Smartwatches aren’t for everyone and sometimes a traditional watch is just what you want. Washington Square Watches is aiming to bring its designs and U.S. built hardware to the masses by holding a Kickstarter campaign. While the technology in these watches is hundreds of years old, it doesn’t make the technology any less impressive. Making a good mechanical watch takes care and passion. Check out the video below and the Kickstarter link at the end to find out more about Washington Square Watches’ campaign.

Founder Marc Smouha’s goal was to create a sleek and fashionable watch that’s perfect for everyday wear. Our watch can be worn for any occasion and can be customized with interchangeable straps that can be personalized.

Quality will never be compromised and we ensure this by having our product handcrafted here in the US. We vetted manufacturers from coast to coast until we found the right partners we could entrust with this task. This allows us to provide you a quality timepiece at an affordable cost.

To bring this concept of individuality to the next level we are giving you the choice of customizing your watch by offering several options of colors for your watch band. We are also offering you the chance to personalize your watch strap with your initials. This feature will make your watch one of a kind.

A quick-release clasp that allows you to easily swap out your strap at home… No tools required. This feature was added in order to update and customize your watch with our newest bands (Stainless Steel Bracelet, Nylon Strap…)

We currently plan on shipping to all our backers by the end of July. Depending on demand, we may have to push delivery date by at most 30 days. We will make sure that all our backers are kept well notified but our goal is to ship all watches on time.

Due to the fact that all straps are genuine leather, there may be slight variations in color from what is displayed on Kickstarter.

What do you think about Washington Square Watches’ campaign? Let us know in the comments below or on Google+, Twitter, or Facebook.

  Source: Kickstarter

Perhaps the best examples for that category are LightSail, the Bill Nye-helmed campaign that brought Carl Sagan’s “solar sailer” to life, and the Oculus VR headset. Oculus raised $2.4 million on the platform, which is impressive, but what the campaign really did for the team is bring it to Facebook’s attention — the social network ended up buying Oculus for a cool $2 billion. There’s also OpenROV, the underwater drone that raised over $800,000 on the platform.

In addition to technologies that push the limits, the team is also looking for campaigns featuring tools that can help bring other people’s projects to life. A couple of good examples are Particle’s electron board that people can use to make IoT devices and Artiphon’s Instrument 1, which can function as several types of musical instruments. Finally, they’re also looking for campaigns that feature avant-garde designs, such as Lumos the next-gen bicycle helmet and a shapeshifting modern lamp called Lumio.

Kickstarter says it decided to publish its request, because it was inspired by Y Combinator’s call for startups. It’s also part of staying true to its promise to support arts and creativity as a public benefit corporation, which was also the reason why the company hosted a special STEM event for kids last year. So, what can you expect if your project fits any of the three categories Kickstarter is looking for? The company says it will work with you one-on-one to help make your campaign shine and “spotlight it for [its] community of 13 million backers.”

You can’t be hanging around in the world of crowdfunding for as long as Kickstarter without spotting a few trends here and there. Taking a leaf out of Y Combinator’s Request for Startups, the crowdfunding site is highlighting what it thinks are opportunities in the coming year. While Kickstarter’s goals are significantly more fuzzy than Y Combinator’s, it sends a clear signal to potential campaigns, hinting what Kickstarter will throw its not inconsiderable weight behind.

The crowdfunding site specifically identifies “Tools for Creating.” The category, Kickstarter says, includes both literal creation tools, such as Wazer, which was launched at TechCrunch Disrupt last year, and more a more liberal take on creation, such as Artiphon’s Instrument 1.

The two other topics of focus are even less helpful, and include “Boundary Pushers” and “Delightful Design,” which, frankly, could mean anything. It’s not entirely clear what it is that Kickstarter is trying to achieve by posting the request for projects, especially without clear goals attached. One could argue that all crowdfunding campaigns should be pushing boundaries and be well-designed.

What is interesting, however, is that this appears to signal a shift away from some of Kickstarter’s other stated goals: For the past few years, the site seems to have been focusing on artistic and creative projects over technology-heavy projects. Taking its eyes off the ball means that the company’s arch-rival Indiegogo threatened to become the default go-to site for a lot of hardware  and tech-related projects. It’s good to see Kickstarter get back into the race and actually start promoting its internal teams that are working with creators to build successful crowdfunded projects.

