A New Column for the Whyd Blog: Home Tech, starting with Aumi, The Smart Nightlight!

If you’ve been following us in the recent months you know that we’ve announced interesting things to come from Whyd. We are passionate about connected design, IoT, and everything that makes home living not only easier, but more aesthetic and emotional. In our research we stumble upon tons of interesting projects launching on crowd-funding sites around the world. They are created by brilliant minds who need as much support as possible to make their dreams into reality. It would be a crime not to share them with our trendy community of creative music lovers, since we have a hunch that you are into technology as much as we are. It’s part of the modern lifestyle. 

Crowd-funding has changed the paradigm of the way products are created. In this new column of the Whyd Blog, we will be presenting you with the coolest products we can find that combine technology and the home in an aesthetic way – exploring things like new interfaces, increased autonomy, and more functionalities – always with an eye for design. 

If you find any gems yourself, please send them to us! 

- Never stop jamming! 

Let’s start off with a simple idea that was maximized to its full potential. Introducing Aumi, a smart, blue-tooth connected nightlight that you can control either with an app or directly on the device through a unique touch interface. You can select from millions of different colors, control intensity, and set timers. A built-in battery keeps it on when the power goes out, and it doesn’t block a second plug! 

What we like: The combination of touch control and app. It’s not always easy to find your phone, type in your code, and open an app (which is hidden in a folder four home screens away), especially when it’s something as simple as turning the brightness down or up. Being able to control the Aumi on the device is a big plus. 

Bonus points: The design. It’s simple, elegant, and minimal. The rounded design invites you to touch it, and gives you a very intuitive way to do that, but the familiar dial function. 

There are already almost 1000 backers, and it has surpassed its goal already! The early bird specials are already sold out, but you can still get one Aumi if you back $35 on Kickstarter. 

Good For Ears Festival - June 16 - 20 All Over Paris

Our good friends Les Disquaires de Paris have been hard at work this year organizing what looks to be one of the most interesting music events in Paris this year: Good For Ears. Taking their core spirit of promoting independent record shops - and pairing those curators with some of the coolest acts coming out of the French capital - Good For Ears is a 4 day musical bonanza happening at 4 of Paris’s most emblematic music venues:  Le Divan du Monde, La Plage de Glazart, Nuba, and L’Internationale. 

Every night starts with a live concert, with groups ranging from Montmartre to Tahiti Boy to Bel Plaine and Amarillo. Then, each night features a different independent record shop to man the turntables, spreading their wealth of musical knowledge to you all night long. 

Here’s a link to their Friday, June 19th event at Nuba to give you an idea! See you there!  

APÉROBOAT - The Backpackerz Hip Hop Party - June 4

One of the best things to do when summer hits Paris is to chill on the banks of the Seine. Combine that with some classic underground hip hop and you’ve got a great time on your hands. That bodes well for APÉROBOAT, a hip hop event organized by The Backpackerz to celebrate the new version of their webzine. 

The party has sweet DJs spinning the best hip hop all night long, some vinyl traders to help you beef up your personal collection, and projections of rap and hip hop documentaries to round out the cultural aspect. All of this is taking place at one of our favorite places in Paris, Batofar, and the entry is free! Here’s the link to the event.  

The dudes at The Backpackerz made this playlist to give you a taste of the vibe. See you there!

Playlist of the Week: February 2013 @ Glazart

Glazart is one of those places in Paris where music addicts go to get their fix. We have written about them a few times before, and it is easy to see why: their eclectic mix of contemporary jams rises above the other niched-in concert venues that are common in big cities. Glazart’s unique combination of architecture, vibe, and modernity is unparalleled. People go for the music, but it’s the environment that makes them keep coming back.

February 2013 is shaping up to be a month that cannot be missed, just take one listen to their line up to see why – and while you listen, make sure you follow them on Twitter and like their Facebook page, right after you subscribe to them on Whyd, of course!