kickstarter

Yep, the Nice Clip is just a clip. That's all. But if you're frequently misplacing your camera's lens cap or looking for someplace to put it while you're shooting, it's a clip worth buying.

It attaches to any size, style, and brand of lens cap from 49mm all the way up to 82mm using a strip of 3M adhesive. Then, when you take off your cap, you can simply slip it on a strap, pocket, or belt loop. … Read more

Zac Manchester is taking this whole private space exploration idea into his own hands. A Cornell graduate student in aerospace engineering, Manchester hopes to raise enough money to launch 100 chip-size satellites into space.

He and some collaborators have created a DIY satellite called Sprite, which Manchester calls the "world's smallest spacecraft." The devices measure the size of a couple of postage stamps, and pack solar cells, a radio transceiver, and a microcontroller onto a single silicon microchip.

Manchester's goal? He's trying to raise $30,000 on Kickstarter so he can send as many Sprites into orbit as possible to demonstrate that they can be safely launched and operated. … Read more

Dungeons & Dragons and other turn-based strategy games are alive and well. Gamers paint elaborate miniature fighters, monks, thieves, and monsters and send them out to battle on tabletops around the world.

OggBoard, a new Kickstarter project, is looking to bring those characters to life without plastic or paint. The concept is to mix augmented reality with board games so that knights and creatures take shape on your iPhone.

The OggBoard has an appealingly minimalistic design. It features a playing surface with small tiles and docks on either side for your iPhone or iPod Touch. Each tile is rendered on the screen as a different 3D character.

"We aren't just trying to make new apps, we are trying to change the way players and developers think about strategy gaming," said OggBoard co-creator Sam Lytle in an e-mail to CNET.… Read more

I'm a sucker for a good Kickstarter project. I'm also a big fan of anything involving low-budget movie-making. That's why I'm jazzed about CineSkates, which combines a GorillaPod tripod and three inline skates to create a smooth-rolling camera mount.

Although this soon-to-ship product isn't expressly designed for the iPhone, it can certainly work with one--so long as you pair it with an iPhone tripod-mount case like the Canopy Kapok.

CineSkates comes with three skates designed to attach to a GorillaPod Focus tripod. You can supply your own, or buy one as part of your Kickstarter … Read more

Anyone who rides a bike would agree that flat or low-pressure tires are a drag. But why fiddle with a pump when the tire can inflate itself?

San Francisco-based startup PumpTire has invented just such a self-inflating tire. Aimed at urban cyclists, the tire includes a built-in pumping mechanism that uses the spinning motion of the wheel to gather air and the weight of the bike to push the air into the inner tube.

"Some people do not inflate their tires often enough, which can lead to accidents or flats," said Benjamin Krempel, founder of PumpTire. "With PumpTire automatically inflating your tire, you are increasing the safety and performance of your bike whenever you ride."

Krempel and team have patented their technology and are raising money on Kickstarter in hopes of commercializing two types of tires, the City Cruiser and City Pro (one's for the casual rider, the other for the urban commuter). The tires use a technology called a peristaltic pump. Krempel's inspiration came from his experience in the medical-devices industry; the pumps are used in medical applications such as IV fluid drips and heart-lung machines, he said. … Read more

I think that we can universally agree that fiddling with a smartphone while driving is a bad idea, but is fiddling with a phone attached to your steering wheel any safer? The makers of the Steer Safe universal hands-free kit would like you to think so, but I'm not sure that I agree.

The video and description that accompany the Steer Safe's KickStarter page say that the smartphone mounts to the user's steering wheel, putting the phone close by for easy hands-free calling, navigation, and whatever else you want to do while behind the wheel. It all … Read more

The 10th anniversary of the fall of New York's World Trade Center towers is fast approaching. Brian August and his team of developers at Kickstarter are looking to memorialize the tragedy with 110 Stories, an augmented-reality app for iOS that will place the iconic buildings back into the New York skyline.

110 Stories is still in development, with a Kickstarter fundraiser wrapping up within a few days. The app will work by directing the user to point an iPhone camera at the former site of the towers. It will then etch an image of the towers over the picture … Read more

Look, ma, no hands! Also, no tape, no straps, no Velcro, and no magnets. A new Kickstarter project is raising funds for a device called The Move that magically attaches your iPhone or iPod Touch to your clothing.

The idea behind The Move is one of those why-didn't-I-think-of-that inventions. Place The Move behind your clothes. Set your iPhone on the outside of your clothes and push it into place. It acts like a hidden case that embeds the iPhone snugly into your shirt.… Read more

What would you do if you saw an ice cream truck with a giant boob--nipple and all--on its roof?

You'd probably do a double-take. Then, tell your kids to stay away because they can't buy ice cream from it. It's not an ice cream truck, after all. It's The Milk Truck, an on-call mobile breastfeeding vehicle that performance artist and mom Jill Miller would like to turn into a reality.

Miller--a faculty member at the School of Art at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University--is looking to raise $10,000 in funding through pledge site Kickstarter. If the breastfeeding crusader succeeds, nursing moms in the Pittsburgh area (and eventually beyond, Miller hopes) will never have to worry about finding a private spot to pump or nurse again.

"There's a reason for making The Milk Truck," Miller writes on her Web site. "To create a mobile breastfeeding unit that allows mothers to feed their babies in places where they have been discouraged: restaurants, shopping malls, public spaces, etc. Babies should be able to eat anywhere. And everywhere." … Read more