Finally, a way to print my breakfast! Created by Miguel Valenzuela, the PancakeBot is a unique batter dispensing system combined with a traditional griddle.

Utilizing compressed air and a vacuum, the batter is dispensed based off a design that’s been uploaded from a SD card. The card also comes with some preloaded designs. In addition, the Pancakebot comes with software unique to the device that allows someone to create a new design.

The software includes options for layering, thus you can control the order in which the lines are drawn. Food coloring can also be added into the mix for splashes of color in the design. This type of device would be ideal for any family with young children, small restaurants that want to get fancy with breakfast or anyone simply obsessed with pancakes.

Expected to retail for $299 eventually, early Kickstarter backers can get in at a $179 price with an estimated shipping date of July 2015. While the project has already doubled the funding goal of $50,000, stretch goals at $250,000, $500,000 and $1 million include different color options, an extra bottle with a large spatula and increasing the number of preloaded designs to 50.

As with all Kickstarter projects, be aware that manufacturing issues of delay the shipping date of the final product by weeks or even months. You can learn more about the PancakeBot in the video below:

Shut Up and Take My Money: PancakeBot Pancake Printer

Ever lost the keys to a padlock or forgot the combination at your locker? Developed by the creative team at FUZ Design, the Noke is a padlock that uses low-power Bluetooth technology to unlock when in proximity to your smartphone. Working with both iOS and Android smartphones, you simply pair the Noke with your mobile device.

To unlock the Noke, you press upward on the shank and wait for the Noke to detect a compatible mobile device that’s within 10 feet of the lock. This means you don’t even have to take out your smartphone in order to operate the lock. It can stay packed away in a backpack / purse or tucked away in your pocket.

Interestingly, you can also grant sharing rights to access of your Noke. For instance, if you are going on vacation and want to lend your bike to a friend, you can provide limited-time access. You can also choose to limit that to a single time, ideal if you are asking someone to retrieve an item from a locker. You will also be able to view a history of all the times the lock was accessed within the Noke smartphone app.

If you are worried about the battery within your smartphone or the Noke going completely dead, the creators of the device has included a manual method of unlocking the Noke using a custom timed access code of shank clicks. However, the battery within the Noke should last at least a year. In addition, you will receive a smartphone notification when the Noke’s battery is running low.

According to the details of the project, the Noke is expected to ship to early Kickstarter backers by February 2015. Early backers will be able to purchase a Noke for $59, approximately 33% cheaper than the eventual retail price. In addition, there are backing levels that reduce the price even further when purchasing the padlock in bulk.

As with all Kickstarter or Indiegogo crowdfunded projects, be aware that delivery windows are often delayed weeks or even months due to unforeseen issues in manufacturing. These delays are often detailed within the comments section of the project. If you would like to find out more about the Noke, check out the video below as well as the additional product pictures:

More Noke Pictures:

Shut Up and Take My Money: Noke Bluetooth Padlock

Quite possibly the greatest invention for hot, humid summers since the Coolest Cooler exploded on Kickstarter, a Texas father developed an ingenious method of filling 100 water balloons in under one minute. If you have tried to fill up a pack of water balloons at an outdoor water hose, you will immediately understand the true awesomeness that’s Bunch O Balloons.

Basically, you attach the Bunch O Balloons pack to the end of a hose, crank up the water and it immediately fills up 37 water balloons. After a few seconds, the user simply shakes the balloons over a plastic container. All 37 balloons are automatically tied off and dropped into the container. According to the creator of Bunch O Balloons, this can be repeated two more times in under a minute for a huge bucket full of at least 100 water balloons.

If you are familiar with a water balloon device called the Tie-Not featured recently on Shark Tank, this completely blows it away in terms of volume. The Tie-Not can knock about about 8 balloons in one minute, less than 10 percent of the Bunch O Balloons. This type of invention would be ideal for children’s summer birthday parties or any event where tons of children will want to chuck water balloons around the yard.

Interestingly, this Kickstarter project is focused on ramping up automated production over time for release on the mass market as opposed to actually building a product. The product is already built, tested and ready to go.

