10 Gadgets and Inventions That You Can Actually Use in 2020
Every year the market is filled with new and crazy gadgets and inventions. And people like me, secretly start wishing to own all of them.
But the real question to ask before you buy them is, “will I be actually using them after 1 month?”
It’s easy to fall for any of the new gadgets because of how beautiful they look.
Here’s a list of 10 product that will have actual utility for you. These products are designed to help and entertain you while making your life easier.
1. Botanium
This product is for plant parents, which I feel applies to the majority of people.
Do you have the experience of going home after a month-long vacation to a dehydrated and dead plant?
A real letdown!
Bring home Botanium, a self-watering planter. It’s electrically powered and can take care of your plant for several weeks without any human assistance.
All you need is some water, nutrients, growing medium, seeds and an electric outlet.
Just plug it in and voila! Simply watch the plant grow.
Website: https://botanium.se/
Price: €64
2. Vector by Anki
This is a small AI robot with an adorable personality. It’s your moving-talking virtual assistant. When left alone, it resorts to doing silly and funny activities to entertain itself.
Your tabletop will be his playground. Don’t worry about him falling off. With an array of sensors and microphones, he can create a map of his surrounding, detect edges and walls, recognize your face, play with his cube, detect your voice and give you fist bumps.
Perhaps, the only robot who can compete with his playfulness is his sibling, Cozmo.
Website: https://anki.com/en-us/vector.html
Price: $249.99
3. Safedome
This is a Bluetooth tracker for the things that you cannot afford to lose. It’s similar to a credit card and can fit easily in your purse, bag, pouch, passport, or anywhere else you can think of.
Safedome sends a notification to your mobile whenever you forget and leave something behind.
It comes in two variants:
The Classic Card and the Recharge Card.
The Classic Card is single-use and its battery can last up to 2 years depending on the usage. The Recharge Card supports wireless charging and the battery lasts up to 3 months.
Both have a button to ring your phone when pressed.
Website: https://safedome.com/
Price: $24.95 (Classic Card) and $39.95 (Recharge Card)
4. Ventifresh
Ventifresh is an air-purifier that breaks down bad odors instead of masking it.
This product is made especially for cat parents.
Cat odor lingers even after you clean up your cat’s urine. The odor is composed of harmful molecules that can alter your mood and irritate your lungs.
To tackle this problem, Ventifresh makes use of a UV catalyst to breakdown the components of odor through photosynthesis, releasing fresh air molecules as a result.
It’s eco-friendly and simple to use and can be charged through a USB power cable.
Website: http://www.ventifresh.com/
Price: $41 (On indiegogo)
5. Zcan scanner mouse
Zcan is a computer mouse designed by the company DTOI (design to innovate). Apart from functioning as a normal computer mouse, it also works as a scanner.
You can use it to scan any surface and upload the image on your PC. Like an article in the newspaper? Scan it and upload it. Like a design in the magazine? Scan it and upload it. Like the design on a carton box? Scan it and upload it.
It also scans numerical tables and text that you can directly import to excel and spreadsheet. This mouse makes working with tables and text a breeze.
Creative types will find this scanner mouse a real handy tool.
Website: http://www.d-toi.com/zcanwireless.html
Price: $69
6. Luci solar bulb
It’s only one inch thick when deflated and can easily fit in your backpack. A single full charge takes 7 hours and lasts 24 hours.
These bulbs make great decorative items as well. They are like small lanterns and give off the holiday vibes.
They produce a brightness of 75 lumens, enough to light up your camping night without spoiling the ambiance.
Website: https://mpowerd.com/
Price: $19.95
7. Wondercube
It’s a small and simple 1-inch cube. But hey, look again. it’s a key ring, it’s a USB OTG, it’s a phone stand, it’s a USB cable, it’s an emergency charger, it’s a memory card reader, and it’s a small LED flashlight.
It’s Wondercube!
The Wondercube is a compact cube packed with ultra-useful mobile accessories. It supports fast charging and is available for android (type-C and micro USB) and iPhone (lightning).
It also lets you charge your phone through your laptop or a 9V battery (an average 9V battery contains 400–600 mAH of power). It also acts as an OTG cable which enables you to free up storage on your phone by transferring data to a micro SD card (up to 64 GB).
Wondercube attaches to your phone and acts as a phone stand. It also has a small built-in LED torch.
Website: https://www.thewondercube.com/
Price: $35 (On Indiegogo)
8. LARQ water bottle
Are you the kind of person who often forgets to clean your water bottle? If you are, then you should be familiar with the musty smell that comes from inside it.
That’s enough to question the hygiene factor of the bottle.
The water bottle designed by LARQ cleans itself every 2 hours. As a bonus, it also eradicates most of the harmful bacteria present inside the bottle.
The UV-C lights are powered by Lithium Polymer rechargeable batteries that can last up to one month.
Website: https://www.livelarq.com/
Price: $95
9. PowerWatch
A smartwatch has to be charged almost every day. However, contrary to common practice, the PowerWatch does not need to be charged so frequently. In fact, the PowerWatch never needs to be charged at all. You read it right. Never!
It runs on the heat generated by your body.
It’s water-resistant, counts calories, monitors heart-rate and sleep, track activity, shows notifications, has GPS tracking, and has a full-colour display.
The second generation of the watch is under development. It addresses many of the issues faced by users of the first generation.
Website: www.powerwatch.com
Price: $199
10. Timeflip
It’s a fun little gadget that helps you manage your time. You can use it to track the time you spend on doing all kinds of activities, both trivial and important ones.
It comes in the shape of a 6, 8 and 12 sided polygon. Each face of the polygon tracks one activity.
Just mark each side of the Timeflip with the activities that you want to track. Then place the side with the current task facing upwards and get to work. When you are done, simply flip it to move on to the next task.
Using Timeflip is very different from using conventional software tools to track time. It saves you from distraction as it doesn’t require you to pick up your phone to fill time-sheets. The on-board memory of the Timeflip supports 1166 flips (~80 days of activity).
Each face of the Timeflip is customizable.
Timeflip 2 will be released soon. It will feature LED lights, a Pomodoro timer, and much more.
Website: https://timeflip.io/
Price: $59.90
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