Kiran Upadhyay

Every once in a while, there’s a Kickstarter project that puts us all on our feet. It happened with the  Pebble  (which  we reviewed ), the  OUYA  (which we reviewed) and the  Oculus Rift  (which we also reviewed); and to some extent, it also happened with the  3Doodler  — a 3D pen that shoots actual plastic instead of ink. While the 3Doodler didn’t raise $10 million on Kickstarter like the Pebble, it did surpass its initial $30,000 goal by a huge margin, ending up with over $2 million in pledges. Not only that, but the 3Doodler creators managed to ship the pens relatively on time, avoiding colossal PR failures in the form of endless delays or the release of a the product on Best Buy before shipping it to backers. The last batch of 3Doodlers are still being sent to Kickstarter backers, but you can pre-order it now for $99 and expect to receive it around March. For $99, you will also receive 50 strands of colorful plastic to ...

A child picks up a crayon and marks a colorful line across a piece of paper. It’s one of most natural human experiences: Tactile, haphazard, and raw. But in making the transition to digital, much of that simplicity disappears. Cold glass replaces silky paper, and suddenly you get toolbars and buttons and files.  Pencil  is a Bluetooth stylus that tries to help you forget you’re working on an iPad. The pencil comes in two versions: The $49.95 Graphite, and the $59.95 Walnut, encased in what looks and feels like natural wood. The Walnut version also includes a magnetic snap that allow you to stick it to the iPad’s smart cover. That’s the model we’ll be reviewing and giving away. Introducing the Pencil The Pencil is a very specific stylus: Not only is it meant just for one device (the iPad), but it actually works best with one particular application:  Paper , by FiftyThree. This is one of the most celebrated drawing apps for the iPad. The app itself is free, but...

Not too long ago, a craze hit Kickstarter in a huge way. That craze was the Android micro-console. First, the OUYA (which we reviewed) exploded on Kickstarter. Immediately after that, the much smaller  GameStick  hit the crowd-funding service, and while it did not explode in the same way as the OUYA, it still commanded far beyond its funding goal. Now, months later, we have the $79 GameStick and its controller in our hands, and we’ve had some time to explore the games available, and of course, play them. How is the console? How does it compare to the OUYA, or even a more traditional game console? Keep reading the review to find out. We bought this GameStick ourselves, we’ve tested it, and now we are giving it away to one lucky reader! Find out how to win your own GameStick, so you can get in and enjoy some Android gaming without spending a dime. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHz12X8WqJo Introducing The GameStick The GameStick was designed to be the most aff...