Early backers will be able to take advantage of Bunch O Balloons (via manual packing) between August and September 2014 depending on the backing level. As Bunch O Balloons grows over time, the company will likely make the product available on their site as well as retail channels. At the moment, it’s priced about $12 per pack of 100 balloons.

You can check out full details of the project here or simply watch the Kickstarter video below:

Shut Up and Take My Money: Bunch O Balloons

Currently seeking funding on Kickstarter, the Smart Mug is a high-tech twist on the traditional coffee mug. Using LED light indicators on the side of the mug, the user of the Smart Mug can keep track of the current temperature of the liquid within the cup. The Smart Cup tracks temperatures between 122° F up to 203° F (50° C up to 95° C).

Ideally, this allows someone to drink their coffee or tea at the optimal temperature, thus avoiding a scalding hot burn or a tepid, lukewarm sip. The cup also provides visual indicators of recommended temperature levels for drinking tea and coffee.

One of the most interesting features of the mug is there’s no battery within the device. It’s completely run on thermoelectric power. In other words, the heat of your drink powers the mug. The creators estimate that the mug will be operational for at least 10 years utilizing thermoelectric power. Also, there are no operating parts that make contact with the liquid within the mug and it’s completely waterproof as well as dishwasher safe. The mug has a capacity of about 12 ounces; basically enough for a regular cup of coffee.

Targeting March 2014 for the launch window, the creators have priced the mug around £30 ($48). There are less expensive alternatives that indicate heat distribution in the cup, but nothing that offers up a specific temperature reading unless you want to use a larger, stainless steel thermos.

Shut Up and Take My Money: The Smart Mug

Targeting a launch window of September 2013 in the United States, the Almond+ 802.11ac touchscreen Wi-Fi router is a follow-up to the Securifi Almond Wireless N touchscreen router.

Ranked number one on Amazon for the last nine months, the original Securifi Almond has garnered hundreds of glowing reviews due to its simple design, easy setup and fantastic range. It’s also praised as a range extender for an existing wireless network within a home, potentially boosting the signal an additional 100 to 150 feet within a home.

After the rampant success of the first Almond, the team at Securifi turned to Kickstarter backers to help fund the production of a new product, the Almond+ 802.11ac router. After raising approximately $855,000 from Kickstarter backers, the team has gone into production mode and plans to release the new router in a few months for a retail price of $99.

In addition to a new hardware design, 802.11ac tech will bring 1.17Gb/s transfer rates compared to 300 Mbps Wireless N rates. That’s approximately four times faster assuming you have 802.11ac compatible hardware in your mobile device. Of course, the hardware is also backwards compatible with Wireless N and G. The device will also include tech that’s compatible with ZigBee and Z-Wave devices as well.

At this point, you can’t become another Kickstarter backer. It’s likely that the product will also be sold on Amazon, but it’s not available for preorder yet. Look for the launch in late Q3 or early Q4. You can check out a few pics of the hardware below:

Shut Up and Take My Money: Almond+ 802.11ac Touchscreen Wi-Fi Router

Fear not, Iron Man, Ninjabot can do icons. Ninjabot’s Star Wars stamp collection is just one example of its aim to capture striking, colorful prints. While Ninjabot has dabbled previously with everything from Adventure Time to 007, its current ambition is all about origins. Ninjabot’s latest Kickstarter project, the O R I G I N series, has been launched and the team is already working towards its second stretch goal, which is actually more frosty than heroic.

The prints use signature colors and intense silhouettes to cut right to the creation of each hero. And before you can say that Batman wasn’t born in the glimmer of a pearl, just consider that the captured essence in pieces like Rose Alley, Amazon and The Other Guy are the perfect counterpoint for some of the recent bombastic big-screen adaptations. That, and doesn’t Prodigal Son make you just want to slap someone on the face and scream Iron man 3?

The ORIGIN Series

The Essence of Iron Man, Batman, Superman and the Amazon in Print

At last count, there were approximately one million iPad cases on the market, give or take a few hundred thousand. It sure feels that way, anyway.

