Pixicle Raising $38,000 To Take Photos To The Big Screen Wirelessly & Introduce GPS Photo Printing
Pixicle, a photo sharing device that makes it easy for users to view photos with their friends and family on the big screen instead of the frustrating smartphone screen passed around the room has raised $10K of its $38K Indiegogo goal to make photo viewing less strenuous.
Speaking to TechZulu, Norman Lai CEO and co-founder of Pixicle TV, a British Columbia-based startup says the team wants to connect iPhone or Android smartphone users to any TV via a free app and WiFi so that they start viewing their pictures on the big screen.
“Imagine viewing all your photos on a 40″, 50″ or even a 60″ TV! With Pixicle, you are now able to view all your smartphone photos on any TV as long as it has a HDMI input,” Pixicle wont stop at just viewing photos on TV. The app also allows one to take photos and print them from their phones. With Pixicle, one can select a photo using GPS, select any photo print lab partners, have the photos printed then they either pick them up or have them delivered within an hour.
TechZulu caught up with CEO Norman Lai.
How does it work?
Viewing – using the Pixicle dongle, a user plugs in the dongle to their TVs HDMI input and when prompted, enters in their home wifi passcode. then all they need to do is download the app from either Googles Playstore or Apples Appstore.
Sharing – using the Pixicle App, all they need to do is choose the images they want to share and choose the recipient from their contact list. Once sent, the recipient will get a notification that so and so shared some photos with them. once they open the Pixicle app, the photos will be instantly there.
Print – Using the Pixicle App, all they need to do is choose the images they want to print. Once selected, the app will use their phones GPS to locate the closest photo lab Pixicle works with and sends the images there where their prints will be ready in about an hour.
How many platforms so far-iOS, Android etc?
So far we have 70% of the Android app completed and about 30% for iOS. Currently no plans for Blackberry or Windows phone 8.
Who are the founders of Pixicle?
There are three of us, myself (Norm Lai), Steev Wong and Brandon Perez.
I am the originating founder and majority shareholder and Visionist.
Steev is a co-founder and our autocad specialist.
Brandon is a co-founder and our lead developer.
What inspired you to launch Pixicle TV?
over the last 18 years, my company has been in the business of custom software development that develops anything from small web applications to custom enterprise software applications. I deal with quite a few of the C-level Management of companies and many of them started asking me how to download their images from their smartphones so they can view them on their TVs at home or how to get them printed. I would go through the exercise of showing them how they can do it at home and the various different products they can purchase that allowed them to show them on their TVs at home. The problem would be that they would often forget or they just didn’t get it. As the majority of them were non techie people, it was often a challenge for them. I looked high and low and nothing on the market that addressed their issues and needs,so it was easy for them. I thought to myself, if they were having these issues, there must be others in the world that share their same issues. So I figured, if there isn’t anything out there, I’ll make it.
Does it work with just any TV?
Pixicle will work with any TV or monitor that has an HDMI input or DVI input (HDMI adapter required) It doesn’t need to be brand specific or a Smart TV.
How much are you raising? Why do you need the funds?
We are raising $38,000 to help us complete the software development and tooling costs associated to the manufacturing process.
Are there any perks for those who contribute?
Yes there are. We have several perks. You can view them on our campaign here.
How do you plan to monetize when the the product is ready?
We have distribution channels we are working on for our hardware and print. We plan on monetizing through a revenue sharing model. Our target market is anyone who loves taking photo’s on their smartphones!
Challenges along the way? How have you solved them?
Many challenges. hardware was probably the biggest. As we are software developers by trade, going into the hardware side of it was foreign to us. A lot of help came from people we met on Indiegogo who had the same challenges when they started their businesses. They would provide valuable information on the ins and outs of sourcing hardware and other challenges they encountered on their journey. They would provide information so that we wouldn’t make the mistakes they did.
Where do you expect to be in two years time?
Pixicle will be the biggest smartphone ecosystem in the world by then and will encompass everything there is in the smartphone photo world.
Any competition? How unique are you from them?
There are a lot of similar products that will allow you to view your photos on a TV. But they are all proprietary. Samsung allshare will only work with Samsung phones and Samsung smart tvs that support that feature, and Apple has AppleTV that will only work with iOS products. None of the two are cross platform.
Pixicle is the only cross platform device that will allow smartphone users the ability to view their images on the big screen. Pixicle is also one of the only smartphone apps that will have a print to store feature so users can print directly to any of the large box chain photo labs across the United States and Canada. What makes us different is that Pixicles ecosystem gives the smartphone users the ability to have freedom in what they want to do with their photos that are stored on their phone, View/Share/Print. No other smartphone photo platform does that.
