Pipsqueak is one of those products you look at and wonder why it isn’t already on the shelves. Most parents don’t want to buy a cellphone for their kids until they’re at least old enough to lose it at school, but they do want their kids to be able to talk to their grandparents and family out of town. The usual solution is to just hand the kid your phone while they talk to grandma - which means putting a $600 smartphone in the hands of a three year old who’s just getting the hang of how all her fingers work. Good luck with that.
Pipsqueak is a sturdy, kid-friendly bluetooth device that looks and acts like a cellphone. Parents don’t have to sign up for a new cell plan for their kids. Instead, the Pipsqueak syncs with your smartphone just like a bluetooth headset, so as far as your cell provider is concerned, you’re making an ordinary call on your existing plan. Meanwhile, your kid gets to talk on what feels like their own durable phone that can be casually and safely dropped, stepped on, or smeared with jelly.
As an added bonus, the Pipsqueak includes its own MP3 player for your kid and a "wander alert" that loudly sounds off if your child wanders too far from your phone.
The rewards are straightforward. Early contributors can get a Pipsqueak, two interchangable face plates and a wall charger for $50. Bump it up to $75 and you’ll also get kid-sized headphones, a cell phone dangle, and a third interchangeable face plate. At $200, Pipsqueak’s artists will work with you to make a fully customized and entirely personal faceplate for your kid’s phone.
The thought, care and actual tech behind this are impressive. The Pipsqueak is designed to take the hassle out of monthly fees, contracts, and trying to select an appropriate phone for a four year old. They did all the design and prototyping here in Austin then found a manufacturing facility in nearby San Antonio. That means keeping jobs in Texas while also keeping an eye on quality control.
Honestly, I like everything about this Kickstarter. My only concern is that this is, in fact, a Kickstarter instead of an IndieGoGo. They’re asking for an ambitious $187,545. So far, they’ve earned less than 10 percent of that. I’d hate to see an ambitious and useful product like this fail to make it to market because they couldn't pre-sell enough units.
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Curious how our previous Austin Kickstarters did?
The Ghastlycrud Zombies is currently 62% funded. They have about a week to make another $1,600.
The Live Action Jem and the Holograms Movie was over 250% funded! Mind you, they were only asking for $200. Go ahead and throw them a couple more bucks just to be part of something awesome.
Jumpshot made an amazing 500% of their goal! They raised more than $147,000, putting them in the top tier of all Kickstarters.
My Education was fully funded! Our instrumental band is set for their European tour.
Rockrgrrl Magazine’s GRL Talk Book was fully funded! They made over 120% of their original goal.
Strange Kid Comix was over 114% funded! They raised more than $,2850 for their taste of pure pop culture nostalgia.
Wholly Kabob was 100% funded. They raised $15,250 to start a tasty new food trailer.
Texas or Die: An Anthology of Horror is about 16% Funded. They have a few weeks to make $5800.
The Anachronist sadly didn’t reach its goal and therefore didn’t receive funding.
Stabil-i-Case sadly didn’t reach its goal and therefore didn’t receive funding.
The Doctor Who Review Project sadly didn’t reach its goal and therefore didn’t receive funding.
Taskbox sadly didn’t reach it’s goal and therefore didn’t recieve funding.
The original Spinferno Kickstarter was cancelled and replaced by a new Spinferno for Android Kickstarter.