Personally, I’d love to see the criteria spelled out more explicitly (we are seeking X and Y, but not A and B), but I suppose any initiative has to start somewhere. Kickstarter’s initial volley might be a bit wooly, but if there’s one thing the company has consistently been getting right, it’s taking feedback and iterating quickly, so I’m excited to see where the Request for Projects might evolve.

PicoBrew has been around for a while, making beer brewing easy, even for people who don’t know the difference between hops and hops. The company’s current Kickstarter campaign is for the Pico C, a small home brewing appliance to make brewing even easier, using a Nespresso-style cartridge approach to making your own home brews. Today, the company announced a surprise upgrade option to its campaign — a whole new appliance. The PicoStill is a small still to make hard liquor from the beer you made with the Pico C. I’m not sure these types of surprises are a great idea.

On the topic of moonshine, I should point out that the company (wisely) doesn’t suggest you go and brew your own gin right off the bat. “PicoStill can be used to distill hop oil, water, and essential oils. Licensed and properly permitted craft distillers can also use the PicoStill to produce a wide range of alcohols, including vodka, whiskey, bourbon, moonshine, gin, brandies, schnapps and more.” Can you hear the “wink, wink, nudge, nudge” in that sentence, right around where it says “licensed and properly permitted craft distillers”? Yeah, me too.

Anyway. As exciting as it is to spring a whole additional piece of kit on your backers, I’m not going to lie: I really hope that this isn’t the start of a trend. Hardware startups are hard (I should know…), and scaling hardware manufacturing is an art in itself. We’ve seen many of the most popular hardware crowdfunding campaigns crumble under their own weight (ahem, we’re looking at you, Coolest Cooler), not least because they added layers and layers of complexity to a product as so-called “stretch goals.” Adding a whole new piece of equipment to the mix is brave, to put it mildly.

Don’t get me wrong; PicoBrew is an excellent company, and they’ve successfully delivered on promises in the past. There’s nothing that makes me think that it won’t deliver this time, too. I further admit that a $479 brewing machine/still early-bird kit is causing my finger to hover over the “pledge now” button. The thought of having a home brewery and still in my own home is so unbearably cool that I barely know what to do myself. Of course, that’s exactly what marketing is meant to do (It worked! Congratulations.)

Having said that: Surprising backers with major changes halfway through a campaign makes it much harder to do due diligence. Whenever you back a campaign on any crowdfunding campaign, you should ask yourself, “Do the promises a company is making about a product make sense? Do I have faith in their ability to deliver?” The answer to that question could change significantly if the campaign changes the goalposts halfway through, and makes it much harder to be a diligent crowdfunding backer.

PicoStill is available now to Kickstarter backers for $170, or packaged with the Pico Model C for $479. It will retail for $349 when it hits stores later this fall.

There are times when it is difficult, or even inappropriate to pull out your phone. But sometimes if you’re expecting an important phone call, email, or some other notification you’ll still want to be able to react quickly. We’ve talked about the Pinn Kickstarter campaign recently, and were lucky enough to get our hands on a near-final piece of hardware to see how it works. In this review, please keep in mind that Pinn is a nearly finished product, but there may still be some small changes to hardware, software, or both. Keep reading to see how Pinn handles your daily communication needs.

Specifications

Pinn includes the following features and specifications:

• Microphone
  
  • Directional Characteristic: Omni-directional
  
  
  • Frequency Range: 100Hz ~ KHz
  
  
  • Output Impedance: 450Ω @ 1kHz
  
  


• Audio Specifications
  
  • Impedance: 16 Ω at 1KHz
  
  
  • Frequency Range: 20-20,000 Hz
  
  
  • Output Sound: 105 dB SPL +1 2dB
  
  
  • Speaker Max Volume: +14 dB
  
  
  • Earbud Max Volume: -9 dB
  
  
  • Speaker Impedance (DC): Receiver: 160hm
  
  
  • Loud Speaker: 80hm (700mW)
  
  
  • Bandwidth: 20 hz~20khz
  
  
  • aptX: High-quality Bluetooth sound, audio codec (CD quality)
  
  
  • CVC: Clear voice capture and noise reduction
  
  


