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2016’s best cool gadgets – looking back on summer

September 16, 2016

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We hear  of new cool gadgets every day – and we tend to take it for granted that everywhere in the world scientists and designers continuously set on the market exciting new technologies, devices and objects, more or less useful but equally enthralling.

The picture is different though when searching details on what new tech has become commercially available during one year – take for example 2016. The major cool gadgets’ parade took place somehow early in the year, in January, at CES 2016.  The Consumer Electronics Show offered the opportunity for companies to showcase various viable prototypes or yet commercially unavailable technologies while the online media buzzed with various types of amazement for each product that represented progress or innovation. We covered this event in a previous article here – so we are not going to replay the same movie (starring exclusively gadgets).

Nevertheless, we have tried to find a few cool gadgets  of 2016 for your curiosity or convenience – cool ones, unusual ones, absurd ones, or truly notable ones.

  1. The funny Rumba vacuum cleaner

How is that specific for 2016, one may ask. Of course, there were other Rumbas before the 2016 one, but the latest model (iRobot Roomba 960) is the second robotic vacuum from the 900 Series Roomba and it comes with new intelligent visual navigation, tangle-free debris extractors, adaptive navigation, as well as its own cloud-connected app – as you may see here.

You can explore the Roomba 960 press release if interested in more details – see if you would be willing to spend $699 on this efficient gizmo.

  1. The Dyson Pure Cool Link

Surely, Dyson is a name you’ve heard before, too. The home appliances company successfully stepped into the next-gen household technologies after introducing  the Dyson Air Multiplier in October 2009 and by further investing  in a joint robotics lab with the Imperial College of London in 2014.

The Dyson Pure Cool Link launched in early 2016 and marked the company’s entry into the IoT environment since the new application, Dyson Link, allows Dyson owners to remotely control their device and set the desired parameters for air cleaning and ventilation. The app is seen as just the beginning for a remote-control unified network of Dyson hubs, where each owner will be able to synchronize his/hers devices according to their wishes.

  1. OvRcharge levitating charger

As redundant as it may seem when approaching gadgetry in practical, down-to-earth terms, OvRcharge levitating charger is nevertheless fun and intriguing and it made the talk of the digital town, aka the online mass media.

With the tagline “charge your phone over the air”, the Kickstarter campaign to fund this gadget announced on August 5 that it reached the target goal and that it will be adding support for iPad Pro.

The team behind this project comes from Canada; AR Design developed their magnetic levitation-based system to astound their future clients who enjoy seeing their less than 600 gram phones floating in the air above a wooden block while “miraculously” having their batteries charged.

  1. The home 3D printers

Commercially available smaller 3D printers for home come in various brands and with various capabilities. Their prices range between approximately $700 and $4000, that is if we judge by a rather comprehensive best 3D printers (summer 2016) top coming from all3dp.com.

According to the same source, the top 3D printer of the year is the BCN3D SIGMA, a dual extrusion gadget that works as fast and sleek as a single extrusion one.

Of course, the home 3D printers’ market is yet in its blooming phase, therefore it is hard to tell which one is actually the best. It is more of a mixed matter for now, depending on the hands-on experiences you’ve had, on the sponsored reviews, as well as on the array of capabilities you see as a must-have for such a device. For example, another online list that prides itself with some of the best home 3D tech on the market lists some common devices with all3dp (Makergear M2, Ultimaker 2, LulzBot Mini or FlashForge Creator Pro), but it also forwards DeltaWASP or Witbox, of which the first source didn’t make any mention.

Therefore, when in doubt, feel free to explore online materials and see which home 3D printer exactly matches your needs.

  1. Sensor-embedded gear

As ambiguous as it may sound, “gear” is actually just right for designating whatever piece of our everyday lives researchers & designers may have put their minds to fill with sensors – because this is a trend now. Serving both an R&D purpose, as well as a marketing purpose, companies develop various items that include data collection sensors. Almost every sports’ field has at least a few gadgets like this, available for the tech and sports passionate.

The latest sensor-embedded item that managed to make the global tech news and caught our attention is the Wilson X Connected Football that measures the player’s throw and delivers all the data on its connected application, allowing its owners to compare their performance with the stats of famous players. For details, check here the Coolest-Gadgets report.

Alternatively, you might find it interesting to own sensor-embedded clothes soon, a RFID tag venture that aims at making your garments more sustainable.

  1. Drones as cool gadgets

Since they didn’t quite take off as a commercial device, due to the need of specific regulations and (assuming this issue would be out of the way) to their battery life limitations, drones branch out in terms of extravagant attractions. For example, CoolThings introduces a drone that acts like your own private stalker, although for a maximum of 30 minutes in the air. It aims action sports lovers and their desire to film their own movements, and it needs an added GoPro camera since it doesn’t come with an attached sports camera of its own.

The Staaker has five autonomous flight modes and is able to follow its owner at a distance of 7-165 feet, allowing close shooting, as well as afar images.

For other 2016 innovative drones, see here the Fox News summary of the CES 2016 drone showcase – although perhaps they do not amaze by extraordinary features, the tiniest drone ever (Mota JetJat Nanodrone), the VR headset connected drone (Zeiss VR One) and the paper airplane drone (Powerup FPV) are all able to raise at least one eyebrow in surprise.

  1. Tiny robots

Another trend in 2016 consists of tiny friendly robots, meant to delight their users by performing various tasks, but also to accommodate people with the idea that AI and robotics are harmless.

One of the summer buzzes belongs to Cozmo, the tiny real-life Wall-E. Marketed as “only the coolest robot ever invented”, Cozmo comes with a few tricks up its sleeve. More like the robot who has a temper of its own than a robot that dully serves its master, the “high-tech, not technical” gadget is almost $200. It received quite an array of positive appreciations from renowned online reviewers, as you can see in the lower section of its webpage.

Cozmo has a 2 hours battery life and allegedly charges in just 10 minutes. The Verge dubbed it “the culmination of years of Anki’s robotics and AI work” – so it deserves at least a look. While there may be other more impressing robots in the works, this one is commercially available and also affordable due to its relatively low price.