If you’re anything like me, it can take many hours of researching cases and reading reviews before settling on one that will warrant the precious credit card number. As a service to you on your grand journey to find The Ultimate iPad Case (may it end mercifully soon), I present five quite unique iPad cases.

And you’re probably saying to yourself, there are at least 10 other cases that are exactly like each one of these. True, but if we go down that rabbit hole, Apple will have a new, thinner iPad with different-sized ports by the time we’ve made up our mind.

1. Grove Bamboo iPad Cases ($159+)

The Bamboo iPad Case is a specialty case handcrafted by Portland, Ore.-based Grove. It’s a solid bamboo shell made for the iPad 2, 3 and 4 with an all-natural leather or wool felt magnetized smart cover. You can buy artist-designed versions (20+ designs) for $169 or have your own custom-designed cover for $199. It’s currently sold out now with an estimated availability of “Spring 2013.”

2. Brydge Brydge+ iPad Clamshell Case ($170+)

Released last year, the Brydge+ iPad case is the Rolls-Royce of iPad cases. If you want to make your iPad 2, 3 or 4 look basically like a Macbook Air complete with brushed aluminum shell, this is your case. It’s available with built-in Bluetooth speakers for $200 or without for $170. Current expected delivery is “April 2013.”

3. TwelveSouth BookBook for iPad Leather Case, Vol. 2 ($80)

The venerable TwelveSouth BookBook for iPad got a refresh in 2012, but it’s still one of the most creative and unique iPad cases around. The new version is slightly thinner (3mm), features an improved variable-angle stand and now has a cutout for the rear camera. It’s currently shipping in three distressed, hardback leather styles for $80.

4. byrd & belle iPad Reader Sleeve ($48)

The iPad Reader Sleeve, Gray Wool Felt and Brown Leather from Minneapolis-based byrd & belle is a no-frills, one-piece iPad sleeve made from 1/8″ thick felted wool with a top-grain vegetable-tanned leather strap. Each piece is handmade with slight variations in texture and color. You can order it to fit the iPad 2, 3, or 4 (with or without Smart Cover) for $48 + shipping.

5. onandoff Sound Cover Travel Speaker Case for iPad ($129)

Originally launched in early 2012 as a Kickstarter project from designer Peter Hannes Olafsson, the Sound Cover iPad Speaker Case has volume-boosting (up to 300%) NXT stereo speakers which are powered by a 1600mAh lithium-ion battery. You get a multi-angle stand, automatic sleep and wake functions and a 0.9″ ABS plastic case. It’s currently shipping for $129.

Five Unique and Stylish iPad Cases

Finally starting to ship after raising over $150,000 on Kickstarter, the Ramos alarm clock is designed to make sure heavy sleepers and snooze button addicts actually get up at the right time. When the Ramos alarm clock goes off in the morning, the person in bed has to get up and walk to the remote, wireless, 5-inch by 7-inch Defuse Panel in order to punch in a four digit numeric code.

This is the only way to shut off the alarm since there is no button located on the clock that will deactivate the noisy wake-up call. You can choose your own four digit code or you can allow the Ramos to generate a random code for you each day. You basically have to check the display of the Ramos each morning to see the new code.

If you think you can just unplug the clock to turn off the alarm, you are out of luck. The Ramos comes with a battery backup that lasts several hours and will continue sounding the alarm if the clock is unplugged.

Think you can wake up ten minutes before the alarm goes off to tweak the alarm time? Wrong. Within thirty minutes of the alarm time, the Ramos goes into a lock-down mode and doesn’t allow any changes to the alarm time. However, if you do get up early, you can enter in the defuse code in order to disable the alarm before it goes off.

Incorporating a retro, Steampunk style into the design, the Ramos can be ordered in a variety of different wood grains. In addition, the Ramos can be ordered with a basic LED display or can be upgraded to tested Soviet Union “nixie tubes” that have a warm, neon glow and extremely stylish look. However, the Ramos alarm clock certainly isn’t cheap. The LED Ramos sells for $200 while the Nixie Ramos goes for $350. Early Kickstarter backers are starting to receive their Ramos alarm clocks, but new preorders are being taken for a May 2013 ship date.

Ramos alarm clock diabolically forces you to get out of bed