Bronies, rejoice

Bronies (you know, those hardcare My Little Pony fans who happen to be grown men) have reason to be happy because of Super Fan Art superfanart.com, a collaboration between 3D printing outfit Shapeways and My Little Pony toys owner Hasbro. To kick off, the two companies have picked five artists from the US, Canada and France to put their creations on offer. If bronies see a model they like, they can ask Shapeways to print and ship it for prices starting at around US$25. Where will 3D printing go next, in and outside the world of toys?

Completing the circuit

Squink is out to help electronics builders challenged by the time and cost of prototyping their ideas. New York-based creators BotFactory say Squink is a personal electronics factory that lessens creatives’ need to be an electronics whizz.

Squink is accessed via USB, Wi-fi or Ethernet, with circuit designs downloaded or created by the user. Then there’s a three step process where conductive ink is applied to a substrate to make a ‘silver board’; conductive glue dots are applied to the places each component pin will go; then components are placed on to the glue dots. The circuit can also be heat cured for 15 minutes.

Hi-tech bodyguard

If you think St John’s Medical Alarm is a nifty piece of security, or if you stash alarms and pepper spray in your pockets when you’re out at night, the Defender system might appeal. Currently listed on Indiegogo, the US project has smashed its $100,000 funding target. That’s likely because it rolls three forms of defense into one. The device pairs with your iOS or Android phone and with one push of a button will take a shot of a potential attacker using your phone’s camera, sound an alarm and send an alert to emergency services and your GPS location information to Defender’s 24 hour monitoring service. There’s another button to send a medical alert and there’s also pepper spray on board. As you’d expect, this is a US focused product that calls 911, and is open to people aged at least 18. But it’s an idea that, sans pepper spray, could easily work here.

Genie-ous

If you’re the type to lose your keys, take a look at the Genie smart lock, which lets you in the door via smartphone or browser. The lock fits onto your door handle and is supported by a wi-fi hub that runs off mains power and converts that signal to via Bluetooth low energy to receive and send transmissions to and from the user’s phone or computer. If you lose your phone or it’s out of battery, there’s a Bluetooth fob option and even an old school metal key if you’re completely out of options.