Los Angeles startup Tetherboard created lots of interest at CES last month with their new remote control device. Tethercell adopts the form factor of an AA battery and contains Bluetooth 4.0 powered electronics that allow it to make any battery powered device remote controllable.
“Tetherboard’s first product line, is a family of app enabled battery controllers that are powered by Bluetooth 4.0 technology. With Tethercell and our free app, you can switch battery-operated devices on and off, set on and off schedules, be alerted when batteries are running low, and be ensured that things will remain on or off when you want them to be. To support the initial production run of Tethercell, Tetherboard will be raising funds on the popular crowdfunding site Indiegogo.”
While all this isn’t exactly rocket science, it is in fact the brain child of two engineers that worked on the Falcon 9 rocket. Automated Home asked Co-Founder Kellan O’Connor if they had any plans to bring the device to the UK.
“We’ve seen a lot of interest for Tethercell coming from the UK and intend to make the product widely available throughout the UK and all of Europe. Following our Indiegogo campaign, Tethercell will be available at our online store and eventually at a couple retail locations.”
Installation is simply a matter of removing an existing battery from the device you want to control remotely and replacing it with the Tethercell.
The Software – From the Tethercell app you can easily connect to and control all active Tethercells withinin range (up to 100 feet). Tethercell will be available for iOS (only iPhone 4S, iPhone 5 and iPad 3) and Android devices that are Bluetooth 4.0-compatible by June 2013.
If this all sounds like music to your ears then you can help the guys meet their funding goal and make Tethercell a reality at www.indiegogo.com/tethercell
Features
- Allows you to turn battery-powered devices on and off remotely.
- Alerts you when battery power is low.
- Allows you to set device schedules in order to save battery power.
- Allows you to set simple timers, making life easier.
- Want to turn something on and tweet about it? Tethercell is ready to multitask like no other.
- Have fun and turn things on from the palm of your hand.
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Sounds a great idea. My 2 year old son is constantly running batteries down by leaving things on, would be great if I could set a timer to turn things off.
As per their graphic on their site, not sure why you’d want to switch off a smoke detector?
Its a great idea!!!. Probably I am going to use that in my Z-Wave projects as most devices run on batteries. Thanks for inventors.
love it! this is awesome! a few devices that are hard to reach to turn off (or on!) and just think of being able to turn off an obnoxious toy when you are tired – then telling the child the battery is dead! 🙂