• Compatibility
  
  • iOS 7.0 or above with Bluetooth 4.0 or later
  
  
  • Android 5.0.0 or above with Bluetooth 4.0 or later
  
  


• Earbud
  
  • Dimensions: 22.5mm x 21.8mm x 27.4mm (.88” x .85” x 1.08”)
  
  
  • Weight: 4.59g
  
  
  • Battery: 25 mAh Rechargeable Li-ion Polymer
  
  
  • Charging Time: 120 minutes
  
  
  • Wireless: BT Classic 2.1
  
  
  • Wireless Range: 30 feet / 10 meters
  
  


• Clip
  
  • Dimensions: 21.69mm x 71.59mm x 15.47mm (.85” x 2.81” x .6”)
  
  
  • Weight: 20.5g
  
  
  • Battery: 80 mAh Rechargeable Li-ion Polymer
  
  
  • Charging Time: 140 minutes
  
  
  • Wireless: BLE 4.1
  
  
  • Charged Capsule Support: Clip docking charges
  
  
  • Charging Type: Standard MicroUSB Connection
  
  


• Materials
  
  • Earbuds: PC Plastic
  
  
  • Ear-tips: Silicone
  
  
  • Clip: Aluminum, PC Plastic, Urethane, Silicone
  
  

What’s in the Box

• Pinn — Earbud and Clip


• MicroUSB charging cable


• 3 x Replacement ear tips

All you’ll need to get started

Design

Pinn was inspired by the pager of the early 90s, but it looks a bit more like the elongated Bluetooth headset models. This is somewhat accurate, since it does include a detachable earphone, but there’s quite a lot more to this than just a pager or Bluetooth headset.

The device itself measures about 2 ¾” long and just about ¾” wide at its widest. It tapers slightly towards the front of the device. Pinn is just over ½” tall including the clip but excluding the Bluetooth earbud, and just barely over 1” tall taking the earbud into account.

Pinn is constructed out of aluminum and plastics, with a black plastic ring around the OLED display on the front. The Pinn logo is located just above the display as well as on the removable Bluetooth earbud, while just below the display is the speaker. On the tip of the device, you’ll find a 3.5mm audio port, while on one edge you’ll find the power/escape button and covered MicroUSB charging input. The Pinn team will be tweaking the final design for the charging port cover very slightly to make it easier to open. The other edge includes multi-function up and down buttons as well as a select button.

The Bluetooth earbud is shaped as a rounded trapezoid with a small button on one end and the microphone on the other. The earbud has an LED indicator in the middle of the Pinn logo as well. The earbud has a relatively long “neck” which includes the connection socket where the contact pins on the main body connect to the earbud. At the end is a pretty standard ear tip. The tip is white, which will obviously show dirt, dust, and other contaminates (i.e. earwax) more clearly. The earbud connects to the main body via the aforementioned pins, while two retractable plastic arms grip the earbud, keeping it attached.

The pins and retractable plastic arms that hold the Earbud in place.

On the bottom of the device is the clip. The fulcrum is near the tip of the device just under the 3.5mm jack, so the clip opens near the Bluetooth earbud. The clip opens easily and clamps down pretty securely to keep your Pinn attached to whatever you want to clip it to.

Display

The OLED display is bright and very easy to read. The default state shows the time, battery level, and message status in large letters. When you receive a notification, the screen will display appropriate information based on the type of notification. For example for a text message, the sender’s name will appear on the top line while the message will scroll underneath. Caller ID information will be displayed with a phone icon on the left side, the caller’s phone number (or contact information if they are in your contacts) on the top line and “Incoming Call” on the bottom line. The information displayed will vary based on the notification, and you can set up nearly any app on your phone to display notifications on Pinn, but I’ll talk more about that in the software section below.

Ease of Use

Setting up your Pinn is pretty easy, as it’s really a Bluetooth device at heart. You’ll want to make sure the earbud is docked to the clip before starting. Then, simply power on the Pinn, at which time both the clip and the earbud will enter pairing mode. Pair both items in the Bluetooth settings on your phone and you’re ready to go. Once paired, you’ll want to dig into the app (available for iOS and Android) to set up what types of notifications Pinn should display. One pretty important setting you’ll want to check will be based on how you intend to clip your Pinn. You are able to flip the display 180° in the device settings so that you’re able to see and read the display no matter which direction you clip it.

