as an alloy frame or leather, and is able to produce it with consistently high quality and excellent customer service,” added Shiue. “There are imitators, but none dare or are skillful enough to use real authentic materials as we do.”

The company is launching an Indiegogo campaign, (https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/azio-fokal-keyboard-with-customizable-control-knob ), to spread awareness of their highly anticipated and forward-thinking Fokal Keyboard among consumers and investors. The Fokal Keyboard is available for pre-order at Indiegogo for as low as $199.

Crowdfunding Corner: Smart Chain Accelerator's Place and Trace

Think of it as an affordable virtual security guard unit that links with your phone to provide a simple and convenient way of keeping track of your vehicle, boat, RV, watercraft, equipment, and other valued possessions.


Smart Chain Accelerator introduces Place and Trace, (https://smartchainaccelerator.com), an affordable GPS device with pinpoint accuracy that can greatly assist consumers and law enforcement with recovering stolen vehicles and valuables.

Today's consumer wakes up and tracks their work out on a fitness app. It connects them to their play-list, tracks and records their heart rates and calories burned. The programmed coffeemaker starts to brew a to-go cup and it's taken into the car for the ride to work.

Waze helps the driver avoid traffic and Siri points out inexpensive fuel along the way. At the end of the day, with dinner in hand, Netflix pops up with the latest binge-worthy title just where you left off yesterday. Tomorrow, a fresh set of connections is waiting to be made.

Place and Trace features the latest battery, cellular, and GPS technology in providing real-time monitoring to aid with rapid theft recovery, and has an impressive 94% Stolen Vehicle Recovery success rate.  So far this year, the company has reported that of 104 vehicles stolen that were equipped with the company’s advanced GPS technology, 91 percent were recovered in as little as four minutes.



Place and Trace can last about four years on a single charge, and its compact cellular technology can notify users immediately through a phone notification whenever there is tilt or acceleration suspicious activity, but it also connects to a recovery hotline and the local police department to ensure their valuables are safe and recovered immediately when stolen.

Smart Chain Accelerator has employed a trailblazing team of inventors, engineers, IoT patent holders, and innovators of new mass-market distribution channels to create a smarter and easier way for consumers to keep track of the larger valuables they worry about tracking and protecting. Additionally, their holding company Procon Analytics has used this technology successfully with new and used car dealers, vehicle finance companies as well as aftermarket retailers. Procon Analytics’ footprint has expanded to nearly 1 million throughout North America, enabling Smart Chain Accelerator to leverage their experience and resources.   

Check out their recently launched Indiegogo campaign, (https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/place-trace-the-best-gps-tracker-for-vehicles#/), to spread awareness about their affordable and easy-to-use GPS unit, Place and Trace, among consumers and the investment community. Place and Trace is available for pre-order at Indiegogo for $99.

Get it now!

Crowdfunding Corner: NewsHero

What's new in news?

NewsHero

In a news industry that has faced ever-increasing layoffs and diminishing financial opportunities, NewsHero envisions replacing the traditional advertising and subscription models. Members of the NewsHero platform will be able to get their local and global, curated news from a source that will be empowered to support journalists, their writing and their sources directly through a proprietary payment system that is being developed by the NewsHero team.

NewsHero has launched a Kickstarter campaign,

(https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/benjirogers/newshero-covering-all-the-news-focusing-on-those-who-help), for exclusive membership offerings and to spread awareness about their news platform among consumers.

NewsHero will be a new way for readers to access all the relevant daily news, focusing on just the facts within the story, especially the fact that (almost) every story has a hero or someone trying to help, and that there is a positive narrative in every feature. A NewsHero article will be the work of no less than three (and up to five) reputable sources and will get to the core of the issue while prioritizing the heroes in each story.

NewsHero has already started recruiting world-class journalists who will maintain a positive news cycle, without missing out on facts. Through their efforts, NewsHero will help move the news away from its current crisis-focused emphasis towards a more helper-centric narrative through an ad-free, community-funded platform.

Crowdfunding Corner: Pillgo

With the goal of streamlining your medication intake and limiting the amount of stress you may experience about keeping up with your medication schedule, Qualife, has introduced a new smart pillbox, the Pillgo.

An upgrade to a previous model, the Pillgo is an even smarter, user-friendly pillbox that integrates biometrics for health status monitoring, as well as drug allergy and drug interaction alerts to inform users of possible side effects that might arise from combining certain medications.

With the Pillgo launch, Qualife seeks to address the troubling lack of medication adherence that leads to 30 to 50 percent of chronic disease treatment failures and 125,000 deaths per year in the United States alone.


Pillgo will help users better understand their response to the various medications that they take, as well as better manage a complex dosage schedule. No matter where you are, you can take comfort in knowing that you have curtailed the uncertainty and uneasiness of taking your medication, as the Pillgo will take care of the medication output and timing for you.

The Pillgo can be intelligently set up via optical character recognition (OCR) technology and incorporates a number of innovative features into an easily accessible, compact design. New features such as biometric tracking and analysis, drug interaction alerts, and flexible pill sorting improve upon the previous version that already included real-time remote monitoring and wrong dosage alerts.

Pillgo incorporates innovative technology into a compact product designed for optimal and efficient use by consumers. The combination of a comprehensive, intelligent app, and a physical, easy-to-use smart pillbox, the Pillgo has been developed to be your trusted health companion for a more balanced and healthier life.

Qualife has launched an Indiegogo campaign,
(https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/pillgo-your-smart-health-partner--3#//), to spread awareness about the Pillgo among consumers and the investment community.

Early bird pricing for Pillgo on Indiegogo is $42.

Crowdfunding Corner: EBORD by Proton New Energy Future

Proton New Energy Future, (https://www.ebord.co/), is looking to light the way toward a novel approach to home furniture with the launch of the EBÖRD table, a sleek and wireless self-sufficient device that taps into renewable energy to recharge your smartphone, Air Pods, tablets, and other electronics.


In response to the increased usage of smartphones in our daily lives, and sensing the need for an accessible common charging platform, the Proton New Energy Future team have taken a unique concept in its solution, combining solar technology with home modern design furniture.

The table, which requires no plugs and is wireless, is compatible with any smartphone that incorporates Qi charge, such as smartphones from Apple, Samsung, Sharp, Xiaomi, and more brands. In case your smartphone is not compatible with Qi Technology, EBÖRD offers an adaptor. An advanced system allows the table to capture artificial light in interior spaces without the need for sunlight to charge your electronic devices.

In 2014, Proton New Energy Future CEO, Miquel Jové, realized the potential advantages of using an existing protein capable of efficiently pumping protons when sunlight contacted its membrane. Jové was determined to design a new system capable of integrating these proteins into a table surface to achieve a high level of electricity on overcast days with little or no sunlight, indoors, and in areas of low light, and launched his company a year later.

Proton New Energy Future has launched an Indiegogo campaign, (https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ebord-your-smart-life-table--2#/), to spread awareness about the EBÖRD table among consumers and the investment community. As an added benefit, the company is rewarding consumers with an exclusive opportunity to purchase the EBÖRD table through its campaign at a discount from its $750 USD price.