By now most of you are familiar with the new Kickstarter or Indiegogo crowdfunding platforms for bringing creative projects to life – if you have an idea, put it out there and see how many people are willing to donate to your ’cause.’ Generally, if you donate enough you get some form of a perk or benefit – such as, a discount of your purchase, free international shipping or other special offers. Many devices are developed this way, and the most successful Canadian campaign to date on Indiegogo is from the Toronto based Mass Fidelity and its Core wireless speaker. In September, they were asking for a goal of $48,000, which they raised in only ONE day and are now up to $1,170,448 of funds raised.
The Core wireless speaker only measures 15cm or six inches square and only 10cm or four inches high. It is made from chrome, acrylic and fabric and encloses five custom high output speaker drivers and puts out 120 Watts of power with a frequency response of 44Hz – 20kHz. It has a large capacity battery that they claim will last a full 12 hours of listening and will recharge in less than two hours. It comes with a USB connection, an optical input to connect with a TV or cable box, a control input for home automation, a sub-woofer output, and an aux input to play any wired analog device. It has NFC for quick “tap to pair” connections with you NFC enabled devices. The Core uses the high power Class 1 Bluetooth to minimize dropouts and extends your range up to 60 feet. It even acts a speakerphone if you receive a phone call.
Slava Rubin, CEO, Indiegogo say, “2014 has been a whirlwind year for Indiegogo in Canada, with dozens of highlights to celebrate. We feel incredibly lucky to work with so many inspiring, talented individuals. It’s a thrill to watch communities come together in support of each other’s projects, effectively driving change via Indiegogo.” In second place for Canada is an aerial photography drone, Plexidrone, which raised over $1 million. Another Toronto-based company, DreamQii, is responsible for Plexidrone, which uses your GoPro Hero, Sony ActionCam, BublCam or other point-and-shoot camera.
Please hook up with us on our Google+ Page and let us know if you have ever donated to a crowdfunding project…as alway, we would love to hear from you.