The clip covers most of the length of the Pinn Clip.

Navigating the different options on the clip are handled via the buttons, and most of them act as you’d probably expect. Tapping the power button turns on the screen, while double tapping the power button brings up the menu. The up/down buttons are, as you’d probably already guessed, used to navigate up/down or right/left in the various option menus as well as controlling volume. The select button selects things, and will also turn on the screen with a double tap. Navigating around through the screens takes a bit of getting used to, but it is really pretty straightforward and has only a very small learning curve.

Software

The app is available for iOS and Android and covers the basics that Pinn needs to work. In the app, you’ll need to provide access to several permissions in order for your Pinn to work properly, and once permitted you’ll have options to either turn on or off various notifications. The basic notifications include call information for incoming and missed calls, Caller ID, Text Messages, and Other Notifications, which allows any other app to push notifications to your device.

The next menu item under “Other Notifications” allows you to choose any additional apps that you’d like to see displayed. You’re given a full list of all installed apps and simply check or un-check the box next to each app to turn notifications on or off. All apps are un-checked by default, so you’ll need to turn on any apps you’d like to see.

The Android app is mostly there to turn notifications on or off and select the apps you’d like to ping your Pinn.

The only settings currently listed are the incoming call ringtone, of which there are five available options. Below that is Find my Pinn, which will make your device beep if it’s within Bluetooth range of your phone (tap once to start, tap again to stop). Below that is a software update option.

There are a few features mentioned in the Kickstarter campaign that at least in this software build aren’t quite ready. The selfie-clicker function, for example, is a bit of a work in progress at the moment. On Android, you’re asked to open the Pinn app and then select the selfie clicker function on the Pinn itself via the menu. As of right now, selecting the selfie clicker (with the app open or closed) starts to open the camera app, but it hangs at a black screen with the camera icon overlaid on my Nexus 6P. This is a known issue, and the team is hammering out a few issues with devices running Android 7.0 or higher. This will be a useful function for some once it is available though.

The app will see updates to add functionality and polish prior to launch, but for now, even in its current state, it does enough to get you up and going.

Performance

After the initial setup, your experience will depend largely on how you expect to use your Pinn. Your first decision will likely be where you plan on clipping it. For the most part during my testing, I’d wear Pinn in the button flap of my polo shirts, and set it on my desk for a quick way to check notifications. This worked pretty well, though I’d sometimes have to move it a bit when driving since my seat belt would go directly across where it was clipped. Wherever you end up clipping, you’ll barely even notice that it’s there. Pinn is very small and light.

Clip and Earbud

I’ll talk more about the mic and audio performance in later sections, but using Pinn to make phone calls or listen to media was pretty effective. I did find that I needed to stick the earbud pretty deep into my ear to ensure that it wouldn’t fall out. This gave me a bit of a problem being able to hit the button on the earbud, as it was jammed back into my ear. Provided you’re in a quiet enough location, I found out entirely by accident (I was driving and just put the earbud in backward) that you can just flip the earbud around so the button is on the front. You’ll need to be in a quiet location though because that puts the mic back in the interior area of your ear.

Reading notifications is easy on the OLED screen. You should not take this as an alternative to staring at your phone while driving, as neither is safe and I’d imagine both could get you pulled over and ticketed, or worse. In appropriate settings though, seeing and reading notifications is easy. The text of the notification will scroll along on the bottom line, allowing you to check your notification without looking at your phone. For more detailed notifications you may still want to grab your phone, but Pinn will let you check and dismiss the easy stuff without getting your phone every time. You can not only read these notifications but also reply using your voice, which is a perfect segue into my next thoughts.

Using voice controls works as you would anticipate. Anything you’re able to do with Siri or Google Assistant/Google Now via the mic on your phone, you can do via the mic on your Pinn. A double tap on the earbud button will invoke Siri or Google Now. Reply to messages, search for directions, Pinn will be able to handle those sorts of things via your phone’s voice controls.

Earbud connectors and multi-function button.

Pinn will also let you know if you’ve wandered too far away from your phone. That was also a bit of a surprise at first. I walked into my house and Pinn wouldn’t stop beeping, until I realized that I’d left my phone in my car, and it was just reminding me of that fact.

