Wootch is a child locator hidden inside of a watch

by - on July 31st, 2013

Being a parent is a lot of work. There are times where you need a few extra hands, and another pair of eyes. Unfortunately, if you don’t have anyone else around, extra appendages are hard to come by. Thankfully, there are plenty of gadgets out there that can help with some of the issues that can come up while trying to raise a child (or two).

If you’ve ever taken your child out to the store, and lost sight of them, you truly understand what it means to panic. Despite being a good parent and keeping constant watch over them, children can disappear around a corner in the blink of an eye. This type of scenario is exactly what the Wootch was created.

The Wootch looks like nothing more than a brightly-colored digital watch for children. However, it’s more than just a portable timepiece. The watch also houses a Bluetooth transmitter that will talk to your smartphone, and let you know exactly where your child is. Should they get more than 16 feet away, you will actually get an alert on your phone, letting you know that they’ve wandered off too far. Finally, there’s a “FindMe” button, that your child can press, that sends an alert to your phone.

I think that this concept is brilliant. Sure, some people will say that good parents won’t ever lose track of their children, but those people are simply underestimating how sneaky a kid can really be. What I think is so great is that the device is hidden in plain sight as a watch. All you need to do is get your child in the habit of wearing their watch whenever you take them out of the house. And should the worst happen and someone abducts a child wearing one of these, they won’t think to remove the watch, so there’s a better chance of the child hitting the “FindMe” button, and being found quickly. You can get your own by funding the IndieGoGo project, and pledging just $30.

Sports Analyst’s Camcorder

by - on July 28th, 2013

When it comes to sports, I really admire those photographers who have fantastic equipment to go along with their skill â€" especially when they capture those immortal moments of sporting glory, such as Muhammad Ali knocking someone out, or Mike Tyson biting Evander’s ear off. How about Roger Federer picking up his first French Open title? Well, if you are your son’s biggest fan on the soccer field, then you might want to get the $1,200 Sports Analyst’s Camcorder as part of your parenthood arsenal â€" after all, you would not want to miss your son’s match winning goal, do you?

Not only that, regaling such a tale to your family and friends are not going to make the cut, unless they see for themselves. This is what the Sports Analyst’s Camcorder does â€" it will be able to capture slow motion video, while sending it sans wires to a tablet computer, and coaches and athletes are able to analyze the performance. Of course, parents with dough to spare can do that, too, as mom records the young tyke, while dad does the analysis. This camcorder is capable of shooting high-speed video at up to 600 frames-per-second, sporting a 900% higher frame rate compared to your everyday camcorder, with the ability to play back super slow motion video that makes it useful to know where one has gone wrong in a golf swing, ball kick, or baseball pitch. Hardware underneath the hood includes a back-illuminated 1/2.3″ 12.8 megapixel CMOS image sensor and a wide angle F1.2 lens, 10X optical zoom, optical image stabilization, and the ability to record video in 1920 x 1080p high-definition video at 60 fps.