Christmas is coming, and many are already mulling what to buy for whom – a set of difficult choices at the best of times.
Fortunately, Ukraine’s abundance of high-tech startups is making the choice easier year by year. Here’s a list of made-in-Ukraine gadgets that will make perfect stocking fillers, and can be bought online in time for Christmas.
Petcube Camera
Petcube Camera allows pet owners to monitor and even play with their furry companions remotely.
Petcube Camera allows pet owners to monitor and even play with their furry companions remotely, sending live 1080p video feed from one’s home to one’s smartphone.
The device connects to the Internet via Wi-Fi, and allows owners to play with their pets remotely with a built-in, app-controlled laser. A wide-angle camera on the device transmits high-definition real-time video to the user’s smartphone.
Moreover, the device’s built-in microphone and speaker allows owners to speak soothing words to their pets from afar, and hear their meows and woofs in reply.
Besides the camera, Petcube has already announced their newest device called Petcube Bites, which, apart from a camera, also includes a treat dispenser so that a pet owner can remotely reward good behavior.
Petcube: $149 at petcube.com
Ajax Systems produces a wireless security system for residential and business premises.
Ajax Systems sensors
But gadgets made in Ukraine can be more than just entertaining – a company called Ajax Systems produces a wireless security system for residential and business premises that includes sensors to detect intruders, fire, and flooding.
If triggered, the system sends a notification to the owner’s smartphone, and to the security agency or firefighters the building is contracted with. When armed, it reacts to human movement, but ignores that caused by animals or draughts.
Installation requires only some wall space for sensors, and the system’s central hub collects the info from the devices via Ajax’s own radio technology called Jeweler (868.0-868.6 MHz). The hub connects to the network via both Ethernet and GSM (GPRS) as a backup channel to exchange data with the Ajax Cloud.
Ajax Systems: $30-56 at ajax.systems
Universal Key Hideez
Startup Hideez has a device that can remember up to 1,000 super-secure digital passwords.
Startup Hideez has developed a device that can remember up to 1,000 super-secure digital passwords, making sure only the Hideez device owner can access all of their gadgets and online accounts.
The password manager device, called the Hideez Key, consists of a key fob and a mobile app, which pair via Bluetooth 4.0 or higher. The device stores passwords for websites and apps visited from a paired device, and at the next visit it enters the relevant password for the user at a click of the fob’s button.
Apart from storing passwords, the fob locks devices’ screens if it moves a certain distance away from them, and unlocks them when it comes back in range. It works with desktop computers, tablet computers, smartphones – any device that can use Bluetooth. It also can open doors closed with RFID readers – the kind usually installed in garages, building entrances, offices, and various types of lockers.
Hideez: $49 at hideez.com
Ecoisme energy monitoring device
Ukrainian startup Ecoisme has developed household sensors that look like wireless internet routers.
Ukrainian startup Ecoisme has developed household sensors that look like wireless internet routers.
But these are certainly not just routers – these devices track energy usage by appliances, such as refrigerators, or by lights in the house. The data are sent to users’ smartphones along with energy-saving tips.
The young company has won prestigious international awards, raised funding on the global crowdfunding platform Indiegogo, and won a place in a UK-based tech-acceleration program run by Richard Branson’s Virgin Media and U.S. Techstars. Ecoisme CEO and co-founder Ivan Pasichnyk was included on the list of 30 of the most successful people in Europe under 30 years old in the industry sector compiled by U.S magazine Forbes, and made to the Kyiv Post’s Top 30 Under 30 list in 2016.
Ecoisme: preorder at ecoisme.com
iBlazr flash for smartphones
IBlazr sells portable camera flashes for iOS, Android devices and Windows phones.
Capturing important moments with smartphone cameras can be frustrating – especially in poor light.
To aid smartphone photographers, a couple of Ukrainians have started producing a portable camera flash under the brand iBlazr. By literally shedding light on the shooting of pictures with iPhones, iPads or other devices, they have come up with a solution for those worried about the quality of their Instagram or Facebook images.
And its not just Ukrainians who like the idea – Apple has placed iBlazr flashes in its branded shops all around the globe.
IBlazr sells portable camera flashes for iOS, Android devices and Windows phones. It is the first fully synchronized camera flash for smartphones, and makes sure that no shot is wasted, regardless of poor lighting.
Kyiv Post staff writer Denys Krasnikov can be reached at [email protected].