Pinn is definitely in a pretty near-final state. Most everything works exactly as it’s supposed to, and a couple of items that aren’t quite ready are actively being worked on. If you’re backing this campaign you’re going to get a functional product when all is said and done.

Sound Quality

I wasn’t expecting too much from a speaker as small as what’s on board here, though, for a speaker of its size, Pinn is able to put out pretty decent sound. You’re obviously not going to get anything earth-shaking here, but for a speakerphone device you can definitely use it for a little bit of music, or GPS directions, or video watching in a pinch. The earbud works similarly well.

I didn’t have any issues on the Pinn that I used for testing, but the team is making a slight change to the earbud for the final hardware that will ship to Kickstarter backers and to retail. They discovered a small air gap during the assembly process that in some instances affected the sound quality of the earbud. Backers should end up getting an even better sounding earbud, though as I mentioned I did not have any problems with what I heard.

Plugging headphones into the 3.5mm jack provides a pretty standard Bluetooth audio experience. Your results will obviously vary based on what you’re plugging in, but the audio quality is what you’d expect from a streaming Bluetooth setup.

Did your phone ditch the 3.5mm jack? No worries, Pinn has you covered.

Running audio through Pinn is especially nice when you’re in public, where you can quickly pop off the earbud and listen to your videos, Snapchat stories, or any other audio without blaring it for all to hear.

Microphone/Voice Quality

The microphone is located on the earbud, so that’s what will pick up your voice whether you have the earbud in your ear, or docked to the clip. Since the earbud is relatively small, I did have callers occasionally need me to repeat myself, especially in noisy surroundings, since the mic is several inches away from my mouth. In quiet areas, callers had no issues hearing and understanding me. Other than the occasional request to repeat myself, callers could hear me clearly, and I could hear callers without issue via the earbud.

Docked into the clip lets Pinn act as a speakerphone, and the same conditions as the earbud apply. In quiet locations, I had no issues at all. Callers could hear me and I could hear callers without issue. In noisier environments, there is again a slight drop but you are still able to hear callers pretty clearly.

Battery Life

If you don’t have a lot of notifications set up, or don’t make a lot of phone calls, your Pinn should run in standby mode for well over a full day — it’s estimated at approximately 38 hours. If you do get a lot of notifications and phone calls you should probably expect to recharge your Pinn every night while you’re sleeping, but should otherwise get a full day of use out of it.

Pinn profile shot.

The earbud should last for around 75 minutes per charge and can be recharged two full times when plugged back into the clip. My phone calls generally aren’t anywhere close to that long, and I really just plugged the earbud back into the clip when it wasn’t in use. I could definitely get a full day on a single charge though, and usually a few days with light use when turning Pinn off at night.

Price/Value

Pinn will ultimately have an MSRP of $199USD, though right now while the Kickstarter is still active you have a few chances to get one for a bit less. The Early Bird tier is still available at $129USD, and the Kickstarter Special gets you in on the action at $169USD. The value you’ll find in Pinn depends very largely on how you’re planning on using it. I see definite value for those who spend a lot of time on the phone or need a quick and easy way to interact with their phone without pulling it out of their pocket all the time.

Wrap Up

Pinn is a unique way to use your phone without actually looking at your phone. It gives you pertinent information at a glance, gives you easy voice control options, and offers multiple ways to make calls or listen to music/GPS directions/etc. It might not be for everyone, but for people that are looking for what Pinn can provide, it’s definitely a solid piece of hardware. Pinn is also successfully funded already, so you won’t have to worry if you’re considering backing the project during its final few days. Give Pinn a look, it does what it says, and does it well.

*We were sent a review sample of Pinn for the purposes of this review.

Pinn

$199 USD

Design

9/10

Display

9/10

Ease of Use

9/10

Software

9/10

Performance

9/10

Sound Quality

9/10

Microphone/Voice Quality

9/10

Battery Life

10/10

Price/Value

9/10

Nailed it

• Solid design


• Easy to read display


• Works as expected


• Very small and light


• Multiple options for audio


• Adds a 3.5mm jack if your phone doesn’t have one

Needs work

• Earbud has to stick pretty deep in your ear


• White eartips show dirt and debris more easily


• Small learning curve to get the hang of the button combinations